A New Approach to the Poetry Forums

[PiP]

Poets

A recent rethink about the relationship between the Poetry Forum and the Poetry Workshop has resulted in a decision to differentiate between the two forums in a fundamental way.

The Poetry Workshop will remain the place where poets should expect in-depth critique, comments and suggestions to workshop poems towards publishable standard. It also remains the place where the writers' work will be invisible to search engines to preserve the 'first publication rights' that many publishers demand.


The Poetry Forum is aiming to become a more relaxed and inclusive place where the critique should be just as honest and valid but with a gentler and less structured vibe. In other words, a place where poets could post poems with no intention or expectation of publication but just to see how other poets will feel about it and what tips they might pick up for ways to improve the work. The chance to revise the poem and work on it will still be there of course.

Even in a relaxed atmosphere, manners demand that all comments are acknowledged and remember, a respectful friendly attitude between all participating members will make the forum thrive and grow. The more people we can persuade to post poems and leave comments for others, the better and more enjoyable our poetic community will become.

The main Poetry Board is open to the whole internet (not just WF members.)

[escorial]

a tweak here and there is ok an if it ain't broke don't fix it is a great approach...i've always found the poetry sections open and broad minded..some want to stick by the rules others want to argue the toss over the content but the mods have done a cracking prefect job keeping the mob content....a vibrant,varied mix of poems that always provide a pov i like to share sometimes but now and again you come across one and it delivers on everything a poem should be....long may it continue

[clark]

The proposed two groups are a good 'split' in tone and expectation. An important point: you can post a poem casually in the new Forum, with interest in feedback only and, obviously, no interest in submitting anywhere. But if--just "if"--it happened that the poem was vigorously workshopped, title changed, etc to the point where the piece was transformed, you can legitimately say it is unpublished. It is not at all the original poem that was placed on the public boards