Howard County Poetry and Literature Society

What Howard County Poetry and Literature Society does

Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoCoLitSo) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit literary arts organization founded in 1974 and based in Columbia, Maryland. The organization exists to enlarge the audience for contemporary poetry and literature in Howard County through a portfolio of recurring programs, including The Writing Life (a writer-to-writer talk show distributed globally via YouTube with over 1 million viewers), the monthly Wilde Reading Series at Queen Takes Book, the Annual Irish Evening, the Blackbird Poetry Festival, the Bauder Lecture Series, and the Lucille Clifton Reading Series. It also administers the Howard County Poet Laureate and Youth Poet Laureate programs in partnership with county government and the Howard County Arts Council, runs the annual Ellen Conroy Kennedy Poetry Prize contest, and maintains a Bauder Writer-in-Residence program for local schools.

The organization's underlying technology footprint is limited to digital video production for The Writing Life, recorded at Howard Community College's Dragon Digital TV studio and distributed via YouTube. HoCoPoLitSo does not operate a proprietary software platform; its technical assets consist of a 130+ episode video archive and standard community engagement tooling (website, email newsletter via Substack, social media accounts).

The business model combines four revenue streams: ticketed event sales (Irish Evening $50, Nightbird Festival $25, with educator/student discounts), small contest entry fees ($10 for the Poetry Prize), individual and corporate donations, and institutional grants from a defined set of Maryland public funders (Maryland State Arts Council, Howard County Arts Council, Howard County Government, Maryland Humanities) and local foundations (Community Foundation of Howard County, Dr. Lillian Bauder endowment). The organization is governed by a Board of Directors with Co-Chair Ryna May, EdD, and operates with 11-50 staff. Revenue is not publicly disclosed; the only transparent financial signal is a $3,500 grant from the Community Foundation of Howard County in January 2025. Customer concentration risk is moderate, reflecting a diversified but locally bounded audience and a small set of institutional funders.

Name

Howard County Poetry and Literature Society

Legal name

Howard County Poetry and Literature Society

Website

https://hocopolitso.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1974

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Howard County Poetry and Literature Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1974 that operates poetry festivals, reading series, author lectures, a youth poet laureate program, and a YouTube talk show serving Howard County, Maryland residents and a global online audience.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Literary Arts Programming

NAICS

Newspaper, Periodical, Book, and Directory Publishers (5131), Periodical Publishers (51312)

SIC

Miscellaneous Publishing (2741)

akta.pro primary industry

Literary Arts & Writing Organizations (BPAGAHAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Creative Nonfiction & Memoir Workshops (EDAMAMAC)

Keywords

• Community literary programming
• Poetry readings events
• Literary arts nonprofit
• Poetry festivals lectures
• Writer education programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbia

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Event ticket sales: Revenue generated from paid events including Irish Evening ($50 tickets), Nightbird Reading ($25), and other ticketed programming. Discounted rates available for educators and students.
2. Donations and contributions: Tax-deductible donations from individuals and corporate contributors. Organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (FEIN 52-1146948) registered in Maryland.
3. Contest entry fees: Ellen Conroy Kennedy Poetry Prize entry fee of $10 per entrant supports panel of judges.
4. Government and foundation grants: Funding from Maryland State Arts Council, Howard County Arts Council, Howard County Government, Community Foundation of Howard County, Maryland Humanities, and Dr. Lillian Bauder.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Howard County Poetry and Literature Society (HoCoPoLitSo) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit literary organization that produces a portfolio of community-based poetry and literature programs, including live reading events (Wilde Reading Series, Irish Evening), annual festivals (Blackbird Poetry Festival, Lucille Clifton Reading), educational residencies (Bauder Lecture, Writer-in-Residence), and the globally distributed writer-to-writer talk show The Writing Life on YouTube. Programs are delivered in partnership with Howard Community College, Howard County Arts Council, and the Howard County Government.

