The increasing popularity of online forums means that writers have an expansive environment to share poems, engage in discussions, and participate in virtual workshops. The InterBoard Poetry Community (IBPC) serves as a hub for some of the best of these forums, handpicked especially for writers of poetry.

The diverse selection of nineteen boards, which includes Atlantic Unbound, Café Utne, and Salty Dreams, offers options for every writer. Each independent board has its own layout, personality, and house style--from the elegant to the zany, the traditional to experimental. Many of the boards have a choice of several forums, organized by level. For example, tentative beginners can join the Apollo forum on Enter the Muse for gentle comments and support, while more advanced writers can steel themselves for the candid critique in the Calliope forum.

This large network was created in 1999 by Michael Neff, who had three specific goals in mind: "First, to seek to improve the quality of poetry and discourse on participating boards and on the internet in general; second, to discover and publish new poets; and third, to help these new poets become recognized by leading literary periodicals," according to the IBPC website.

In both monthly and annual competitions, the IBPC invites published poets and literary journal editors to serve as judges to choose the best poems on all nineteen boards. Winning poems from the last four years are saved on the site, along with the judge’s comments on the work.