#blogging

Keep Blogging. We Read You: A Huge List of Literary Blogs

Recently, Daniel Green posted a paper entitled “ Bringing Something to the Party: Literary Weblogs Vs. The Print Media” . It tells the story of literary criticism, commentary, and chat, as they developed on websites, blogs, and social media.

Along the way, he points out that it isn’t always a linear upward trajectory. Lot of blogs die, or they slow down, or they fall into limbo. Green describes the demise of a group blog in 2012, and says it’s part of a larger situation.

Eventually the initial enthusiasm waned, although I would argue that in part this was because the original inspiration for the blog had been fulfilled and the idea of intelligent, informed critical writing appearing on the web no longer seemed such a novel proposition. Something similar happened with the first wave of literary weblogs. Although a few of them still exist (including my own, in an updated iteration), many do not, or at least have been inactive for a long time. But these blogs were in fact remarkably successful, not just in ultimately reaching a wide audience of interested readers but in establishing a space in the cybersphere for the nontrivial discussion of literature, and ultimately in changing the reading habits of many serious readers who previously would never have regarded the internet as a source of legitimate literary debate. I believe it fair to say that the notion one can find entirely respectable web-based critical commentary online is now incontestable and mostly noncontroversial. Someone surfing the web as I did 12 years ago will discover much of interest within a few clicks, although these sites and pages might not be blogs. But this, too, seems to me a sign of their success, not their obsolescence.

Today literary weblogs are more likely to be known simply as “book blogs,” and most of them have indeed settled for something like “book chat” as their mode of operation. More serious-minded blogs do remain, authored by reviewers, critics, and some academics, as well as by poetry and fiction writers using the weblog medium as more than a promotional instrument. Admittedly these blogs have a smaller audience than many literary bloggers had during their period of greatest notoriety, but they may also have a more easily assumed authority and less defensive tone. Nevertheless, the “litblog” is not the object of attention it once was, when it seemed for some to promise liberation from the arbitrary authority of print book reviewers and so-called literary journalists and for others to threaten the already wobbly status of book coverage in the digital era print press.

A significant factor in the relative decline of the litblog is surely the concurrent rise of social media, specifically the development of a substantial literary presence on Twitter and Facebook. The sort of brief commentary and linking with which literary blogging began, and continued to be a prominent feature, has largely been taken over by these social media forums, where a network of “connected” Friends and Followers exchange news and views, albeit often in an unavoidably offhand way due to the limitations of the medium used. To the extent that a need for “connection” itself is met by sites such as Facebook and Twitter, the same function as served by blogs becomes less urgent, since social media provides it more immediately and ultimately more broadly. Arguably, however, the force of this need was first fully expressed through the success of blogs, which demonstrated that it could be met through digital communication.

Bringing Something to the Party: Literary Weblogs Vs. The Print Media"

It seems the litblog may be in decline. As I go through my feed reader for these litblog roundup posts, I notice so many blogs I had chosen to follow but which don’t have anything recent. Below, I’ve collected a list of nearly 650 litblogs that haven’t been updated in a while.

There are many reasons for a blog to go dormant. Passwords get lost. Sites get hacked. Websites become obsolete. Interests change. People die. I like to think, though, that all these bloggers need is some encouragement. I’m sharing this list, not to call out these hundreds of bloggers for being slackers, but to offer up some encouragement. For the readers out there: take a look at this list, see if anything strikes your fancy, and go post a comment to get a conversation started. For the writers of these blogs: take heart, keep blogging. We read you.

Here’s the list.

