Welcome to Poetry in Form

Where poetic form is not dead and it’s ok to color inside the lines…

Poetic form.

Brings back memories from your high school creative writing class, doesn’t it? The class where you agonized over creating flawless iambs and counted syllables on your fingers to double, triple, and quadruple check your haiku. Even if you stuck with poetry long after graduation, these forced experiences may have turned you off from using traditional forms and catapulted you into the wild, wild world of free verse.

But, isn’t there something just so magical about writing in form?

When you complete that villanelle, it sure feels like an accomplishment doesn’t it? Like you’ve joined the ranks of the great poets who have gone before you. Like you are holding on to a piece of history and becoming connected to network of poets who, too, challenged themselves to express an idea within strict limitations and still made it sound as natural as inhaling and exhaling.

Poetry in Form is here to celebrate that

and to celebrate the creativity that blossoms amidst imposed boundaries. Of course there is a time and place to paint abstract forms on a blank canvas but, in order to appreciate that experience, one must also color inside the lines from time to time.

So, join us

whether you are already a lover of poetic form or would like to learn how to write poetry using established poetic forms. My hope is that Poetry in Form will become a publication that is interactive for both readers and writers, featuring poetry written in traditional forms as well as tutorials for writing in form and explorations of lesser known forms. Follow, stick around, and consider submitting your own original poetry or joining us for a monthly Poetry in Form prompt.