Image by Five Themes for Poets (and Other Text-Loving Bloggers)
Whether it’s a haiku or an epic, your words should look great on all screens.
Over at The Daily Post, our first poetry-focused Blogging U. course, Writing 201: Poetry, has just entered its second week. It’s been a blast, with hundreds of poets sharing their work, experimenting with new forms, and commenting on their peers’ poems.
After working hard on polishing their elegies, haiku, and ballads, most writers want to make sure their readers can enjoy their work to the fullest. This is where choosing the right theme can play an important role (this is true for non-poets too, of course): you want your posts to be readable, clean, and inviting. Here are some options to consider (as well as a few community favorites).
Illustratr
This might sound like an unorthodox choice, given Illustratr‘s natural appeal to visual artists of all types. But its typography, post title styling, and overall crispness makes Illustratr as poem-friendly as it gets. Add a featured image, and you can balance the spare look with a bold dash of color.
Illustratr‘s relative, Writr, is also a favorite theme among the poetry crowd. “The font size is quite big and this works well with poetry,” says the blogger behind This Hideous Heart.
Sela
For those who want to create a warm, inviting space without sacrificing readability, Sela — a very recent addition to the Theme Showcase — is a theme worth exploring. Even if you use a number of widgets in your sidebar, the focus is squarely on your words.
Poetry curation site Ars Poetica makes great use of Sela‘s airy look. Blogger Denise chose it because it’s “easy to navigate and pleasing to the eye.”
Tonal
A bold, emphatic post title area coupled with a generous, full-width featured image prepare your reader for what’s to come. Tonal‘s clear font and white background take care of the rest.
Many writers go for some of our other popular minimalist themes — from old favorites like Manifest and Truly Minimal to recent additions like Penscratch.
Cubic
Created with photobloggers in mind, Cubic is a theme that makes it clear you can paint pictures with your words, too. The gorgeous typography might convince your readers that they’re reading a volume produced by a vintage letterpress, not a webpage.
Another versatile theme that’s become a go-to for many poets is this year’s highly customizable default theme, Twenty Fifteen. It comes recommended by blogger-poets Zen and Pi, Mutafariq Khayalat, and Kavita Panyam.
Minnow
Taking minimalism to a pleasing new height, Minnow‘s stark look directs your visitors’ eyes where you want them: your words. However, with a centrally-located social links menu, the theme also keeps you connected to the world outside your poetry.
To see Minnow in action, head to poetry-heavy blog Devious Bloggery, where poems of various styles and lengths are equally easy to read and savor.
Looking for more ideas for reader- and writer-friendly themes? Here are few more ideas.
Poets, wordsmiths, and minimalists of all stripes: what theme do you use for a clutter-free reading experience? Share your favorites in the comments.
- February 25, 2015
- Customization, Themes, Writing
WordPress.com News 
Thank for this. These look five great themes !
The Science Geek
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Which themes can use the “read more” tag?
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The “More” tag is available across themes — it’s part of the Post Editor toolbar, and so you can use it regardless of the theme you’re using.
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Well, I was playing with it on Twenty Fifteen, and it would show up when I was editing the post, but when I saved the changes and went to the post, it wasn’t there …
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The More Tag isn’t supposed to show up when you view your post, but only on your homepage and archive page — this might explain why you don’t see it at work. You can read more about the More Tag here.
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I’ve been using Photolia. My text and photos are front and center, right where I want them. I have a header image turned on, but other than all you see is my posts. Crisp and clean.
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Great samples…I use Elegant Grunge, its pretty basic.
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Great themes! Sela is my favorite. Are they all free?
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Yes — these are all free themes.
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How can I join your poets blog? I have been writing poetry since I was 12 and now at 50 and terminally ill I continue to write, I now add graphics to bring out the emotional inspiration that inspired which ever poem I’m writing.
Thank Sincerely for any advice, Sheila
>
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While the poetry course we offered at The Daily Post is about to end on Friday, there are many other blogging events geared towards writers of all stripes, including poets. You can browse our listings here.