  1. A Little Tag End of the World
  2. A View from the Potholes
  3. Aaron Vidaver
  4. Abandoned Books
  5. abandonyourtimidnotion 42
  6. Abecedarian Gallery’s Blog
  7. Absolute Elsewhere
  8. ACTIVE DRIVEWAY
  9. ADA LIMÃ
  10. Adam Aitken
  11. african poetry review (usa)
  12. After Long Busyness: A Poetry Blog
  13. Agnes Eva Savich’s Blog
  14. Ahhhhh, whiskers
  15. akiliamina
  16. Albany Poetra
  17. all over the grid
  18. All These Weirdos
  19. All Things Said & Done
  20. Alluringly Short
  21. Almost I rushed from home to tell you this
  22. alt crit
  23. Alt Lit Gossip
  24. Alyonka Mail Art Project
  25. Amanda Hocking’s Blog
  26. American Witch
  27. AMES ALT RESEARCH
  28. Amlokiblogs
  29. and to think i saw it on floyd terrace
  30. Andrew Taylor Poetry
  31. Andy Nicholson’s Blog
  32. Anime Dad Review
  33. Anon Poetry Magazine
  34. Another Lost Shark
  35. apple of the earth
  36. Apples on Fire
  37. Approximate L
  38. Arcadim in Arcadië
  39. Archive of the Now
  40. ardent-shanty
  41. Arion
  42. Arthur Shilling Press
  43. Articles of Teaching
  44. Artopia
  45. asaddayforsadbirds
  46. ASTHMABOY
  47. atlanta poets group
  48. Avoiding the Muse
  49. ¡Bemsha SWING!
  50. ©_© Press
  51. · the cultural society ·
  52. B O C A
  53. backyard disciples and one mean deus ex machina
  54. Bad NDNs
  55. Barbara Henning
  56. Barbara Henning
  57. Barbara Jane Reyes
  58. Barbara’s Bleeuugh!
  59. beginning ““the””
  60. Bernardine Evaristo
  61. Best Nightmare You Get!
  62. Beyond Standard Model
  63. bhairo in the morning
  64. bibliographing | or, writing about books
  65. Bidoun Projects
  66. Binding Wor(l)ds Together
  67. BitLit
  68. BLACK AGGIE PRESS
  69. Black Antlers
  70. Black Clock
  71. Black Coffee & A Glass of Water
  72. Black Looks
  73. Black Ocean Blog 1. Black Ocean
  74. BlazeVOX [blog]
  75. Blog 1. First Thought
  76. Blog of Myself
  77. Bloggerare con lentezza
  78. Blogging Along Tobacco Road
  79. Blue Positive
  80. BluePrintReview book+lit blog
  81. Bob Marcacci
  82. booklit
  83. Books and quotes to inspire and motivate
  84. Books: New Yorker
  85. Braingrass
  86. brandiwells
  87. BrandosHat
  88. Brent Goodman
  89. Brian Spears
  90. brightstupidconfetti
  91. Buggeryville
  92. Busily Seeking . . . Continual Change
  93. CABINET // Homepage
  94. Cadmium Text Series
  95. CALENDAR OF CATABOLIC GUILT
  96. California Writer
  97. Cambridge Literary Review
  98. Can of Corn
  99. Canary Woof
  100. Cannot Exist
  101. Capitol Cougar
  102. carolee bennett sherwood
  103. Cecilia Ann
  104. Cellar Door
  105. chair /ʃɛʀ/
  106. Chant de la Sirene
  107. Charles Forman. Stuff I write down.
  108. Chinglish
  109. Christopher-Schmidt.com
  110. Chuck Richardson
  111. Clay Matthews
  112. Cleopatra’s Handmaiden
  113. Coalescence 1. Benjamin Dodds
  114. coffeehousejunkie
  115. collision detection
  116. Columbia College Poetry MFA
  117. Columbia Poetry Reviews
  118. commutiny
  119. Composite: thoughts on poetics & tech
  120. Connaissances
  121. Corridor8 â€"
  122. Crackt Poeticks
  123. Craig Santos Perez
  124. CrazyApple Press
  125. Critical Cities
  126. Critique Manqué
  127. Culture Industry
  128. CultureCat
  129. Curiosa Hamiltona
  130. CutBank Reviews
