RFK recently claimed that people “with profound autism” will never write a poem.

Poems We’ll Never Write: A Narrative Reclamation of Autistic Voices is both a response and a reclaiming of what poetry is--and who it belongs to.

You don’t need to be a “poet” to submit. Poetry exists in the form of movement, device, echo, visual, repetition, and rhythm. If yours lives in fragments or stims or magnetic word pieces, it’s still poetry.

Who Can Submit

Autistic individuals of all ages and identities and support needs
Submissions can be anonymous or under a pseudonym

Prompt Inspiration

The following are are welcome:

Any “traditional” or “nontraditional” types of poetry
Collaborative family/group poems
Magnet and collage poems (digital versions also welcome)
Blackout poems
Epistolary poems (a poem written as a letter to someone)
AAC-generated poems/works
Poems in voice/AAC output style (written as though coming from a speech-generating device or using visual icons—could include “buttons", repeated phrases, or pacing modeled after real AAC use)
Poems inspired by echolalia, gestalt language processing, scripting, vocal stims, invented words, and soundplay
Visual poems (word placement, shape, color and font style becomes part of the message—words can spiral, scatter, overlap, or follow the path of a drawing)
List poetry
Object voice/personification poems (written from the perspective of an object or environment—a desk, a tree, a photo)
Sensory poetry (highlights sounds, textures, images, smells, and other sensory input over linear narrative)
Poem maps (structured like diagrams or branching maps—can show choices, timelines, alternate possibilities, or internal dialogue)
Dialogic or multi-voice poems (child/parent, self/system, past/present)

Submission Guidelines

Format: Submit up to 3 poems in .doc, .pdf, or pasted into the form
Length: Up to 2 pages per poem
Optional: Short author note (1-3 sentences), if you’d like to share context
Visual poetry (e.g. collage, magnet poem photos, screenshots of typed AAC poetry) may also be uploaded
Deadline: Friday June 6, 2025
Compensation: Contributors will receive a free digital copy of the anthology. Print publication is also being explored.

FAQ

Can I submit on behalf of my child? Yes—with attribution or anonymously, and only with consent if applicable.
Can this be anonymous? Absolutely. Pseudonyms or unnamed contributions are welcomed.
Will I hear back? Final selections will be announced July 2025.

Unmasked Lineage