This cohort page is a functional directory for writers who love the written word. Learn more about the vision for these here.
Use this page to identify overlap, initiate collaboration, and reduce guesswork.
I originally built these directories because I kept mentally trying to remember who was working on what so I could point newer people in the right direction. This gives me a simple place to direct people instead of trying to reconstruct those connections from memory every time.
In the comments, add a one-sentence description of what you’re currently working on. If you see a real challenge we should name, add it. If you have collaboration ideas, suggest them. The goal is not for this to stay static, but to grow with the people in it.
And just to clarify, there’s no pressure attached to being included here.
This directory will be lightly updated every couple of months as new writers and projects emerge.
Real Challenges Writers in This Lane Often Face
Poetry often receives quick reactions but less sustained engagement.
Readers may skim instead of sitting with the language.
Balancing clarity with artistic depth.
Explaining context without over-explaining the poem.
Maintaining confidence when engagement numbers fluctuate widely.
Easy Collaboration Ideas
Prompt-based poetry chains
Themed poetry collections
Poet feature interviews
Spoken word video exchanges
Poetry + art collaborations
Follow, Subscribe, and Tag
One helpful approach when you discover a new publication is to spend some time in their archives. Reading a few older posts will give you a better sense of their voice and what they write about before deciding whether you want to stay connected.
Follow and Subscribe as much as you can. Sub for sub gets a bad rap, and it is not sustainable as your publication grows. But when you are starting out without a community, following and subscribing to other writers is simply how you begin to enter the room. There is nothing wrong with unfollowing or unsubscribing later as you become more familiar with someone’s work. Alignment is the goal. Over time your focus fine-tunes, and many authors also discover their voice as they go, so there is a natural learning curve on both sides.
To avoid email overwhelm: adjust your inbox settings so Substack emails automatically go into a separate folder. That way you can subscribe freely and treat it more like a library you browse when you want, rather than a stream of messages demanding attention. (see how here).
Tagging can be a simple way to help people actually see a conversation. Used thoughtfully, tagging creates an easy on-ramp into conversation and collaboration. We often assume people in our circles will come across our Notes, but many things get missed because someone was offline or the platform never showed it to them. So while posts are emailed to subscribers, it’s much more unpredictable whose feeds your Notes land in. So, when appropriate, tag.
Writers in This Lane
Women
Kimberly Phinney — #1 person to check out. She founded The Way Back to Ourselves, a poetry-centered creative community, The Way Back Books hybrid publishing imprint, and Poetry University for poets looking to grow. Be sure to check out her poetry book, Exalted Ground.
Deborah Rutherford — Explore her new book, Prodigal Daughter
Mandy Morris — Erasure poetry
Men
I will slowly be updating the details next to people’s name.
But until then if you would like more context about someone’s work, scroll through the comments where many have shared a bit about what they write.
And I know I’ve connected with far more people in this lane than are currently listed here, so if I’ve missed you or someone else should be included, please leave a comment. This is very much a growing, imperfect working directory.
If you enjoyed this directory, I’d love to invite you to subscribe to my publication.
I write about prayer, becoming more whole in Christ, everyday discipleship, and family life. Alongside essays, you’ll also find free kid’s Bible studies, book lists, and a living conversation about growing more confident in sharing your work.
And because I’m endlessly curious, you’ll soon begin to find deep dives into authors, Substack writers, books, and ideas. The first three will be Griffin Gooch, Kimberly Phinney, and Tanner Olson. These aren’t emailed out, always in app. So, make sure you’re following along.
Outside of Substack, I also create speech-sound story quests, whimsical allegories, and early-reader adventure stories for families.
At the heart of it all is a story of God bringing me from darkness to light, so I can’t help but write about hope, transformation, grace, and the reality that no person is too far gone for God to reach. More than anything, my passion is sharing Jesus with my whole heart.
You can generally expect to hear from me every other Tuesday at 7:07am, with occasional bonus posts and resources sprinkled in when time and life allow.
I also host Virtual Substack meetups. Sign up here if you’d like to hear about future gatherings as dates open up.
For those wanting to dive deeper into Substack, here’s the full series:
Part 1 — Notes
Part 2 — Restacks
Part 3 — Subscribers, Bios, Posting Rhythm, Paid Subscriptions
Part 4 — Collaborations, Subscriber Chat, Direct Messages
Part 5 — Attention, Boundaries, Inner Life
Part 6 — Encouragement, Collaboration, Community Directories
Part 7 — Metrics, Platforms
Part 8 — Creativity in the Age of AI
Part 9 — Marketing, Visual Media
Part 10 — Comparison, Mental Health, Sleep
Part 11 — Coaching, Editing, Peer Review
Bonus: Recommendations
Bonus: Practical Substack How To’s
Fill out this anonymous survey to share your questions, frustrations, and all the “wait… nobody told me that” parts of Substack.
Glad you’re here,
—AJ
My name is Hannah and I've been writing poetry on Substack for almost a year now. I'm not great at sharing about it, but that's been my goal for this year is to be more bold about my work, especially with other people directly. I write about a lot of aspects of my life--faith, motherhood, writing itself. Right now, I'm working on a project I gave myself to write a poem for every major event in the liturgical calendar.
Thank you so much AJ for including me on this wonderful lists of poets. I love poetry and grateful to God for showing us what poetry is.