“Poetry cannot stop bombs, but it can discredit them.”
– Rasha Abdulhadi
Mission
Provide readers and writers with literary resources such as helpful articles, tutorials, book and slam recommendations, educational blog posts and podcast episodes, and instructional workshops on a variety of genres/styles. With the hope that these tools will help them navigate the writing and publishing industry, especially as poets who are often underappreciated. Inspire them to start their writing journey or take on their own projects. Facilitate a space for them to create community among themselves and build professional relationships that will benefit them for the rest of their careers. Encourage them to express themselves, reflect on their experiences, and manifest success in their future.
Values
Diversity and Inclusion
Elani prioritizes diversity and inclusion in her business.
When considering what authors and poets to highlight in blog posts, workshops, or podcast episodes, Elani thinks about what their ethnicity, nationality, sexuality, or other demographics are first. It’s important for her to provide good representation for readers and writers from marginalized communities. As a queer, disabled Black woman, Elani understands the struggle of trying to find people who are successful in the writing and publishing industry that resemble her. It can be very discouraging when all we see are all-white, cis, able-bodied and straight faculties at presses or guests on book panels. So, Elani ensures a wide variety of role models receive a shout-out on all her platforms.
Accessibility
Elani prides herself on making all her services accessible to people of all abilities.
All the workshops use closed captioning for individuals who are deaf or hard-of-hearing. All articles, literary examples, and other links are provided in the virtual chat for participants with visual impairment to pull up on their own screen in a bigger font. Also, all these materials are sent out ahead of time via email, so anyone can familiarize themselves with the lesson in advance. Elani makes herself available via email if participants have any questions before or after the workshops.
Every piece in Elani’s portfolio has a hyperlink to a Google doc where a large print version is available for readers with visual impairment, so the zoom-in method isn’t needed. The website itself is clearly organized in a way that it can be easily navigated using text to speech technology or any other accessibility settings.
Accessibility also includes financial accessibility and since Elani’s workshops and services cost a fee, she makes sure to provide a sliding scale price for students K-12 and undergraduate. This payment path is an option on the registration form, and students will be prompted to send a picture of their student ID with the relevant year to prove their student status.
Overall, Elani wants everyone to be able to enjoy her writing and her services equally.
Sustainability
Elani aims to make her business as environmentally friendly as possible.
Since the majority of Elani’s services are available online, Muse Mosaics is 90% paperless. All the materials, presentations, and invitations can be accessed electronically. Then, the other 10% is usually borrowed from other writers/artists in the Roanoke area. For example, for her “Veterans that bend, don’t break” workshop, she re-used materials from other leaders who had leftover notebooks, pencils, handouts, and snacks. Also, she always opts for borrowing books from the library or buying from used bookstores rather than buying new ones from companies such as Amazon.
Besides this, Elani rarely uses AI generators unless they’re automatically connected to her search engine which is often the case especially with Google. It’s well-known that AI uses a lot of electricity while training and running, so it produces large amounts of carbon emissions which is affecting our atmosphere. Elani tries to not add to the problem by avoiding asking AI for suggestions, outlines, budget templates, or other business related things even though it’s very convenient.
Giving back to the community
Elani loves giving back to the community in any capacity that she can.
Elani offers many free workshops for the public, especially students, in the Roanoke area. These usually take place at different branch libraries in the community rooms. All of these are posted under the workshop tab and included in the arts and cultural newsletter to notify locals. So, Roanoke residents can get a small taste of what Muse Mosaics does without worrying about the fee or using the internet (like many older generations have told her they despise).
Besides this, Elani offers free advertisement to emerging writers by highlighting them in her local and national talent spotlight section on the website homepage. Anyone who is interested in being featured can fill out the form that is linked there. The spotlight will include their name, age, art medium, a head shot, and three examples of their work (hyperlinks or images).
Unfortunately, Elani cannot do financial donations until Muse Mosaics generates a profit, but she hopes to give money to local libraries, literary centers, and other places that are supporting the arts. Also, she wants to offer a writing grant and residency for emerging writers, so they can take time off to focus on their writing. Lastly, she hopes to expand her audience’s reach and travel to different places in the United States and beyond to provide in-person workshop opportunities.
