WORDS BY ROMY

Welcome to @WordsbyRomy, an Instagram poetry project you might not expect. A project that takes everything you may know about Instapoetry and challenges it, a project that celebrates modern classical poetry through loving and amateur experimentation.

 

Maybe you’re like me, and you’ve stumbled upon the rendition of the genre on Instagram. You’ve seen the success of Rupi Kaur, and perhaps noted other Instapoet accounts of the like. Maybe a few, maybe a dozen, or like me, hundreds of those accounts. You’ll notice how they deviate from the Robert Frosts and the Maya Angelous we read in high school. Deviate in a way that feels...simple.

 

The genre of poetry has been molded to fit the platform: short-form poetry for short attention-spanned social media consumers. Poetic? Certainly. Poetry? An ongoing debate.​

 

So what now?

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In these pre-launch works, Words by Romy looks to challenge the nature of the genre on Instagram by celebrating poetry’s roots. Hopefully you’ll find a story, a journey, a backbone of narrative. You’ll find length, intentional length, in the stanzas. You’ll find deliberate integration of the elements of classically-trained poetry, woven into each poem. Practicing enjambment, syncopation, and meaningful use of metaphor. Playing with slant rhymes and metonymy. 

 

Let's get started.