  131. damn the caesars
  132. Danny Byrne Blog
  133. daphne gottlieb
  134. dark ecologies | the carnival edge of posthumanism
  135. David Caddy
  136. David Morley
  137. David Patt
  138. David Winters
  139. Dawn Pendergast’s Blog
  140. DayBook/NightBook I
  141. Days: 2004-2012
  142. De File
  143. Deborah P Kolodji 1. Poetry Scrapbook and Random Musings
  144. Deeplinking
  145. Delirium’s Library
  146. demystifiedpoet
  147. DESK SPACE
  148. Detainees
  149. Dialectical Migrations
  150. Diary of a Bluestocking
  151. Dick Jones’ Patteran Pages
  152. differx
  153. DIRELAND
  154. Dorothea Lasky
  155. Ducts.org
  156. dumbfoundry
  157. E D I B L E Â Â D E T R I T U S
  158. e-x-c-h-a-n-g-e-v-a-l-u-e-s
  159. Early Childhood Brain Insights
  160. Ecce Mulier ECKOVISION https://eckovision.wordpress.com
  161. eke na egwurugwu
  162. Electio Editions
  163. Elizabeth Bachinsky
  164. Enchilada’s Salon
  165. Eric Rosenfield.com
  166. etcetera
  167. Evelyn Hampton
  168. Everyone’s cup of tea
  169. EverythinLiterature
  170. Exoskeleton
  171. Experimental Fiction / Poetry
  172. Experiments In Text
  173. EYEBALL HATRED
  174. Eyelight
  175. Fact-Simile
  176. Faded Paper Project
  177. fait accompli
  178. Feel Good Lost
  179. fewer & further
  180. fierenspostcardcollab
  181. Fitz Fitzgerald
  182. FoggyGates -A Bookish Blog
  183. Fool’s Errand
  184. For The Birds
  185. Formaldehyde: The Preservation of Poetry
  186. forward/text
  187. Frank Báez
  188. FRANK HINTON
  189. franticham’s redfoxpress
  190. Free Wifi
  191. FREELANCE RIGHTS
  192. Freshly Rooted
  193. Futurepost
  194. G / P
  195. gahlilmailart
  196. gas
  197. Gawdeepah by Sheena Baharudin
  198. genemyers.com
  199. General Projects
  200. Girish Shambu
  201. Goblin Mercantile Exchange (the weblog of Alan DeNiro)
  202. goer.org
  203. gramatologia
  204. Grand Hotel Abyss
  205. grapez
  206. graywyvern
  207. Gregory Laynor » Page not found
  208. Guillaume Morissette
  209. Gura’s Blog
  210. Hair Styles for Women
  211. halfcircle poetry journal
  212. Harlequin Knights
  213. Hear, Hear
  214. hey baby
  215. HEY YOU, COME BACK!
  216. hi there
  217. Hitler’s Mustache
  218. Holly Pester
  219. Household Opera
  220. How2 Blog
  221. Howard Junker
  222. HSL
  223. warsanshire
  224. Human’s Animal
  225. Hyacinth Losers
  226. I am not who I think I am or is I whom?
  227. I’ll Show You Mine
  228. ideas in three dimensions
  229. idonothavepenisenvy
  230. IF P THEN Q
  231. illuminated meat
  232. IMproPRieTies
  233. In Place of Chairs
  234. Indran Amirthanayagam
  235. Intagliod Up in Blue
  236. Internet-Paul-Legault
  237. Interpolations
  238. Invasive Species
  239. Invisible Ear
  240. iPrincess Diaries
  241. Isola di Rifiuti
  242. Itch Away
  243. Ivy is here
  244. Jacob Russell’s Barking Dog
  245. Jake Adam York
  246. Jeffrey Levine
  247. Jeffrey Side
  248. Jennifer K Dick
  249. jennifermanzano
  250. Jeremy JF Thompson’s Autotypist
  251. JJ Pollet
  252. Joan Houlihan
  253. John Baker’s Blog
  254. John Crowley Little and Big
  255. John Oliver Simon’s Blog
  256. Joshua Harmon
  257. Jotter Notes
  258. journal of a writing man
  259. jpcraig
  260. Jubilated Rain
  261. Julie R. Enszer
  262. Junk Monkey
