I started McWhitney's Poetry Service in the Fall of 2025 after concluding a PhD program in Religious Studies at the University of Southern California. There, I was interested in many things, but especially the spiritual outlook and legacy of American Romantics like Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson. After laboring for years over writings and discussions ABOUT American Romantics, I found myself wanting to just BE one. McWhitney's Poetry Service was born out of this shift. Through this live poetry work, I would like to bring literary art and meaningful discussion to all sorts of settings outside of the confines of classical institutions. For a long time, I had a sense that I would take quite naturally to the growing practice of live typewriter poetry, (having studied and written poetry for so long). Gathering from the overwhelmingly positive responses to this project, my hunch was right. I look forward to offering this interactive art form to you and your guests!