Poetry and Literary Fonts: Beautiful Typography for Writers

For one, poetry has always had a strong focus on visual presentation.

The breaks between lines, the use of space around the text, and the overall shape on the page, are all important in conveying a message. Great poets of the past, such as Emily Dickinson and E.E. Cummings, recognized this and implemented their own stylized presentations of their works. With the advent of new technology and social media, poets now have a wide variety of venues to post their works — from Instagram to Twitter to Tumblr and much, much more. Despite having the same content, the same words, different stylizations can cause different reactions, from the casual scroll of the eye to lingering gazes wanting a second read. This is done simply through the use of font — through careful stylization, a writer can transform their piece from something bland on the page to a dramatic presentation of feeling and expression. A writer should always endeavor to make their words as beautiful as the messages contained within them.

Typography as Part of the Poem

When it comes to choosing a particular type style, one must consider which emotions conveyed by the text can be enhanced by certain aesthetic properties of fonts.

Elegance and style imply romance and the classics — and so a poem about the romance of a relationship stylized in 𝒸𝓊𝓇𝓈𝒾𝓋𝑒 will immediately convey the proper feeling to the reader. Similarly, a more modern feel implies a message of a contemporary issue, and the same can be said with other fonts. Gothic implies darkness and mystery — a dark poem would be best presented in a shadowy font. In much the same way, a writer must also consider the authenticity of typewriter-style fonts in the presentation of a confessional piece.

Presentation on Different Mediums

There are many different venues to publish poetry in; one must learn the proper presentations for each.

Instagram poetry has seen a boom in popularity in recent years; poetry stylized on the site tends to use the square layout to present shorter poems, which are more easily digestible in the format. An example of presented text is “✨ 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 ✨ | 𝘐 𝘴𝘢𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, | 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴 | 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘺 | 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴.” Twitter, with its character limit, has seen the rise of Twitter poets who use the platform to write their own original poetry, using stylized text to enhance the message of their work. One might see “✦ 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦 ✦” as an example of Twitter poetry. Tumblr poetry has a long and famed history in the literature and poetry world — it is a place where many budding writers post their works for all to see, and a properly stylized piece is essential to the presentation of a work, as it displays the author's respect to the craft and the work as a whole.

Fonts for Different Styles

Particular stylizations should be chosen for particular types of poetry.

For romantic or love poetry: “𝒮𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝒶𝓈 𝓅𝑜𝑒𝓉𝓇𝓎 | 𝓌𝓇𝒾𝓉𝓉𝑒𝓃 𝒾𝓃 𝓁𝒶𝕟𝑔𝓊𝒶𝑔𝑒𝓈 | 𝐼 𝒹𝒾𝒹𝓃'𝓉 𝓀𝓃𝑜𝓌 | 𝐼 𝒸𝑜𝓊𝓁𝒹 𝒻𝑒𝑒𝓁” (using Cursive) for enhanced romanticism.

For dark, gothic poetry: “𝔇𝔞𝔯𝔨𝔫𝔢𝔰𝔰 𝔦𝔰𝔫'𝔱 𝔢𝔪𝔭𝔱𝔶 | 𝔦𝔱'𝔰 𝔣𝔲𝔣𝔡 𝔬𝔣 𝔱𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰 | 𝔴𝔢 𝔯𝔢𝔣𝔲𝔰𝔢 𝔱𝔬 𝔰𝔢𝔢” (using Gothic Font)

For contemplative poetry: “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 | 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘴 | 𝘪𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴 | 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘴” (using Italics)

For raw, confessing poetry: “𝗜 𝗮𝗺 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗸𝗮𝘆. | 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝗼𝗸𝗮𝘆.” (Using a bold, simple font)

Sharing Classical Poetry

When sharing quotations or excerpts of favorite writers, a proper presentation is essential to showing due respect to another.

