Read Write Poem is an online gathering place for those who love poetry — and for those who suspect that, with a little nurturing, they could grow to love poetry.

Whether you are new to writing poetry or have been writing for years, you are welcome here. If you don’t write poetry but love to read and discuss it, this is also the place for you. (And who knows: After participating for a few months, you might realize you want to try your hand at writing a poem or two after all.)

Also, who says all our writing has to be done alone? Sure, as poets we love and need our solitude, but it’s nice to interact from time to time and reach out to a community of poets. That’s why Read Write Poem encourages participants to collaborate with one another. Working with a writing partner or a group of writers can be inspirational and educational. Collaboration might even get you out of a writing rut or help you work past that dreaded “writer’s block.”

All that’s required to participate is an Internet connection, gobs of love for the P word, an interest in trying your hand at collaborative poetry from time to time, and respect for and generosity toward your fellow participants.

The project launched Nov. 12, 2007 with a meet and greet post. On Nov. 14 the first Read Write Prompt was posted on the site.

Any questions? Oh, looks like we have a couple —

How does it all work?
Every Wednesday at midnight CST (GMT - 5), we will share a new Read Write Prompt post. This post contains — you guessed it — an optional (but strongly encouraged) prompt. Although geared toward individual and collaborative poetry-writing, Read Write Prompts can certainly be adapted for those participants who enjoy reading and discussing poetry. The current week’s Read Write Prompt will also be linked from the top of the left sidebar for easy reference.

The following Monday at midnight CST (GMT - 5), we will publish the Get Your Poem On post, which is where participants can leave a comment with the permalink to whatever they are sharing on their blogs. This post will always remain open for a week, until the next week’s Get Your Poem On post appears on the site. At that point, we will close comments so the comment-spam monkeys don’t find their way into our old posts and make a big mess of things trying to peddle their rotten bananas and whatnot.

What can I share?
Some examples of things participants might share include a poem they’ve written, a poem they’ve worked on collaboratively with another poet (or poets), or both. Participants can also share pieces about poetry — anything from their favorite book of poems to the latest reading they attended to discussions of what poems they love and why.

There’s no limit to how many ways you can contribute each week. And since folks are free to leave permalinks all week long, until the next prompt goes up, make sure you check back throughout the week to see all the new contributions as they come in. We recommend that all participants subscribe to the comments feed for this project so they will be alerted to new contributions as they are added. (For the project’s comments RSS feed, look at the bottom of the left sidebar. Send us an e-mail if you have any questions about setting up this feed.)

No more questions? OK, let’s all roll up our sleeves! Poem is an action after all, one that consists of writing, reading and sharing poetry. So let’s all get our poem on.

(Also, don’t miss the random reading, writing and collaborating tips in the left sidebar, and let us know if you have any tips you’d like to share.)