All PoetryReviews 144

If you are a serious writer/poet don't waste your time on this site. It's a social club where too many users only seek to gain followers by following other users, have their profile page decorated with childish ribbons from entering foolish contests, and give comments on poems that are meaningless "required" comments that non paying members must give in order to post a poem. In addition, I reported a user that made horribly inappropriate comments on one of my posts, including profanity, and the site management took no action. There's more but I'll spare AllPoetry from further criticism at this time. But, once again, don't waste your time posting anything on the site.
Below is a screenshot of my complaint to AllPoetry moderator. It was submitted April 9,2024.

This platform promises a space for aspiring poets to refine their craft, but in reality, it's a cesspool of subpar verse and fragile egos. Constructive criticism is met with the tantrums of delicate poets who can't handle even the mildest of feedback. All Poetry is a wasteland of uninspired verse and fragile egos masquerading as a creative community. The contests are nothing short of laughable. They serve as a dumping ground for an avalanche of mostly subpar poetry, drowning out any semblance of talent. It's abundantly clear that the system is rigged. The positive reviews posted all over should definitely be taken with a grain of salt. Kevin seems oblivious to the lack of quality control for the site and it doesn't do any good to bring it up to him. Avoid this site like the plague if you value your sanity and your standards for poetry.
UPDATE: Pretty much everything Kevin said below is lies. I didn't use the name John on Allpoetry so, he doesn't know who I am. I would never, ever tell anyone to go die! Only a MONSTER could even come up with that! My sister died by suicide and I am so angry that I'm shaking right now. How dare you, Kevin! You don't know me!

The longer I was there, the less enamored I was with the results. It is unique social media site, for sure, run mostly by AI. Don't go there to learn how to write better poetry because no one bothers to give critiques, even if you ask for them. They are busy making short admiring comments and giving likes, so you will do the same for their poems. Hence members who have made 40,000+ comments and written 20,000 "poems." You can "follow" your fave poets. A kind of mutual admiration society. They do offer a couple of writing classes, but I found those also did not offer much in the way of insight into the process of writing. Same old stuff. AllPoetry has "autorank" which gives a numeric value to each of your poems, if you care to look it up -- all per an AI algorhithm. And what poet wants an artificial valuement of his very human creative product. There is definitely egalitarianism, which means anyone can post almost anything in any form for public consumption. That doesn't mean it is poetic, which is a shame. It does mean the site is fairly worthless if you are a serious poet. There is so much junk it is like looking in a city landfill for that diamond ring you lost. If you want to write, write for yourself. Take a university course in poetry writing and/or poetry appreciation. If you want a different type of social media that is nevertheless just as superficial as all the other social media, this might be the place for you. And, after all, it is free unless you want to jazz up the background colors or the font. Isn't that what poetry is about?

It is way better than a fan story simply because you have more options regarding whether you want to be a paid member or be on the site for free. Fan Story doesn't have the free option.

I got AP probably before 6 and halve years before, then i started to read poems to ease my lone wretched mind on street life; now i am in it to invent more than 165 poetry styles and to promote all to the world, probably not but surely became the only poet of the world by my inventions. AP is my beloved university.

The owner of the website Kevin is a left wing liberal $#*!.
Completely dismissed the harassment and trolling bull$#*! I had to deal with another member talking about me and my family, because of his political views he was defending the other member & the "Palestinian conflict"

The site wants your poems. It has a way of getting you like 3 reviews for each piece. It also has a "picked" category everyday,..., but it will never be one of your poems. I waited almost half a year and nothing. Suffiice to say its very guided towardds what KEVIN sees as fitting. Screw that dude - put your poetry somewhere it is appreciated. - Dont even reply Kevin, I already know you are a loser.

All Poetry is one of the best platform to let new writers showcase their poems to the readers. I am absolutely loving it.

I have been a member of All Poetry for about five years. The site is excellent for poets as the range of contests are great and keep you writing with plenty of ideas for poetry prompts. If you want serious feedback you can ask for it. Lots of great groups for improving your poetry. Without this site I would never have managed to create a collection which is now being published. Thanks Kevin.
Thanks Lynsey

I am getting lots of feedback as a new user. If your poetry is good, you will get noticed. However make an effort to contribute too as more people will read your poetry and make friends. Thousands of poems get posted each week so make yours stand out.

