Welcome to Poets Reading the News, the newspaper for poetry on current events! Substack (aka here) is where we share our newsletters featuring letters from the editors, archive picks, and our latest poetry. And of course, you can always see our latest headlines on our front page.
This newsletter is our favorite way to keep updated about not just the headlines but the feeling of the world around and within us - and we hope it will soon be yours too.
Sign up now so you don’t miss our next issue!
In the meantime, tell your friends!
About Us
Poets Reading the News was founded in Oakland, Calif. in 2016 to provide the world with a dedicated, rigorous and pathbreaking platform for poetry. This work is urgent and extraordinary, tackling issues including the COVID-19 pandemic, politics, identity, gun violence, climate change, technology, and immigration in real time. We’ve published hundreds of poet-journalists from over 25 countries, including the U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists, as well as established and emergent writers.
Our mission is to enact poetry’s vital cultural function as a processor for violence, cultural complexity, and political change in a society overwhelmed by the headlines. We’re out to prove what we know is true: in times of darkness, poetry is essential reading.
We are home to a dynamic publishing house, event series and curriculum program. Read all about it right here and get in touch with us here.