  263. Just William’s Luck
  264. k(orea) thurston
  265. kens-blog
  266. KevinfromCanada
  267. Knott Pro Sepo
  268. Known Unknowns
  269. Kompassi pyörii
  270. krystal teaches
  271. La Culte de Baiser Sans Fin
  272. La Lizi Dice
  273. Land Mammal
  274. LarissaLai.com »
  275. LEMON HOUND
  276. LENIN’S TOMB
  277. Lesley Jenike
  278. LETRAS DE CACTUS
  279. Letter & Line
  280. Liesl Jobson
  281. Life Unfurnished
  282. LIGHTBOX
  283. Line Art
  284. Lit Mixtapes
  285. LiteraryMinded
  286. Litterbug
  287. litwindowpane
  288. live my lief
  289. Live Nude Poems
  290. LiveBritishpoetry Twibe Tweets
  291. Lives of the Spiders
  292. looktouchblog
  293. Lost Binder
  294. lost republics
  295. Lots and lots of neat
  296. lou-waves
  297. Love in the Margins
  298. Lovers’ Last Go Around
  299. Luca Antara
  300. lumpy onion monophony
  301. Luna Park
  302. Lutheran Surrealism
  303. LWC/LWK
  304. Lyhyttavaraliike
  305. machine language
  306. Mad Poets Society
  307. Madinkbeard
  308. Magazine Modernisms
  309. Makura no Soshi
  310. MALE COUSIN
  311. Manchester Writing
  312. Mannerisms of Foxes
  313. MANUEL PAUL LÃ"PEZ
  314. Mappemunde
  315. Marama:omoopart5
  316. Marek naja Marek
  317. match stick box
  318. Mathematical Poetry
  319. Matrixspace Blog
  320. Matthew G. Kirschenbaum
  321. Matthew Landis: Abecedarian
  322. mazielouisemontgomery
  323. megan falley
  324. Melancholy Sideshow
  325. merelydraff
  326. Merkintöjä
  327. Me~Tronome
  328. MICHAEL HESSEL-MIAL TUMBLR PRESENCE
  329. Michael Salinger
  330. michelle naka pierce : no use in a centre
  331. Miia with two eyes
  332. Mike Snider’s Formal Blog
  333. Mildred’s Umbrella
  334. Millay Colony for the Arts
  335. MIMEO MIMEO
  336. Mindful Ramblings
  337. Minor American
  338. Miriam Levine
  339. mischievoice
  340. Modern Kicks
  341. Montevidayo
  342. mRjonesrEview
  343. Mrs. Maybe’s Seance
  344. Mungo
  345. Musings
  346. My room is Hiroshima but my bed is Hawaii
  347. Myshkin2
  348. mythical creatures
  349. Mythology and Milk
  350. Name-Ism
  351. Narrow House
  352. National Poetry Foundation
  353. Natures
  354. negative wingspan
  355. Nesting Ground
  356. Neverland Revisited
  357. New American Writing and Drawing
  358. New Directions Publishing
  359. New Jersey as an Impossible Object
  360. NICE IS A WEAPON
  361. No Time for Poetry?
  362. Nobody’s Flux
  363. Noctuary: a record of what passes in the night
  364. Notebooks, Second Draft
  365. Notes on (the Writing) Life
  366. Nothing to Say & Saying It
  367. Nothing, Really
  368. Now What
  369. O Sweet Flowery Roses BLOG
  370. Oceanographer of O
  371. october in april.
  372. Oh, Didn’t He Ramble…
  373. OlsonNow
  374. Omnidawn Publishing Blog
  375. Onthology/audio
  376. Open Space
  377. Oscar Bermeo
  378. Other Internents
  379. otherwise
  380. Our sweet old etcetera…
  381. Out of orbit: F James Hartnell
  382. Overlap
  383. Overloading the Machine
  384. P.F.S. Post
  385. PA Poetry
  386. Pansy Poetics
  387. Paper Darts Blog
  388. Pathologos
  389. Patricia Jabbeh Wesley’s International Blog on Poetry for Peace
  390. Paul Hoover’s Poetry Blog
  391. Pax Americana
  392. Peaches and Bats’ Blague
  393. Pearlblossom Highway
  394. Peony Moon
