Summary

Paper Poetry has successfully concluded its inaugural weekly poetry prompt on the theme of "Home" and is now introducing a new ekphrastic poetry prompt for the second week.

Abstract

The Paper Poetry community has recently celebrated the success of its first weekly poetry prompt centered around the theme of "Home." The prompt inspired a variety of submissions, ranging from micropoetry to longer pieces, all of which were well-received by the community. As the prompt closes, the editorial team thanks the contributors and readers for their participation and announces the transition to the next prompt. The second week's challenge invites poets to explore ekphrastic poetry, with the visual stimulus being a garden art photo provided at the top of the newsletter. Participants are encouraged to exercise creative freedom within certain guidelines, including a maximum line limit of 40 lines and the inclusion of a handwritten or handcrafted element in their submissions. The new prompt aims to inspire a fresh wave of poetic creativity, with submissions open from January 22 to 28.

Opinions

The Paper Poetry team expresses immense gratitude to the community for the enthusiastic response to the inaugural poetry prompt.
The team is delighted with the variety and quality of the submissions received for the "Home" theme.
There is an acknowledgment that the theme of "Home" was inspiring and led to an overflow of creativity among the writers.
The editorial team is excited to introduce a new type of prompt, an ekphrastic challenge, which is expected to provide a different kind of inspiration for the poets.
The team emphasizes the importance of simplicity and a focus on poetry by discouraging the addition of explanatory notes or backstories with the submissions.
New writers are warmly welcomed to participate in the prompt, with clear instructions provided on how to join and submit their work.

Off To A Flying Start

Leaving ‘home’ behind and onto our next weekly poetry prompt

Hello to all our Paper Poetry friends,

What an exciting week we’ve had at Paper Poetry! And it’s all thanks to our wonderful community of followers, writers and readers — that’s you! ✨

A huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to the success of our inaugural weekly poetry prompt: Home. We’ve been delighted with the response and as I write we are still receiving submissions — woo hoo, there’s another one coming in!

We started small — by that I mean, micropoetry small — but what a feast of tasty bite-size offerings you delivered. Here they are — Always Searching by Evelyn Jean Pine A Simple Meaning by Suntonu Bhadra Backyard Memories by Thalia Dunn Dark Home by Toni Crowe Dear House by Carolyn Hastings Home Is Where You Are by Lilie Kaizen Our Home by Wry Welwood The Swing by Indubala Kachhawa Tintinnabulation by Monoreena Acharjee Majumdar

The theme so inspired some writers that their words overflowed into longer pieces — it happens! I’ve listed their stories here for your enjoyment — Heart is Where the Home Is by Wry Welwood Nest by Dr. Fatima Imam The Halcyon Days At Home by Indubala Kachhawa Wellspring by Jean Campbell

Please treat yourselves to these creative gems and support their sparkling creators with claps, highlights and comments. 💞

Join us now as we close the door on our ‘home’ prompt and open wide the door to a new one. ✨

✨ Poetry Prompt — Week 2

Suntonu mentioned in last week’s announcement that our weekly prompts will offer some variety. Our ‘home’ prompt had a single word theme and a word limit. This week, we’re tempting you with something different. ✨

A picture prompt!

And since the only picture in this newsletter is the one at the top, that’s it!

Your task, if you choose to accept it, is to write a poem inspired by the photo at the top of this newsletter.

Technically, it’s called ekphrastic poetry — poetry inspired by some form of visual stimulus, typically a painting or a sculpture. In this instance, the visual stimulus is garden art.

Prompt details

Type: Ekphrastic

Form: your choice of poetry

Theme: your choice but it must connect with the garden art photo above (please do not write about Paper Poetry’s logo!)

Line limit: maximum 40 lines

Title/subtitle/kicker: your choice but should relate to the prompt in some way

Tags: please use W2 Prompt and Ekphrastic tags when submitting your poem

Image: one image only; must incorporate a handwritten/handcrafted element in accordance with Paper Poetry’s submission guidelines. For example, a handwritten portion of the poem, a decorative title, an illustrated version of the photo prompt. A screenshot of the photo prompt or part thereof can be used but it must be accompanied by the writer’s own handiwork.

Extensions: please refrain from adding explanatory notes, backstories etc. that expand upon your poem. We want to keep these weekly prompts simple and poetry-centric. You are, however, welcome to add a promotional link to this prompt and tag other writers to join the prompt.

Submission period: January 22–28

New writers are most welcome to participate in the prompt. In the comments below, please request to be added as a writer and include your Medium @ handle; or email us at [email protected]

The next weekly poetry prompt announcement will be on January 29.

That’s it from me. Time for you to get those pigs — I mean, pens — flying!

Carolyn Hastings

Paper Poetry Editorial Team Suntonu Bhadra | Indubala Kachhawa | Carolyn Hastings