The GOAT PoL—The Geopolitical Open Atlas of The Polity of Literature—solicits, develops, and publishes new writing by disenfranchised writers around the world. Many of these authors are stateless people, refugees, prisoners, children, or others whose political agency has been compromised. The writers are in charge, submitting whatever they’re moved to write. The GOAT PoL supports their work by assigning a skilled Reader/Advisor/Editor (RAE) to work with them, editing and revising, and by paying the writers when we publish their finished pieces.

Most writers return and publish more. Many read others on the site, and seek out those who they admire, or they encourage people in their own communities to submit new writing. The GOAT PoL is a community formed by writing and reading together. As of 2026 they’ve published more than 2000 original stories from over 1000 international writers. Each year, a few of them will also be writing books with us, which The GOAT PoL publishes through the Publication Studio project in Guelph (also supported by Musagetes). The GOAT PoL is a living, functioning “polity of literature.”

Visitors to The GOAT PoL can navigate the homepage map to find stories, or they can consult side-bar lists of “most recent,” “most popular,” or nearby” stories, or they can use the search bar to find stories on specific topics, from specific places, or written by specific authors. Anyone can submit a new story, when there are RAEs available to work with them.