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The Publish Theme ? You forgout that. And many more, if you think about it. The poetry is important. Not the “paper” .
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Nice pic!
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I think i like the sela, but i am definitely not starting another blog lol x
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I loved Tonal, although I do not currently use it for any of my sites. Of the themes listed above, it is my favourite.
I also adopted Sela onto one of my test sites on the first day it came out. I highly recommend trying it.
I briefly tried Cubic and “got over it” quite quickly. While it can be a really beautiful theme, it is very high maintenance. You need to find the “perfect” image for every post, otherwise it simply looks shabby.
Great post, Ben!
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Great stuff, , great themes indeed. I actually like media one where visitors can view posts in brief so that they can choose the topic/post. I think to long to scroll down to search the favourite post seems a bit clumsy. That’s why I have been using Expound . The United Theme is also available but it shows only headings. If excerpt is shown it would be fantastic. Any idea ! please, I am eager to hear that.
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Thanks for the comments! I should clarify that the United theme isn’t currently available in the WordPress.com Theme Showcase (though it is for self-hosted bloggers using the WordPress software).
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Thank you Ben. Alternatively Suburbia can also be used but its readability is hard due to smallest lettet size. Could you please suggest me any other Theme to show more posts with few excerpt in a single place rather than scrolling down?
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Any theme with a homepage post slider lets you present a number of posts without any scrolling — you can browse through the selection here.
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Thank you for taking your precious time. What about Eden and Motif? As grid page might help.
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I’m pretty fond of my Yoko theme, but Sela also looks really nice. I think I will save it in case I find myself needing a change. ^-^
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I agree with some of the others that Sela looks very appealing. I am tempted! But I am still enjoying my current theme, Moka (in its standard blog format, not sticky posts) for its white space and discrete widgets.
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Thank you for doing all this hard work.
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Thanks for this post ! My blog is a specific poetry blog and that was very useful !
I’m using “Penscratch”, which works perfectly 🙂
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Greetings Ben,
You inspired me to try a new blog.
Have considered this for sometime.
Unsure if this is the final theme.
https://wordsmithunited.wordpress.com/
Thank you!
William
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Beautiful Themes indeed. I am playing with Motif and Eden whether they look pretty good. Due to grid, first and full width page they can offer multiple uses. But I am not pretty sure my eyes are on right spot.
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Hi, I am a young artist/writer. I am currently writing a book and I will be posting small sections of it on my blog and would appreciate some constructive feedback. Thanks so much!
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The best place for you to solicit feedback on your work is over at the Daily Post, where every week we hold a Community Pool event — an open forum for bloggers of all kinds to seek advice and feedback from the community.
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Ok thank you!!
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Can others share their poetry?How to do so?
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The poetry course is drawing to a close on Friday, but you can browse through many other blogging events that cater to writers here.
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Lovely post, Ben! Thank you.
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Thanks for quoting my blog as an example. Ops…now I’d better stick to this theme!
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Not at all! Experimenting with themes is part of the fun of blogging. No need to feel tied to Writr.
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Sorry, that comment was supposed to say I LOVE Illustratr. (Accidentally hit the “post” button). I used Illustratr for quite a while, and then I decided to check out a different theme. (I get bored easily.) But I do appreciate the themes that have the nice clean, bold text. The only negative (and it is minor) with Illustratr is the size of the title. Personally, I’d like it to be a little smaller. Sometimes I just created a header photo with a smaller title on it. But I do think it’s one of WordPress’ best themes.
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I use Sela for my blog at chaseandtyler.wordpress.com and it is wonderful. Clean, simple, yet robust.
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Very clean and minimalistic… 🙂
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Where can I take up classes to advance my writing, l write poetry,and drama, with inspirations. I have a large creative spot
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We occasionally offer writing-focused blogging courses at The Daily Post‘s Blogging U. While we just wrapped the most recent one (on poetry), it’ll be a good idea to stay tuned to our announcements and updates there.
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I like this.
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