Welcome to the new Read Write Poem! Do you like it? Are you surprised? Pleasantly, we hope! We’ve been busy — behind the scenes — reworking the template and mixing up Read Write Poem.

Why? We wanted to do a few things:

• Pretty up the site with new clothes and a cute haircut. Isn’t it nice?
• Mix things up so the project is easier to manage and yet has even more wonderful content, more of what we all love and more of well, more. Poetry stuff. News. Links. Information. More prompts.
• Promote the collaborative part of RWP, which has been part of the project’s vision since the beginning.
• Make the project more of a showcase for how you are creating the world of poetry.

That’s right. Our new template, featuring the fantastic art of Charlotte Peys, is not just pretty. It’s built around the notion that your participation is key here at Read Write Poem. Toward that end, we have several new elements here that we’d like to walk you through with a handy visual (at the end of the post).

But first we want to introduce ourselves to you as the new management team: Deb, who you all know, has been doing a wonderful job of managing the project since January. She’s now joined by co-managers Christine — who’s been with the site since the beginning, Dana — who founded the project but had to step away until May for health reasons, and Nathan — who has been participating since May. All four of us will handle the administration of the site.

(And don’t worry. As you can see from the Brought to You By page, we still have our great lineup of columnists and contributors who will continue to bring you outstanding features and prompts.)

Additionally, Nathan will be heading up the collaborative side of the site, which we’ll be emphasizing even more than in the past. That leads us to Read Write Prompts. There is one major shift in the department: Every other week, we will provide a collaborative prompt. On alternating weeks, the prompt will be for individually authored work.

We feel this lineup will help give people the boost they need to start collaborating. And no worries: Nathan will see to it that we have plenty of avenues of entry into collaboration. So nobody needs to feel worried that it will be beyond them or outside their comfort zone. And if you don’t want to collaborate, you will still have the opportunity to contribute pieces you’ve written by yourself every other week.

Plus, we’re throwing other prompt elements into the mix. Word cloud prompts, image prompts and the like will be added to the weekly lineup so you have lots of options for writing inspiration. Do you have ideas for other types of prompts? Let us know. We’re interested in any and all suggestions. Send your ideas to prompts (at) readwritepooem (dot) org.

Now, on to the visual walk-through of the new joint (see the graphic below for the numbers that correspond with each item listed):

1. Navigate the site through the tabs at the top of the page, just like on the old site.
2. Get the new badge!!! It’s available in two options.
3. Make use of even more site navigation options in this handy box. Just hover over the header tab for the information you are looking for.
4. Check us out on Identica and Facebook. If you join the Facebook group, you will be included in our project mailing list.
5. Click through to featured participant-run projects. How great is that? If you run a project, get in touch with us at info (at) readwritepoem (dot) com and we can talk about shuffling your logo into the mix.
6. Read the Read Write Poem newsfeed. This is where we’ll be sharing poetry-related news, with an emphasis on Read Write Poem participant news. Did you get a poem or chapbook published? Attend a workshop? Have a wild poetry-related discussion on your blog? Our newsfeed will let everyone know. But! You need to let us know, which you can do by emailing us at news (at) readwritepoem (dot) org.
7. Don’t forget The Randomizers! We still have loads of random prompts, writing tips, collaborating tips and reading tops to choose from. Just hit refresh to have a new tip or prompt served up.

What all these changes come down to is simple: We want to provide you with loads of inspiration and information while emphasizing that this is your community. If you have something on your blog that would make a good feature article or if you have a word or image or collaborative venture that would make a great prompt, tell us! This is the place where we read and write together. Most importantly this is the place where we poem together.

Poem On!
Christine, Dana, Deb, Nathan

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