Like Giuseppe, the Italian poet who writes dollar-a-poem love verses that Anthony falls for in HBO’s “And Just Like That,” a similar service is available by a Toronto writer. Meet Kaile H. Glick of the Spontaneous Prose Store. You’ll find this skilled poet for hire at their typewriter at various spots throughout the city including the corner of Augusta and Oxford. They’ll create personalized poems on the spot, tailored to your chosen subject. You pick, they write, and you pay what you can.
As a subject, we asked Kaile “why do you do what you do?” Here’s what they wrote while we waited:
i always wanted to be a poet. i was heartbroken when i found out its not a real job. then i saw zach houson on a street corner in the mission with his typewriter writing poems for strangers and my life changed forever. anyway here we are, 12 years later
-khg
Kaile was inspired by Zach Houston, a conceptual artist and poet from California who creates on-the-spot poetry in San Francisco’s Mission District. He gained prominence through his “Poemstore,” a project selling spontaneous free verse composed on a manual typewriter at public events.
You can book the Spontaneous Prose Store for events and parties. If you want to know where they’re setting up next with their typewriter, give them a follow on Instagram.
