Q

Why masked poet Atticus calls Instagram the 'gateway drug' to poetry

Atticus writes his poetry anonymously and wears a mask to keep his identity a secret, but that hasn't stopped him from becoming a New York Times bestselling author.
The Truth About Magic is a poetry collection by Atticus. (St. Martin's Griffin/Raincoast Books, Chase Alexander)

Atticus is a massively popular poet on Instagram (@atticuspoetry), but his 1.2 million followers don't know who he really is — and that's the way he likes it. Atticus writes his poetry anonymously and wears a mask to keep his identity a secret, but that hasn't stopped him from becoming a New York Times bestselling author. His third collection of poetry, The Truth About Magic, is out now. He joined q's Tom Power live in studio to tell us more about what anonymity gives him creatively.

Host Tom Power with Atticus in the q studio in Toronto. (Vivian Rashotte/CBC)

Download our podcast or click 'Listen' near the top of this page to hear the full conversation with Atticus.

— Produced by ​Beza Seife

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