Inner Circles are private groups on Stanza where members share work, give feedback and build a community together. Think of them as literary salons: a room with a door, where the people inside have chosen to be there.
What makes a circle different
- A members-only feed. Work posted to a circle can only be seen by its accepted members. It never appears in public feeds, Explore or search for anyone outside the circle.
- A door. Every circle decides how people get in — by request, by password, or both — so the membership is deliberate.
- Roles. Each circle has an owner, admins who help run it, members, and optionally critics.
- Critiques in private. A critique written inside a circle is visible only to its members, which makes circles a natural home for workshops.
What people use circles for
- Writing workshops with structured peer feedback.
- Reading groups exploring a theme, a form or a poet.
- Slam teams rehearsing and refining pieces before a competition.
- School classes and writing programmes, where work-in-progress should stay within the group.
- Friends sharing drafts they are not ready to publish.
Posting to a circle
When you publish, choose Inner Circle as the visibility ("Members of a circle") and then Select Circle. You need to be a member of the circle to post to it. Other members are notified when a new circle post is published.
Posting to a circle is one of the visibility levels on Stanza, alongside Public, Followers, Friends and Private. You choose it per poem.
Finding your way around
Open Circles from the navigation to see the circles you belong to, your invitations, and circles you might like to join. If you pin Circles in your menu, it can show you how many new posts there are since your last visit.
Keeping circles safe
Circle admins can act on posts in their circle: they can remove a post from the circle (it becomes private to its author), take it down, or warn the author. Stanza's own community rules and reporting tools still apply inside every circle.
Next steps
- Creating a Circle — set one up and choose how people join.
- Joining a Circle — knocking, passwords and invitations.
- Circle Membership & Roles — who can do what.
Small circles tend to work best for feedback. A workshop of six to twelve people who post regularly will give each poem more attention than a circle of hundreds.