There are thinkers and there are doers. Only the influential are both.

I’ve recently met someone who I think is soon to be extremely influential in the sphere of poetry in Metro Detroit and around the world: David Davis. Davis, who publishes poetry and operates under the pen name Eli T. Mond, saw a lack of participation in poetry, reading and writing among the average person and decided to make a change. In March earlier this year, he began creating The Ibis Head Review.

The Ibis Head Review is an online publication dedicated to giving amazing writers the exposure they need to boost their progress and engage more people in the arts in a meaningful way. The title was chosen to represent the idea of being self-made in a success-story sort of way but also in the sense that one must create oneself.

Inspiration for this title comes from the Egyptian god Tehuti or Djehuty, later translated by the Greeks as “Thoth,” who was known as the inventor of language and writing and in some myths is recognized as having created himself through the power of language alone rather than being born naturally as Ra’s son. “Thoth represents the journey out of obscurity and chaos -- which can manifest itself as self-doubt, financial hardship, or any other kind of oppression -- that everyone must brave in order to find their own version of success,” Davis said during our interview. The Ibis Head Review is a tool for helping writers create themselves.

“Poetry is a necessary aspect of the human experience and should be appreciated by people of all backgrounds -- not just poets,” Davis writes. So to reach out to the masses, he began posting fliers on the University of Michigan Dearborn campus, at local libraries, everywhere. That’s exactly how I came to meet him.

I worked at the library on campus at the time and saw a flyer posted in the lobby one morning. At first I was disgruntled by it because it was a call for poetry submissions and I was a Managing Editor at the Lyceum, a USO on campus that already accepted poetry. So I shot him an email. I found out the magazine wasn’t actually affiliated the university at all, so I decided on a whim to ask if I could help out. I was graduating soon and would have to quit my role at the Lyceum, and fill my need to edit. To my surprise, Davis agreed.

Currently we’ve closed the deadline on submissions for the inaugural issue and are doing edits and organizing until its release on September 1st, 2016. We’re already receiving new submissions for the second issue each day from local and international poets. Many of our submitters have been published in previous works and we include a space to acknowledge their accomplishments, but newcomers are always welcome!

“I never wanted it to be a vanity project,” Davis said when I first met with him about the magazine. The Ibis Head Review engages more writers by having loose guidelines for submission but attracts talent by requiring extraordinary writing skills. So while every piece accepted must be exceptional, it does not have to pertain to a certain topic, be written in a certain style, or adhere to a certain theme for each issue. The publication should serve the writer, not the writer the publication.

The Ibis Head Review stands out also as an online-only publication, utilizing the rise of the internet, which has become very powerful. Full-fledged businesses and real life celebrities can be created and the travel time of ideas is lightning fast.

“I saw writers utilizing platforms like Instagram in new and inventive ways and I found that very inspirational…. I feel as though every other form of art (static, music, film, etc.) has embraced the internet as a legitimate place to create and share, however, literature is still sort of stuck in a time-warp where you aren’t considered a ‘real, published writer’ if you aren’t in print somewhere,” Davis said in an interview over Google Hangouts, where we hold most of our meetings.

The Ibis Head Review aims to be a reputable online platform for showcasing unprecedented writing all over the world. The goal is to collaborate with other print and online publications to spread the culture of literature.

If you’re interested in contacting The Ibis Head Review, click here.