The GOAT PoL (the Geopolitical Open Atlas of The Polity of Literature) is a map of the polity of literature. It is a territory made of writing and reading together. We offer solidarity and invite you to join. Help expand the polity of literature by writing and reading with us.
We hope The GOAT PoL will be a resource for the disenfranchised, anyone whose rights or safety are threatened—for instance, people on the move, prisoners, children, and everyone else. You know who you are. Find your agency and belonging here with us, reading and writing in The GOAT PoL.
To join The GOAT PoL send us your stories. We want to read them and publish them. We pay writers for working with us, and we ask you to work with each other. Be a writer and a reader, together with others. It’s easy: read the stories on the map and send us your own.
Ground Rules for a polity of literature—The GOAT PoL exists only in human collaborations of writing and reading, therefore:
(1) Each person who writes and reads can enroll here using one account under their own name or a pseudonym. Do not open two or more accounts. Each person in this polity has equivalent rights, and no one should expand their claim by opening more than one account.
(2) As people engaged in collective work we rely on honesty; please always be honest and forthcoming about your actions or responses; the work you submit must be your own.
(3) The human work of writing and reading cannot be done by machines. The health and value of our polity of literature depends on each person showing up in their work fully human. Do not submit any writing made with AI—we will not publish any writing that is AI. Violation of this rule hurts the community by making it harder for us to engage with you as a human being. AI accounts will be deleted.
(4) Good human relationships are built with mutual respect: please ask and don’t demand; disagree with respect; don’t belittle or dismiss; listen and try to understand, even if you disagree.
(5) Please be patient—human work goes at a human pace; the pleasure we feel in working together only comes in its own time. We look forward to reading your work.
The GOAT PoL is funded and hosted by Musagetes, a Canadian arts foundation. Our goat drawings are by Micha Zweifel. Currently, nine people work as Readers/Advisors/Editors (RAEs), available to work directly with any writers who want to publish with us. The RAEs are Nasrin Afzali, Parwana Amiri, Niels Bekkema, Louis Greenwood Lüthi, Negar Masroori, Kimberly Mutandiro, Matthew Stadler, Ndugu Steven, and Alison Turner. Our online workshops are managed and hosted by Annick Corriveau.
If you have questions or would like to join us, working as a RAE, our email is thegoatpol@tutanota.com. We’re also on Instagram @thegoatpol and on Telegram @thegoatpol.
