Celebrating National Poetry Month by highlighting 30 days of literary journals that publish poetry you can read in 5 minutes or less.

Day #2: Words Without Borders

If you’re like my friend Emily, a voracious literary fiction reader working her way through the top 100 international classic books of the past century, curious about poetry but unsure where to begin reading, you might like Words Without Borders. 

Mission: “Words Without Borders expands cultural understanding through the translation, publication, and promotion of the finest contemporary international literature.”

Below is an excerpt from the newest poetry publication titled “February 23, 2022” by Danyil Zadorozhnyi. Translated from Ukrainian by Isaac Stackhouse Wheelerand by Yuliya Charnyshova

“and if the war, not just any war, came to our home
and we had to flee to another city in another part of the country
I’d like to be helped there
not for the people there to make xenophobic comments on the internet
trying to catch my kids speaking the wrong language
twisting my wife’s tongue—she’s from Belarus, for heaven’s sake, seeking shelter here”

Reach out if you want me to find a poetry-publishing literary journal hand-selected just for you.

There are hundreds. Find one you love and read more poetry.

Write poems.

Listen with your heart.