In-between the lines: an interview with Boundby

You’re sitting up at 3:00am, scribbling another few lines into your notes app. You’ve got a poem—half-finished, oddly specific, quietly burning—and you wonder: Where does this go?

For the team behind Boundby, that question was the beginning of everything. Joseph, Grace, and Vance (Editor-in-Chief, PR Executive, and Website Designer, respectively) recall hearing it from a tutor asking where all their undergraduate work was ending up. After a kitchen conversation, determined to release their own writing and create an archive for other people’s work, they decided to create a digital poetry magazine.

What began as a space for “people in the Warwick community, but also other people who are unpublished or lesser published, trying to find a space for their work to belong” as Joseph tells me, has become something much bigger. Boundby now boasts over 60 published contributors and has become a community that refuses to be defined by status.

“You don’t need to ‘earn’ your way into visibility” Joseph explains of Boundby’s recent decision not to only accept work from unpublished authors, but any writer, regardless of their prestige

“You don’t need to ‘earn’ your way into visibility” Joseph explains of Boundby’s recent decision not to only accept work from unpublished authors, but any writer, regardless of their prestige. “If we make this space for only unpublished poets… doesn’t that limit the possibility of them being seen next to more established voices?” he asks, which highlights the magazine’s recent editorial shift, captured in their new tagline: Poems That Must. “We’re bringing the attention back to the poems themselves,” Grace says. “Not who wrote them, but why they exist.”

So, what kind of poems must be written? The team isn’t interested in polish for its own sake. “Something that must exist doesn’t have to feel natural,” Joseph says. “It can feel hard and difficult… We’re interested in the in-betweens—between poet and non-poet, relatability and specificity. The work that doesn’t neatly fit.”

“Write the thing that won’t leave you alone,” Vance says. “Even if it’s niche or strange or hard to place. Those are often the most exciting poems.”

The team’s desire to see work which pushes boundaries and blurs lines is evident in their advice for anyone thinking of submitting, which is simple but striking. “Write the thing that won’t leave you alone,” Vance says. “Even if it’s niche or strange or hard to place. Those are often the most exciting poems.”

If you’re struggling to write, Grace suggests “indulging in media that has a similar vibe to what you want to convey”, which should help get ideas flowing. You can also use the Spotlight Category prompts Boundby put out to inspire you, such as their upcoming edition’s focus on Eco-Catastrophe. Plus, as Vance points out, you are always free to “get something from someone else”, and write a response poem or an ekphrastic poem, which are based on existing works—whether that’s a piece of visual art, a line from another poet, or even a song.

But sometimes, inspiration doesn’t come easily —and that’s okay. “Sometimes you need to go and live for a little bit,” then come back to the poem, Joseph suggests. This recognition, that writing doesn’t always come on demand, is a key reason Boundby has transitioned from a monthly to a quarterly publishing cycle. It’s a shift that gives writers space to live, reflect, and return to their poems when they’re ready, and gives the editorial team time to curate with deeper care.

It’s a pace that allows poems to grow slowly, and to be read slowly too. “On the quieter days,” Vance shares, “we get fewer visitors to the site, but they often spend longer. Twenty minutes, half an hour, just sitting with a couple of poems.” Such a sense of quiet, reflective care really shapes how Boundby functions.

The team recently completed a full rebrand—rebuilding the website to support experimental forms

Their attention to detail doesn’t stop at content. The team recently completed a full rebrand—rebuilding the website to support experimental forms and curating a new colour palette of pink and cream “that looks like a good quality piece of paper,” Grace grins. “We want other people to be able to recognise Boundby, be able to not just read through it but recognise what we’re trying to achieve” adds Joseph.

For new writers, submitting to Boundby is deliberately simple. No CV, no fuss—just the work. “If you’ve written something you’re proud of, we want to see that,” says Vance.

Boundby is open for submissions until May 14th, with its upcoming issue focused on eco-poetry

Right now, Boundby is open for submissions until May 14th, with its upcoming issue focused on eco-poetry, alongside their constant Open Category which accepts any type of poem. So, whether it’s a poem you wrote months ago and couldn’t place, or something new that’s been nagging at you, this is your sign to send it. Submission is now easier than ever, done through a Google form linked in their Instagram bio.

“Whether you’re submitting or just connecting with others,” Grace says, “we want poets to feel like they belong here. This is a community, not just a magazine.”

Because Boundby isn’t about status. It isn’t about style. It’s about Poems That Must.