Services
Workshops (Virtual)
- New themes each time! Can request a specific topic using the form.
- A mini lesson on a specific style, form, or practice with extensive examples.
- Live individual constructive feedback on your work.
- A mini interactive exercise to support your understanding of the material.
- Independent writing time to produce new work and practice what you learned.
- Opportunities to collaborate and interact with other writers during icebreakers, discussions, and partner work.
- Built in screen breaks.
Pricing: $10/per workshop package
Included:
- The learning workshop and the follow-up performance event to test your stage presence!
- The links to the presentation and all materials after the workshop.
- A copy of the poems Elani prepared and wrote for the workshop.
- +2 loyalty points that will add up to a free workshop voucher. 10 loyalty points = 1 free workshop
Workshops (In-person) — By Request
*A list of topic options is listed under the workshop tab. These are all subjects Elani is qualified to teach others. Anything that is requested beyond that will require research and extra prep, so they will cost more. These can be priced on a case by case basis, and can be discussed with Elani via email, phone call, or video chat.
Performances & Public Speaking — By Request
- School, company, or community center events
- Inside or outside
- A casual reading or slam performance
Included:
- 2-5 poems for the whole performance
- A speech about the importance of poetry and my creative journey
- An open Q&A or discussion panel after the performance
Pricing: $25/per hour + transportation comp. (depending on the distance)
Coaching & Mentoring — By Request
Included:
- Choose your topic from the following list:
Poetry or fiction (character, plot, setting, etc.), publication, performance, YPL program, paid work opportunities, networking, workshop curation, building and designing a website, curating posts for social media, creating your personal brand, finding jobs/contest/festivals that align with your passion, speaking to professionals at networking and casual events, resume, cover letter, and scholarship essay writing, and writing cold emails.
If you do not see a topic that interests you, you can request a different one on the form. However, it’s possible that Elani is not knowledgeable enough in this area.
Pricing: $35/session
Proofreading & Editing — By Request
Included:
- 1 meeting with Elani to discuss specific things you want her to look for
- Line by line comments/edits on online document
- A report on your “struggle” areas so you remember to double check your grammar, punctuation, etc. in the future
Pricing: $60/hour for long pieces (25+ pages)
OR $0.05 per word for short pieces (24 pages or less)
Ex. 1,000 words = $50
Manuscript Review — By Request
Included:
- 2 meetings with Elani: 1 to discuss what feedback you’re looking for & 1 to discuss the revisions and edits that she suggests
- Line by line comments/edits on online document
Pricing: $70/hour
Ghost Writing — By Request
Included:
- One-on-one meetings with Elani to discuss plot, characters, and other story elements. Have a chance to give Elani edits that you’d like
- Start to finish (brainstorming to final draft). Choose how much help you need!
Pricing: $90/hour (normal rate)
*Final price/rate depends on the length and extravagance of the project.
Team
Elani Spencer
Founder
Elani Spencer is a young poet from Rochester, New York who is currently pursuing a bachelors degree in Creative Writing at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia. Elani was crowned Roanoke Youth Poet Laureate in 2023 and served a two year term where she performed original poetry at local art events and taught poetry workshops for all ages. She was a guest performer for the 2025 Artemis Launch at the Taubman Museum, and read a poem by Nikki Giovanni to honor her life, career, and contribution to the journal. Also, she was the spokesperson for the 2025 Virginia Association of School Librarians Conference where she taught participants how to introduce their students to poetry using banned books.
In addition, Elani led the “Threads of Truth” bilingual poetry workshop at Melrose Branch Library in 2025 which showed participants how to incorporate Spanish and issues regarding immigration in their black-out poetry. Moreover, she has appeared on WDBJ7’s Virginia Voices Black History Month special twice, and was featured in multiple local newspapers including the Roanoke Times. Besides this, Elani was a participant in the 2025 Smithsonian Folklife and Cultural Festival and performed in the Wordsmith Cafe alongside other spoken-word artists. Furthermore, Elani attended the 2025 Martha’s Vineyard Institute of Creative Writing conference where she took poetry and fiction classes with writers across the United States.
When she is not writing, Elani enjoys traveling, going on hikes with her service dog, Rosemary, reading murder mysteries, and spending time with her loved ones.