Idk I find it kind of interesting that one of the main gripes a lot of people are mentioning is that they don't get comments unless they go engage with other users. I mean I actually think that is one of the great things about this poetry community. It seems rather selfish to think you should get to just sit back and play the superstar reveling in praise whilst barely doling any out yourself. "You gotta go and talk to people, get friends and chill..." I mean jeez what a horrible thing. As far as contests go, I was under the impression anybody could conduct one, so why not go conduct the kind of contest you'd like to see rather than condemn the efforts of others. I also just want to add that after reading all the negative comments, I have more respect for Kevin, even if I haven't always appreciated his comments on my poetry, I respect that he addressed many of the negative comments and stayed calm and respectful even with the ones that included personal attacks.
I gave the site 3 stars because I don't find myself drawn to using it much. Maybe it deserves better than that but I tend to reserve four and fives to sites that blow my mind or have some real poignant value to society. I'm also a bit turned off by the amount a pro subscription costs, I mean maybe it's not so expensive for some people but it's an amount I really can't afford. That said, I do appreciate that the site offers a lot to free users. So really that's kind of non-issue. Though, I would like it if free users were allowed to include images within poem posts. In any case, I do recommend the site if you want a nice place to put your poetry and don't mind engaging with and encouraging other writers whilst doing so.

He called me out for antisemitism in a poem about the USS Liberty. Do your research Kevin. You know nothing.

First, Kevin and the other moderators do an admirable job of dealing with such a wide variation in people (many countries), expertise, opinions, attitudes, etc. I have been a member for close to 2 years and the best things are: you are free to post poetry of any type, any caliber, any opinion (almost), any subject. There are free tutorials, forums, contests, idea prompts, and exposure to many types of poetry you might not discover otherwise. Another good thing is that you can "ignore" or hide the poetry and comments of annoying members, and you can delete their comments from your comment history. You can also contact the administrators of the site with problems or questions and they are quick to respond. The negative things about AllPoetry are those you find on all such open creative sites. There are weirdos, trolls, angry people, and many who disgracefully write dozens of meaningless comments a day to compete for "top commentor" which only generates site traffic and nothing more. But we all know this. It is a pain to sift through hundreds of really, really bad poems to find a few that are worth "liking." And the "liking" is also used by many as a kind of social media thing -- I will like yours so you will like mine. And for me that is distasteful and hard to ignore. I am not there to generate "likes" but I am aware that if I do not engage in the social media kind of exchanges, I am unlikely to get many. Because so many people post, new poems are very quickly relegated to 10 pages on down the line. So it is important to follow those poets you like so you can go directly to their work and avoid the trash. Also, you can ask for critiques all you want and no one gives them. Probably because they want to make a short comment, garner more "stars" for their crowns, and hasten to the next poem. I don't know why the administrators have the silly "levels" -- I have selected the option to keep them off my profile. They are meaningless and add nothing to the site. Overall, a good bargain. You can join and post as much as you like for free as long as you are willing to keep generating comments on the works of others. And why not. Or you can pay to join at other levels in order to spice up your personal profile page, such as backgrounds and special fonts. Fortunately they have not had to resort to advertisements that wreck the look and feel of the site.

Well, I started out using this site back in 2013 and, well, there's a reason WHY I don't visit the site as much. The only reason this review comes with 2 star rating is because of nostalgia.

IDK who need to hear this but it would be much appreciated if they stop trying to force users to interact with one another. People come on the website to post their poems and, possibly, get some interaction, however, forcing it is NOT a way to go. Worse still is that they force you interact to be able to post more poems. And that's not getting into how much a premium membership is ($180 per year).

Also, I don't appreciate getting emailed naggy "reminders" to use the site. There's a reason why I'm scarce on this site.

Really, there are far better websites for one to post poetry.

Been a member for about 5 to 6 years. I just need a place to post my poems, and I have around 1600 now. The feedback is enouraging, though if you are looking for poetic critiques that has to be found in a group, (I have an in person group so I don't bother). I have a silver membership, it means I dont have to critique others, which I sometimes do, but a lot of the new members stuff is (as has mine been) a bit introspective and can be a bit emotionally taxing. I have had to block a few members of the years, and a couple of trolls, but its easy enough to do, and what do you expect in an open platform. The moderators do look into stuff and are more liberal than strict, in my view. Well, in short its a place to store my work, while getting a wee bit of feedback and encouragment to keep writing, and I know if I get any nonsense I can block it. So overall for 6 bucks a month its been a very positive experience.