  395. People without Corners
  396. Perdika Press
  397. Perhaps…
  398. PERSONALEEHKIN
  399. Peter, in Search of Pan
  400. phactory
  401. PhillySound: new poetry
  402. PICNIC CANNIBAL
  403. Pimp My Novel
  404. PISS BABY
  405. Plainfeather’s Blog
  406. Planned Obsolescence
  407. Plucked From Ogygia
  408. plurabella!
  409. Plus-que-Parfait
  410. POEMOCRACY
  411. Poems Out Loud
  412. poesy galore
  413. Poet In New York
  414. poetfranksamperi
  415. Poetic Arts Performance Project
  416. POETIC LABOR PROJECT
  417. poetical bits
  418. POETICKS
  419. poetproph
  420. Poetry at Beinecke Library
  421. Poetry Bear
  422. Poetry In The Mind’s Well
  423. Poets On Fire
  424. Poets Union Inc.
  425. Poets.org
  426. Polymath
  427. pomo expo
  428. Post Language
  429. POST_ALT-LIT
  430. Powell’s Books Blog
  431. Professor VJ
  432. Prayer Helmet
  433. Puisi-poesy
  434. Purple Mountain Poetry
  435. Purple Pig Lit
  436. Pyramid News Scheme
  437. radicaldruid.com
  438. radio contact
  439. Readux Books
  440. Red Boldface
  441. Red Rover, Red Rover
  442. Red Thread(s)
  443. Rehan Qayoom
  444. RIDL.COM
  445. Robert Dewhurst
  446. Rogue Embryo
  447. Rogue Writing
  448. Ruby Street
  449. Running Brush
  450. Running In Place
  451. S/FJ
  452. Saint Nobody
  453. sam of the ten thousand things
  454. Sara Holbrook’s Blog Spot
  455. Say Something Wonderful
  456. Scott McClanahan
  457. Scott Woods
  458. SCREE
  459. Scribbling Woman
  460. Sean Kilpatrick’s Anorexic Chlorine Sextoy Museum
  461. Secondary Sound
  462. SEE WITH EYES SHUT
  463. Seltzer
  464. Sense & Sensuality
  465. SEVEN CORNERS
  466. SEWING MEMORY
  467. Shann Palmer says
  468. Sharon Zeugin
  469. Shattered Wig Press
  470. Sheila Squillante
  471. Shikow
  472. Shimmy’s Blog
  473. shutting up
  474. SIMPLY WAIT
  475. sine wave peak
  476. SinTax
  477. Sixth In Line
  478. Sketch of an Astronaut
  479. skye in a nutshell
  480. Skysill Press
  481. Slicker Chumway’s
  482. Small Branches Poetry
  483. Small Press Traffic
  484. Snug Island
  485. SO LONG BULLETIN
  486. sonnets at 4 a.m.
  487. sophie robinson
  488. spare the // donald dunbar
  489. SPD TODAY: The Small Press Distribution blog
  490. spicysoda
  491. Spoken Word Paris
  492. STET
  493. STEVE ROGGENBUCK
  494. stevenberlinjohnson.com
  495. STIR | Stir To Action
  496. Stoning the Devil
  497. Strange Land Poems
  498. Strong Verse
  499. Summer Writing Program
  500. Surroundings
  501. susan denning
  502. SWITCHBACK BLOG
  503. swoonrocket
  504. SYMPTOMS OF ______ THEORIES
  505. tackad
  506. Tarpaulin Sky Reviews & Interviews
  507. Tattooing The Surface Of The Moon
  508. Taylor Mali
  509. TEMPLE POETRY
  510. Terminal Chaosity
  511. Text, Textile, Exile: Now I Wanna Be Your Blog
  512. that-unsound
  513. The Alphabetography Project: A Study Of Letters
  514. The American Reader
  515. the amplified bard
  516. The Barnyard
  517. the basin blog
  518. The Bedside Crow
  519. THE BEST WORDS IN THEIR BEST ORDER
  520. The Black Telephone
  521. THE BLIND CHATELAINE’S KEYS
  522. The Bougainvillea Hideaway
  523. The Calgary Blow-Out
  524. The Caribbean Review of Books
  525. THE CHAGALL POSITION
  526. The Corresponding Society
  527. the delay
  528. The Desert City
