Poetry readings are notorious for putting audiences to sleep. Which is why Poems Out Loud‘s devotion to the notion of experiencing poetry read aloud—and read well—is so thrilling. The site was inspired by Robert Pinksy’s just-published book Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud. Not to be confused with slam or spoken word poetry (which can be more performance art than poetry), the poems read here exist first and foremost on the page. But taking a poem in this way—many of the poems are read by the poet who wrote them—permits us to close our eyes and be knocked flat by these shots of compressed, refined language.
Input your search keywords and press Enter.
The Rumpus needs your help. We need to raise $25,000 $3,100 to fill our funding gap for 2024.
Our home base is Asheville, NC and Hurricane Helene severely impacted our ability to host events, launch new initiatives, and caused other significant financial setbacks this fall.
Can you support us at any level by Dec. 31? Every dollar counts and is a sign that our readers collectively value creative labor and independent publishing.
Sign up for the weekly Rumpus
Once a week, we'll send you a roundup of what's new on the magazine, invites to upcoming events, open calls for submissions, and more!