inspired
Matsuo Basho’s The Narrow Road to the Deep North changed my life. A travel diary and book of poetry, it tells the story of Basho’s wanderings around Japan in the 1600’s. He packed light and depended on the kindness of strangers. Along the way, he wrote poems with the people he met.
The idea that someone nearly 400 years ago, in a different language, from a different culture, wrote something that could speak so deeply to me was profound. Basho inspired me to think about our society and whether we too could have a poetry culture— where strangers who meet write poems together, and old friends compose letters as poetry.
There is something profound about the written word on ink and paper. Today’s culture often seems to be built on throwaway products and now we have digital messages that disappear once read. Writing letters is beautiful because it is harder than sending an email. Great relationships, like great art, take effort and dedication. We hope to embody those ideals in the products we make, and that Poetry Culture can do its part to promote a culture of effort and dedication to real communication between people.
As we continue, we’ll be publishing poetry, articles, and art. We’ll be producing high quality products that are inspired by art and, we hope, inspire you to create. Tag poems, drawings, or shots of you with your favorite Poetry Culture products with the tag #poetryculture
For submissions, please continue reading.
submissions
To submit your poetry, art, or other work for consideration please email poetry@poetryculture.com. For poetry, we pay $25 for up to three accepted poems. As firm believers in the value of art, we hope to increase these rates as the project grows. Please address any other enquires to the same email address. Thank you
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