2026 Postcard Poem Exchange: Poetry & Movement

This October, Kundiman Fellows and community members engaged in a month-long Postcard Poem Exchange centered on the theme “Poetry & Movement.” During this project, participants wrote and mailed poems that considered movement’s relationship with words, the body, time, and change.

While Kundiman organized this year’s postcard poem exchange independently, the project has historically been part of the Poetry Coalition’s programming centered around a theme of social importance.

Below, we’ve collected a selection of this year’s postcard poems, as well as a full archive of the weekly writing prompts and recommended readings.

2026 Postcard Gallery

Postcards by Jane Lin

Five postcards surround a potted plant on a wooden surface.

Postcards by Emperatriz Ung

Four postcards overlapping on a patterned textile. A pen and a stack of additional cards sit below them.

Postcards by Shirley Cai

Three postcards on a wooden surface. Two display poems on their back sides and the other features an illustration of Antibes. Various objects surround the postcards, including a notebook, a candlestick, a pumpkin, and stamps.

Postcards by Rishona Michael

Two postcards on a marble surface. One displays a poem on the back side and the other displays The Two Cherubs from Raphael’s Sistine Madonna. Two dandelions sit on top of the postcards.

Postcards by Emperatriz Ung

Three postcards fanned out in a person’s hand, against the backdrop of a sidewalk covered in fall leaves.

Postcards by Jane Lin

Five postcards displaying the poems on their back sides are fanned out on a wooden surface with a stuffed toy sitting on top of them.

Postcards by Shirley Cai

Two postcards outdoors surrounded by moss, leaves, and twigs. One displays a poem on the back side and the other features an animation still.

Postcards by Jane Lin

Two postcards on a wooden surface display poems on their back sides. A pink figurine sits on one of the postcards.

Postcards by Emperatriz Ung

Five postcards displaying illustrations of wildflowers are fanned out in a person’s hand, against the backdrop of a yellow postal box.

Postcards by Jane Lin

Two images of a notecard on a wooden surface. The first image displays the front of the notecard, which is an homage to Fragonard’s The Swing featuring cats. The second image displays the poem written inside the card.

Weekly Prompts and Suggested Readings

PROMPTS:

Week 1 — Movement and Words:

How does a poem move across the page? In what ways might our poems be moved by the words of others? Write a poem in the form of a golden shovel, where each last word of every line is taken from the last word of every line of another, existing poem. You can consider this an homage to a work that has inspired you as a writer, or a conversation with another poet’s words that continue to move you. Alternatively, write a poem that plays with movement, either structurally or thematically.

Week 2 — Embodied Movement:

What is moving within and through your body? What do you carry with you? Think about the elements and forces that move and/or pass through you.These can be physical, emotional, spiritual, ancestral, geographical, or political (for example: blood, grief, laughter, caffeine, endorphins, etc.). Choose one element or force, and write a poem acknowledging the way it moves and feels in your body.

Week 3 — Movement and Time:

Consider your relationship with time, and how poetry can be a way to navigate the passage of time. Pick two different points in time and write a poem that connects those two periods.

Week 4 — Movement and Change:

The word “movement” is also used to describe a time of great social and/or political transformation. In what ways can writing help enact larger changes in the world? Write a poem about a time when you felt that you were part of a movement of some kind.

2026 Postcard Poem Exchange: Poetry & Movement

2026 Postcard Gallery

Weekly Prompts and Suggested Readings

PROMPTS:

SUGGESTED READINGS AND LINKS: