Gut Punch Literary: June 2025

What is Gut Punch Literary and what are we trying to accomplish?

The best place to start is with Who we are.

Gut Punch Literary is the contrivance of John Hinton. The light bulb first flickered in 2022. The illuminating thought, to establish a journal focused on real and raw writing. From, poets who don't call themselves poets, who may have never written before, who don't think they are "good enough" to be called a poet. People who want to share their stories but don't quite have the confidence....yet.

I am John Hinton, by the way, and I was serving as president of Poetry Society of Indiana at the time. One of the functions I performed as president was hosting open mics at coffee shops, bookstores, libraries, pizza places, any place that would give us space to bring poetry and poets together.

People attend open mics for various reasons. The obvious one, to read their poetry. Some come to support their poetic friends, others come to listen because they enjoy poetry, others come because they are curious. During these open mics I would pay close attention to the people in the room. There were always one or two who wanted to speak/read but shyness and uncertainty kept them frozen to their seat. If I noticed a person like this, I would gently twist their arm to get them to the microphone. Most of the time people would come up to share. One evening, a young lady did not come up to the mic.

Fast forward a few days. I received a message on Facebook from someone I didn't know. Guess who? The young woman's note read, "You were right. I did want to come up and read but I was too nervous. I never knew I had a voice until that night, and you helped me to see that. I will be reading next time."

WINNING!

And this exactly what I was hoping to accomplish as Poetry Society of Indiana president. Giving people a platform and opportunity to share their thoughts and emotions. Their stories. I don't care if their voice shakes, if they cry, if they scream. I don't care if their words are perfectly chosen or their diction is spot on. I don't care if they just belch out one long poem without taking a breath. I care that their voice gets heard in its absolute authenticity.

This is what I what for Gut Punch Literary Journal. I want writers of all stages of the creative process to have an opportunity to put their words out into the world. Content is far more important than perfect spelling, perfect grammar, perfect editing. We need honest, timid, angry, hopeless, powerless voices straining to speak truth, courage, hope, and strength. This is why the mantra for Gut Punch Literary is "Write it real. Write it raw."

More about this Hinton character. By the way, that's me. Here's my bio:

John Hinton is a creative exploring the human experience through words. Hinton is past president of Poetry Society of Indiana. He is a Pushcart Prize nominee, a Nickle Plate Arts Artist Advocate Award nominee and an Eugene & Marilyn Glick Indiana Author Awards Literary Champion Nominee.

Hinton has published two poetry collections, Blackbird Songs and Held. He has also been published in Last Stanza Poetry Journal, Polk Street Review, Weeder's Digest, Stroll of Poets Anthology, Petals of Haiku Anthology, and numerous Poetry Society of Indiana Anthologies.

I am deeply passionate about demonstrating how poetry belongs in all segments of our existing experience. I champion the collaboration of poetry with other artistic forms. I have coordinated with numerous art galleries to combine poetry and art and also with a dance studio to create a project entitled Words in Motion. Words in Motion will celebrate its fourth year in 2026.

My goal with Gut Punch Literary is to expand the opportunity for writers from all backgrounds and experience levels to be published.

So there you have a little Who, a bit of What, and smidge of Why.

Keep watching this blog for more details about the projects we'll be promoting.

Scroll down on this site to see our inaugural contest and submission call. If you have question, please reach out to me at any time.

More to come...