•••
Spoiler alert: Nothing’s changed!
Posting will resume on August 19, 2024.
In this letter, our founder speaks on our hiatus and issues a PSA.
•••
•••
Dear Poets + Poetry Lovers,
Ten and a half years in, who would’ve thought that you’d find us taking our very first sabbatical?
And without notice!
The Poet’s List has been on an unprecedented hiatus since mid-June. We halted all news posts, interviews, social media engagement and even email.
As the founder, I believe that I owe you an explanation.
•••
I’ll start with a disclaimer – one that I’ve given a few times before.
I am many things: a Christian woman, African-American and a Brooklyn-native, to name a few. When it comes to my opinions and perspectives, I am someone who exists in both nuance and deep conviction.
I also have a background in journalism; receiving my degree just prior to any shift in media propaganda law. This background has allowed me to run The Poet’s List with an unapologetic degree of journalistic integrity.
Therefore, I’ve always maintained that I – your loving founder – am not The Poet’s List. My opinions are not The Poet’s List. And neither are my beliefs.
•••
So, this summer brought about a major dilemma for me. For someone who has always professed the Christian faith, only this year have I actually gained a true understanding of the Gospel. My desire to lead people to Jesus, and not away from Him, became such a fire in my soul that I didn’t know if I could rightly continue running The Poet’s List. I didn’t want for this site’s content to be the vessel which leads someone down a different path. I know that might sound incredibly offensive, but this is truly what I’ve been wrestling with.
I received quite a few suggestions: “Turn it into a Christian poetry site” or “Censor the things you disagree with.” Both of these are things I refuse to do. I’ve also considered selling or shutting down the website.
This is when I decided that we would be taking a hiatus.
I needed some time to determine how to reconcile my purpose (spreading the Gospel) with my commitment to The Poet’s List (cultivating a safe space for poets + poetry-lovers).
•••
I’ve decided to return to my original stance: That I am not The Poet’s List and that we can continue to exist separately. I will remain in prayer over this but, for now: I’ve decided that I will continue The Poet’s List as-is; and as you’ve always known it to be.
- We will resume news, social media posting and email responses on August 19, 2024.
- Outreach for print interviews will begin in October.
- Our app is still live.
- The podcast will be paused indefinitely.
- The shop is open and will include an automatic 20% discount on all apparel through August, as an apology for our hiatus.
•••
And, while I have your attention… there is one more point to address:
The Poet’s List launched in March of 2014 and we have made it through the beginning – and through the thick of – cancel culture with our integrity intact. This is largely due to our wonderful community of poets who see past the perpetual attempts at divisiveness.
But since things continue to escalate in our country and abroad, let me affirm: The Poet’s List does not tolerate hate speech. We live in a time where silence – or an opposing opinion – is automatically equated to hate speech. But, I assure you it is not. Hate speech is hate speech; and it has no place on our site.
We have never censored the opinions of our poets. But, we will redact – or may refuse to print – any interview (or answer) that falls under the category of hate speech. We will continue to do our very best to discern passionate opinions from hate speech so that we don’t unintentionally cross the line into censorship.
•••
As it relates to The Poet’s List, we remain a neutral entity, regardless of the opinion of the founder, our contributors or affiliates. Therefore, the entity of The Poet’s List has not and will not ever provide a statement or opinion on:
- Donald Trump
- Republicans, Conservatives
- Joe Biden, Kamala Harris, Liberals
- Democrats
- Hamas, Israel, Gaza, Iran
- Russia, Ukraine
- China, Taiwan
- Black Lives Matter
- Law Enforcement
- LGBT, Pride
- Immigration
- Supreme Court, Federal or State Decisions
- Domestic or Foreign attacks
…or any other non-poetry related issue, be it: political, geo-political, social justice, gender-related, economic, racial, etc.
Of course, we will run poems, articles or interviews which cover or make mention of these topics, so long as they do not include hate speech.
•••
Thank you for being so patient during this break. We, of course, hope that you do not choose to part ways with us now. But, if you do: we are here should you choose to return.
As we always say, we hope that The Poet’s List continues to be a safe space for you to explore poetry and form connections.
We love all of you, dearly, and we deeply appreciate the ten years of support. We will resume soon.
Best,
Alexzenia Davis, Founder
The Poet’s List
