About

From Nashville, TN to wherever the cards are taken.

The Writing on the Wall was started as a way to read and share poetry by the people near us physically. I thought if a physical item was created, a card, to leave in the shops, parks, and streets locally we could start a semi-scavenger hunt inviting poets to share their writing with this digital collection. With no publishing hoops to jump through, we could learn and be moved by each other’s work more directly. We’re next to each other all the time and don’t know it. Maybe we can surprise each other. Maybe the cards can travel and the poems can spread themselves outwards. We would love to read what you’ve learned. We would love to feel feelings you’ve felt. A poem for the purposes of this collection is flexible. If you’ve never written one but think it might be fun to try, do it. Let’s see what happens.

Are there rules for submission?

We want this collection to be approachable to all backgrounds and experience levels of writing, and to reflect each writer’s voice honestly and respectfully. We ask that you limit your submissions to 3 poems per week. You can submit as an anonymous writer, with credits to the author, or under a pseudonym. Just note in your email or DM submission how you would like to be credited. We are happy to link to your Instagram within the post of your work if you would like. As long as the content of the writing is not hate speech at its core, we will not censor or refuse to publish it to this collection. This collection will be housed on this website as well as Instagram, so to be on the Instagram page you and I both will have to submit ourselves to their community guidelines, otherwise all’s fair.

How do I submit my work?

There is a button at the top of this website to submit your work, you can write it out in text format or attach an image or pdf of formatted work if you prefer that. You can also send your work in a DM to @thewritingonthewall333 on Instagram. We are happy to format work submitted as simple text if you don’t have time or don’t know how you want it to look. If you have a specific vision in mind you can submit it formatted or note that you want it as is. I think it would be cool to share a photo of your poem hand-written on the paper left with the physical Writing on the Wall cards if you did write one using that, but we’re not God and we don’t expect it.

Is this going to be published in a book?

Eventually we hope to compile this collection into an annual anthology publication. This is a new poetry collective, so at the moment the work will all be collected and shared digitally on this website and the companion Instagram page exclusively. You will be notified and asked permission for publication in a book with proper attribution to the author when that time comes.