Classical quote: “✦ “𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘦ડ 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵.” ✦ – 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐡 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐦𝐬”

Modern quote: “📚 𝘞𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘵𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘵. 📚 – 𝐀𝐧𝐚𝐢́𝐬 𝐍𝐢𝐧”

Of course, one must always credit a writer. It would also be fitting to credit the author of any text being shared: “– 𝗥𝘂𝗺𝗶” or “– 𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘢 𝘈𝗻𝗴𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘶”

Titles and Headers

When sharing complete pieces, a title may also hold a degree of stylization.

Elegant title: “✨ 𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝑅𝒶𝒾𝓃 ✨”

Stark title: “𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗗”

A title is used to set the tone of a piece. A romantic piece would be best suited with a similarly romantic title. Stark titles are better suited for stark pieces. The overall aesthetic of the title should set the scene, much like entering a room, the title is the introduction before one reads into the piece.

Brand Building

With the establishment of a style, a writer must also consider a brand. With regular posts, one must maintain a consistent presentation across works. A writer could always use italics for their work and a cursive font for their titles; this would be seen as their signature presentation. A writer might always put their verses between “✦”s; this, too, is a brand. This allows the audience to recognize your work at a glance.

Micro-Poetry, Short Forms

Short, simple poems are also perfect for social media use, with haiku especially standing out as a form well-suited for stylization.

Haiku: “🌸 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘥 | 𝘢 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘨 𝘫𝘶𝘮𝘱𝘴 𝘪𝘯 | 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 🌸 – 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘩𝓍” (with a stylized presentation)

One-liner: “✨ 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘢𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 ✨”

Epigram: “📝 𝗣𝗵𝗲 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝗲𝘁𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗲: 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘵𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝘅𝗮𝗰𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝘥.”

Book Titles & Promotions

Those who have published a book of poetry can also stylize text. A book promotion might read “📚 ✨ 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗣𝗢𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗬 𝗖𝗢𝗟𝗟𝗘𝗖𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 ✨ 📚 '𝒜𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒮𝓉𝑜𝓇𝓂' – 47 poems about loss, healing, and becoming. Available now!” while a feature might read “✦ 𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘸 𝘤𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: ✦ | '𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺𝘴 | 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘦𝘮 | 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨' | Full collection linked in bio 📚”.

Symbols

Many characters, symbols, and emojis can enhance the presentation of a piece. The obvious ones are those that denote books and writing: 📚 📝 ✍️ 📖. Other symbols that pair well with poetry are star-like characters such as ✨ ✦ ⭐ 🌙, natural imagery like 🌸 🌿 🌙 ⭐, and emotional characters such as 💔 💭 🖤.

Speaking, Spoken Word Poetry

Spoken word poetry performed publicly can be announced online. An announcement might read “🎤 𝗣𝗢𝗘𝗧𝗥𝗬 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 🎤 Sharing my piece '𝒰𝓃𝓈𝒶𝒾𝒹 𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓃𝑔𝓈' at Open Mic tonight! 📅 8 PM | 📍 The Venue. Come through!” while a caption for a video might read “✨ 𝘕𝘦𝘸 𝘱𝑒𝓇𝘧𝘰𝓇𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝑒𝘤𝘦 ✨ This one's about finding yourself after losing everything. Full video in bio. 🎤”.

Communities

Poetry thrives in the presence of a supportive community. One can engage both through comments and shares. A comment could be “✨ 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝑒𝘥 𝘮𝘦 ✨ Your words found exactly where I needed them! I love your work!” A share might see the following text: “📝 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗗𝗥𝗔𝗙𝗧 📝 Looking for feedback on this one. How does this land for you?”

Craft

It is important to give one's works the care and attention they deserve and need. Doing so shows a dedication and love to one's craft and poetry as a whole. After all, every piece one writes is a world they create. The presentation, the typography, is the doorway to the world — it is the means by which one's audience enters their mind.

The beauty of one's work will always be in the language and expression, but the presentation is the means by which one conveys to their audience how special their work is.