Product overview

HoCoPoLitSo is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit literary organization that operates as a single unified program focused on enlarging the audience for contemporary poetry and literature. The organization delivers its mission through a portfolio of interconnected programs: The Writing Life (a writer-to-writer talk show), the Wilde Reading Series (monthly local author readings), the Annual Irish Evening, the Blackbird Poetry Festival, the Bauder Lecture Series, and the Lucille Clifton Reading. Additional programs include the Howard County Poet Laureate and Youth Poet Laureate Programs (administered in partnership with Howard County Arts Council and County Executive), the Ellen Conroy Kennedy Poetry Prize (annual contest), the Bauder Writer-In-Residence Program, and The LIT Calendar (regional literary events calendar).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Writing Life

Quantifiable outcome

• The Writing Life has over 1 million YouTube viewers worldwide
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Howard County Arts CouncilcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership in administering the Howard County Poet Laureate and Youth Poet Laureate programs, coordinated by HoCoPoLitSo with Howard County Arts Council managing grants process
• Howard County Government / Office of County Executive Calvin BallcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCounty Executive formally appoints Poet Laureates; Howard County Government provides funding and support for programs including Poet Laureate initiatives
• Howard Community CollegecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Bauder Lecture Series (endowed by Dr. Lillian Bauder), Blackbird Poetry Festival (Departments of Student Life and Humanities/World Languages), and The Writing Life recording studio (Dragon Digital TV)
• Queen Takes BookcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorIndependent bookstore venue for monthly Wilde Reading Series events (September-June) in Columbia, MD; provides space for two featured readers plus open mic sessions
• Girl Scouts of Central MarylandminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Creative Café events for young writers in grades 6-12, led by Howard County Youth Poet Laureate
• The Little Patuxent ReviewminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiterary journal that publishes the winning poem of the Ellen Conroy Kennedy Poetry Prize

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Cave Canem Foundation: Nonprofit literary organization supporting Black poets through workshops, residencies, and readings. Comparable nonprofit literary-arts mission focused on poet development and community readings, mirroring HoCoPoLitSo's Blackbird Festival and writer programming priorities.
• Split This Rock: DC-based nonprofit that produces poetry festivals, readings, and literary programming in the mid-Atlantic. Directly comparable to HoCoPoLitSo's model of regional literary festivals, readings, and writing-community programming; serves a similar mid-Atlantic demographic.
• The Loft Literary Center: Minneapolis-based nonprofit literary arts center offering classes, readings, writing residencies, and community workshops. Closely comparable mission and programming mix (readings, classes, festivals) to HoCoPoLitSo's Wilde Reading Series and Blackbird Poetry Festival.

Emerging players

• 826 National: Nonprofit network supporting writing and literacy education for youth through community writing centers. Overlaps with HoCoPoLitSo's Bauder Writer-In-Residence and Creative Cafes youth programs, though 826's model is storefront-anchored across multiple cities.

Regional players

• Folger Shakespeare Library: DC-based nonprofit literary institution offering readings, lectures, and educational programming in the mid-Atlantic. Comparable to HoCoPoLitSo's literary programming mix, with a permanent venue and broader institutional scope but also operating as a heritage library rather than a poetry-focused organization.
• Busboys and Poets: DC-area bookstore-cafe hybrid that hosts readings, spoken word, and literary programming in a community-focused commercial-venue format. Comparable literary community gathering space model to HoCoPoLitSo's Wilde Reading Series at Queen Takes Book; HoCoPoLitSo even holds some events at Busboys and Poets venues.

Broad incumbents

• PEN America: National literary and free-expression nonprofit that runs readings, festivals, and writing programs. Comparable nonprofit mission focused on literary community-building, though headquartered nationally with advocacy beyond HoCoPoLitSo's regional scope.
• National Book Foundation: Nonprofit that presents the National Book Awards and year-round literary programming. Comparable as a literary nonprofit steward brand, with much larger national reach and recognition than HoCoPoLitSo's local programming.
• Poetry Foundation: National nonprofit steward of contemporary poetry, publisher of Poetry magazine, and operator of poetry.org. Comparable to HoCoPoLitSo as a mission-driven literary nonprofit focused on enlarging the audience for poetry, but operating at national/international scale and running a major print/digital periodical rather than live community programming.
• Academy of American Poets: National literary nonprofit that promotes poetry through Prize, Poem-A-Day, and education programs. Comparable to HoCoPoLitSo as a poetry-focused nonprofit expanding access to literary arts, though its scope is national/online rather than community-anchored.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/hocopolitso
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@hocopolitso
• Facebookfacebook.com/HoCoPoLitSo

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Howard County Poetry and Literature Society