Welcome to the ONLY POEMS Substack!
ONLY WHY
Back in August 2023, we decided to start a digital litmag dedicated to poets. We launched it the next month on Leonard Cohen’s birthday. Major Jackson was our first Poet of the Week. Since then, we’ve been lucky to feature amazing poets each week, with 3-7 poems a poet and a detailed interviews. We’re immensely grateful for the positive community we’ve already started creating.
This substack has sprouted from the great churning bubbling adventure that is our litmag aching to break through to even more poets and writers all over the world. We figured that we can only publish 52 poets a year, but there are other ways we want to help grow and give back to the poetry and literary community at large.
And since this newsletter is reader-supported, it also helps fund our litmag (which, for now, is funded with a bit of extra pocket money from publishing our own poems).
ONLY WHAT
Through our MFA research, application assistance and conversations with publishing experts, we bring you the world’s best platforms for furthering your life as a writer whose work is valuable and deserves love, readers, and yes — money.
We also feature one exciting poem every month and break down why we picked it, what stands out for us, and why that particular piece speaks to the present culture at large.. Sometimes these poems will be thematic or ekphrastic challenges. Every selected poet is paid $11. You have to be a subscriber (either free or paid) to submit. More details on submissions coming soon!
Our goal is to make your writing, publishing, reading, and learning journey a little easier and a lot more enjoyable.
So, take a look around and sign up if you like our vibe. We’d love to have you as part of our “ONLY”-fam. The only thing we’ll bare is our naked bleeding hearts on the page!
ONLY WHO
Most of our newsletters are written by Shannan Mann (Founding Editor) and Justine Payton (Managing Editor). Karan Kapoor (Editor-in-Chief) manages the Poem of the Month feature. You can read more about us here.
ONLY HOW
Sign up for a free subscription to receive occasional public posts and the Poem of the Month feature. If you’re in a position to do so, please consider signing up for a paid subscription to help us keep our digital lights on and also for all the amazing perks! Details below.
