PoetryCircle is a forum for experienced writers. If, like us, you've grown tired of searching the Internet for a community of serious poets and writers, you may have finally found your poetic oasis online. We favor quality over quantity here; you'll see that at every turn. We'll leave the greeting card verse to other sites.

The point here is to have a site that offers not just static pages of poetry--a mere port of the paper-based literary journal that is so common on the web today. Instead, we want Poetry Circle to be interactive, and thus the site's technological foundation is that of a message board, where members may comment upon poems, converse with the poets, and contribute ideas and work of their own.

Beyond that, however, the concept of editorial oversight from the paper world is retained but applied here with a twist. We will make it easy to find work that we consider especially meritorious by having the roving editors of the site cull what they feel to be the best poems from the "submissions" board and move them into the "editors' picks" board. Editors have the tools to move threads (poems) from one board to another.

As we will ultimately have quite a few well-qualified editors from varied backgrounds and with wide-ranging tastes, readers will be able to enjoy a site that offers both quality and diversity.

If you would like to submit work to the site, first join Poetry Circle, read the Guidelines for Submission, and then create a New Topic for each poem that you wish to submit.

Special note: Because this is a forum of and for advanced writers, we encourage you to sign up using your real name, the pen name by which you are widely known, or the pen name by which you would like to be widely known. Changing your user name at a later time can be cumbersome. Using a fanciful user name will not endear you to the other writers who post here, and if you begin posting under a fanciful name, you will likely be asked to change it.

You may also, of course, join simply to participate in conversations or start topics. But remember: this is not a traditional send-in-your-work-and-be-judged journal. To get the most out of Poetry Circle, you must join the circle and contribute.

If you would like to be considered as an editor on this site, join Poetry Circle, contribute, and then contact one of the current editors to express your interest.

Suggestions regarding any enhancements to the site are welcome. It is organic, delightfully flexible, and will grow in whatever fashion the members desire. If you like the site, please spread the word.

Welcome.