  529. The Dishwasher’s Tears
  530. THE DISINHIBITOR
  531. The Earth With A City In Her Hair
  532. The Elegant Variation
  533. The Ellingham Digest
  534. The Five Million Copies Project
  535. THE FLUX I SHARE
  536. The Flying Saucer Poetic
  537. the glade of theoric ornithic hermetica
  538. The Green Apple Core
  539. The Home Video Review of Books
  540. The Ideophone
  541. THE INDEX TO GALATEA RESURRECTS
  542. The Ingredient
  543. the interlingual zoo
  544. The Irascible Poet
  545. The Lovely Archives
  546. The Malaysian Poetic Chronicles
  547. The Mall
  548. The Mark on the Wall
  549. The Midnight Bell
  550. The Mumpsimus
  551. The New Modernism
  552. THE NEXT OBJECTIVISTS
  553. The Old Man: Prison Poet
  554. The Perpetual Bird
  555. The Philadelphia Review of Books
  556. The Plumbline School
  557. the public library
  558. The Quarterly Conversation
  559. The Recalcitrant Scrivener
  560. The Red Hibiscus
  561. The Rik Files
  562. The Scrapper Poet
  563. The Sexy Poets Society
  564. The Situation Room
  565. The Small Press Catalogue
  566. The Star Spangled Banana
  567. The Steinach Operation
  568. The Tolerance Project
  569. THE UNRULY SERVANT
  570. The Virtual World
  571. the Whole Garden Will Bow
  572. the word cage
  573. the world a letter
  574. The World of Urdu Poetry, Literature & News
  575. The Writing Life II
  576. theendofpoetry
  577. THEN, SOMETHING: Notes from Cold River
  578. thinking about poetry
  579. Thinking Again
  580. Thirteen Blackbirds Poetry
  581. this empty nest
  582. this is all your fault
  583. this, that and the third
  584. thomas devaney
  585. Thrownnest
  586. Tim Kabara Daily
  587. Tom Phillips
  588. Tommaso Gervasutti
  589. Tony Lopez
  590. tony tost’s america
  591. Tossing It In Tucson
  592. Touched By A Monkey
  593. Tracie’s Web
  594. Transductions
  595. transversalinflections
  596. Travis Morgan
  597. Tricoteuse
  598. Twenty Thousand Thousand
  599. TYLER FLYNN DORHOLT
  600. tympan
  601. Udpost
  602. uncomplicatedly
  603. Union Herald
  604. United Poets Laureate
  605. unjustlyunread
  606. Unstable Euphony
  607. utahpoet
  608. Valerie Loveland
  609. vampire on the moon
  610. Vanitas Magazine
  611. Vents
  612. Versal Journal
  613. VERSE
  614. Very Like A Whale
  615. VerySmallKitchen
  616. Virgin Formica
  617. vowel movements
  618. Vox Populism:
  619. VRZHU bullets of pure love
  620. vviissiioonnss
  621. walkingintheceiling
  622. War Poetry
  623. We liked it but not quite enough
  624. What I Meant to Say
  625. Whirl
  626. White Chicken Blog of Poetry and Poetics
  627. Why Not Blog?
  628. Winged Ink
  629. Wingtips
  630. womens quarterly conversation
  631. Word Nerd
  632. Wordlustitude
  633. Wordsalad
  634. wordstrumpet
  635. Working notes
  636. wrd.wthiin.woord
  637. Writers No One Reads
  638. Writing Down the Path
  639. Writing the Polish Diaspora
  640. X Poetics
  641. XZentrick Libretti
  642. Yale Working Group in Contemporary Poetry
  643. Yes, Starlings! Yes!
  644. you are here
  645. You Must Write As If Your Life Depended On It
  646. your beloved revolutionary sweetheart
  647. Zackary Sholem Berger
  648. zero calorie cake
  649. Zoe Strauss
  650. Zombie ‘Pataphysics
  651. {LIME TREE}