Photo by René Treece Roberts.
Todd Boss (b. 1968) is an Emmy-winning, Grammy-nominated American producer, writer, podcaster, and innovator. His fourth poetry collection from W. W. Norton & Co. is Someday the Plan of a Town (2022). His poems have appeared in The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, Poetry, and on National Public Radio. His first children’s book, The Boy Who Said Wow, is due in 2023 from Simon & Schuster’s Beach Lane imprint. His lyrics have been performed at Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall. He is the founding Artistic Director of Motionpoems, a production company that has turned more than 150 contemporary poems into short films. His podcast, There’s a Poem in That, launched in 2023. His patented consumer products include an adhesive laptop carrier. A farm kid from Wisconsin's Chippewa Valley, he sold all his possessions in 2018 and circled the globe in a series of 30+ house-sits. He is still a nomad.
Todd's varied creative practice involves product development, literature, film, lyrics, public art, theater, and programmatic initiatives that often evolve into patents, companies, and nationwide activations.
Be warned: If you sit down next to me on a plane, or
start chatting with me at a party ... we will end up collaborating.
— Todd Boss
More about Todd
Todd's artistic vision is to make the world more poetic. His non-traditional projects exhibit elegance of expression, simplicity of execution, accessibility, and multimedia collaborations. His work often involves development of platforms that invite collaborations, including a cross-disciplinary film company, an augmented-reality app, and a 100-college playwriting residency network.
Impact is at the heart of Todd’s practice. His ventures skew toward collaborations with women and people of color, or involve tangible charitable give-back for refugee relief work, childhood literacy, disadvantaged youth travel abroad programs, or the work of the American Civil Liberties Union.
Todd's shared and solo patent projects include The Laptop Strap (a minimalist adhesive that turns a laptop into a wearable device) and Limber Bows (a re-curved shoulder-height alternative to hiking poles) launched in 2021.
His public artworks include a train-based VR "thrill ride", a building projection, a river installation, and an AR spirit-guided nature tour — projects that have attracted major grants, awards, and sponsors such as The Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Northern Spark Arts Festival, The University of Minnesota Medical School, The Poetry Foundation, Volkswagen of America, and the Clinton White House.
Todd's four poetry collections are published by W. W. Norton & Co. He has an MFA in Poetry from the University of Alaska-Anchorage. Todd's poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Poetry, National Public Radio, The London Times, American Poetry Review, Georgia Review, New England Review, The Sun, Best American Poetry, and many anthologies. His poetry has been recognized with Prairie Schooner's Glenna Luschei Prize, Virginia Quarterly Review's Balch Prize, the Minnesota Book Award, the Midwest Booksellers' Choice Award, various fellowships, and eleven Pushcart nominations.
His practice of writing poems on private commission evolved into a podcast in which he helps strangers discover the poetry in their most intimate stories — now available on all platforms.
His lyrics for choir and solo voice have been performed at Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, and around the world. Recognitions include features on two Grammy nominated albums, a regional Emmy, and many high-profile commissions, including the Brock Memorial Commission from the American Choral Directors' Association.
He has worked with 150 filmmakers, and Pulitzer-winning and early-career poets alike, on poetry films that have been presented in Cannes, London, Dublin, New York, LA and elsewhere. His film company, Motionpoems, has been recognized with two regional Emmys and by the National Book Foundation's "Innovations in Reading" Award, and received a $125,000 Knight Arts Challenge, among dozens of awards, citations, and festival laurels.
His first children's book, The Boy Who Said Wow, is forthcoming from Simon & Schuster's Beach Lane imprint.
Todd grew up on an 80-acre cattle farm near Fall Creek, Wisconsin, and attended St. Olaf College and the University of Alaska–Anchorage. In 2018, he sold all his possessions and gave up a permanent address. A nomad, he has since circled the globe on a series of 30 consecutive house-sits and dozens of short term rentals, most recently in Austin, Long Beach, Bozeman, Lisbon, Asheville, and New Orleans.
In the media
These outlets, among others, have recognized Todd Boss Originals:
What's next?
Todd's currently at work on a book, a musical, consumer product launches,
a writer's workshop, a podcast, and a gift box concept.
Want more?
Dive deeper into Todd's creative process by joining his inner circle on Patreon, where he sharesbehind-the-scenes and in-progress updates on all his projects, poems, patents, and products.