I have learned how to write a real haiku which is more than the 7-5-7 rule most people use. I have learned how to write poetry really. I have discovered wonderful poets like Hillaire Belloc and Wilfred Owens and so many more. They have a wonderful classical poet section with biographies and then all their poems. I have many friends on All Poetry, and I have been there 11 years now, and I am still in awe of some of the really great poetry written there. Kevin, the owner of the site, takes personal interest in helping people. Once in awhile you run into someone nasty but that's not the sites fault. A lot of if not most bad reviews come from people who are miffed they haven't won in a contest but I was there for four or five years before I did. If you look at a contest as a stimulus for your creativity when your muse is asleep and just enjoy it, it is much more able to develop your writing style. There is an ability to block someone (or follow) which I have only used 3 times in 11 years. No one has asked me to do this review, I just ran into it this morning on a new browser I am trying. They really do have high standards there and no one would ask someone to post a good review.

I have mental health problems and I cannot afford to pay for therapy. AllPoetry gave me a space to express myself even though I can sound harsh and loud from time to time. I am beginning to see a lot of other individuals in the community with similar mental health problems as well and in the past I wasted a massive amount of time and emotional energy allowing myself to get caught up in the worlds and opinions of others. Sometimes I have to take a step back from the computer because my mental illness gets mixed up with others who have mental illness as well. Its been my experience that AllPoetry is doing to best they can to assist those with mental illness while allowing them a safe space to express themselves within reason. I see many licensed and accredited doctors and therapists on AllPoetry creating hope for afflicted individuals with their creative writings. In fact, I've had a few doctors and therapists reach out to me along with a few unaccredited individuals who reached out to me because they care. I mean, Allpoetry can seem strange sometimes and its not often that I come across something that offends me but, I believe the Allpoetry team and community of poets are doing their best to be fair while maintaining peace and a degree of kindness.

Allpoetry helped me get the ugly out of me when I had nowhere else to go and no one to talk to... When no one else would see me, Allpoetry sow me... And even though I had my bad moments and mental breakdowns, AllPoetry showed me love... I mean, Allpoetry helped me grow up in ways that I don't think was possible... Like finding god... I believe in what AllPoetry is doing for the world.

Look at the reviews... the positive ones are mostly from very young, aka not formally educated, poets. They are into the whole (enforced) social hierarchy of this site, it seems... social media over skill?
There are some great poets, mostly brushed under the rug by the plethora of social climbers who rate each other.
If you want to be a serious poet, this will never in a million years get you the critiques you need to grow. The published poets that are wildly popular on allpoetry are SELF published, aka any old tripe can be self published, they don't care because they want the money for publishing it.
I had a permanent profile that I abandoned and hundreds of followers but it was all so non literary. Also, keep in mind all the "followers" will stab you in the back if it helps their ratings... they are NOT friends in any real sense. Beware.
I am not looking for friends. I am looking for serious and well educated poets who can actually discus POETRY so I got rid of my profile.
I miss the good poets. Sometimes I even consider making a new free profile but i know the kevin is invested in making money, not quality. I talked with him ( or his clone doing the writing) extensively.

Used All Poetry for about 2 years as a paid member. The site did make writing and sharing poems very fun and it allowed users to determine if they wanted more in depth critics or just nice comments.

However, this site needs moderation desperately. The site tries to encourage respectful discourse of opinions across the political spectrum. If certain topics make you uncomfortable, or just don't want to read poems about things like how women aren't people, you could typically avoid them. However, when lines get crossed little is ever done about it. I was part of a non-political writing group and one member went off on another member, calling her every derogatory slur in the book and told her she was rejoicing in the the number of COVID deaths that were taking place. When people in the forum complained, moderators we needed to respect this member's opinion as she continued to harass others in the group. This ultimately lead me to delete my account as I just couldn't enjoy the site anymore, which is a real shame.

This is one of the finest sites for racial/homophobic/plagiaristic/sadistic/bored-gaslighting trolls to hangout and tune their poetic crafts. Or maybe that's just the people who run the site?
Genuine members (who dont pay) are very quickly disposed of by means of cruel gaslighting/catfishing techniques that run rampant throughout.
Very creepy DMs are sent to you, and then are quickly deleted never to be seen again. Only site officials have those abilities to interfere with your personal profile? And any complaint (report/ticket) made to guides, or to Kevin, will only lead you on a path of eyerolling ridiculousness.
The syrupy niceties that Kevin (the owner) disgorges are about as fake as AnnD's willingness to help. The double standards are ironic. So is Kevin's insistence that plagiarism doesn't take place on his site. Liar liar pants on fire.

This is not a poetry site - This is a slum-factory that preys on its members in a multitude of creepy undertones. It should be called Bait & Switch, or something of that nature. CREEPY site.

Beware the smiling cats.