Karly

This post begins as most of my posts begin: I was having a little TikTok scroll. You know the kind, the “just ten minutes” scroll that somehow becomes a full-blown anthropological deep dive. Because my algorithm knows me alarmingly well, I landed on a video by a creator who’s both a songwriter and a former English teacher. She was talking about some poetry books that were allegedly written by Taylor Swift.

Naturally, as both a Swiftie and a poetry lover, I was hooked. I listened to her attentively, and pretty quickly, I thought: this would make an excellent blog post.

Originally, my plan was to do a bit of a literary forensics job: look closely at the language, syntax, imagery, and structure of the poems to assess whether Taylor might plausibly have written them. A fun little authorship attribution exercise. (Spoiler alert: I’m pretty sure she didn’t write them.) But the more I sat with it, the more I realised there was a more interesting conversation here, not about whether Taylor penned those poems, but about how and why so many of us were so ready to believe she did.

So instead, let’s talk about media literacy. And maybe, just maybe, a pinch of critical thinking.

The Situation

There are three or four poetry books floating around online, all available on Kindle Unlimited, that are heavily implied to be written by Taylor Swift. They have moody covers and titles that could sound like lost tracks from The Tortured Poets Department. Search them on Amazon and they pop up, suspiciously on-brand and suspiciously unverified.

Now, being the curious, literature-obsessed creature I am, I did the sensible thing: downloaded them all and read through with my linguist goggles on. At first, I was thinking in stylistic terms: does the language mirror Taylor’s? Are the metaphors consistent with her known work? Could this be her writing under a pseudonym?

But almost immediately, I hit a different, more philosophical question: Why are we so eager to believe that this is her?

The Problem with “Because She Said So”

Here’s the thing. The TikToker in question wasn’t just anyone, she was articulate, clearly knew what she was talking about, and identified herself as a songwriter and former English teacher. Which made her seem legit. And yet… just because someone is a songwriter, or an English teacher, or even a trained linguist, that doesn’t mean we should accept every word they say without question.

It’s so easy to mistake authority for accuracy. But even those of us with experience in language, literature, or songwriting are prone to a thing called subjectivity. We interpret through the lens of our own tastes, experiences, and expectations. Just because someone can confidently quote Dickinson or explain internal rhyme doesn’t mean they’ve got the definitive truth. Confidence doesn’t equal credibility.

Take English teachers, for instance, and I say this lovingly. They’re famous for asking what the blue curtains “really mean.” Were they a symbol of the character’s overwhelming melancholy? A sign of foreshadowed doom? A metaphor for depression?

Sometimes, sure. But other times? Maybe the author just… liked blue. Or maybe they were literally sitting in a room with blue curtains when they wrote the scene. Not everything has to be a symbol. Sometimes a typewriter is just a typewriter, not a meta-commentary on a tortured creative process. And sometimes a poetry collection is just a poetry collection by someone capitalising on a trending topic.

This isn’t a callout post. It’s not about proving that those poetry books weren’t written by Taylor (again: I’m nearly certain they weren’t). It’s about slowing down and thinking critically before we jump on the bandwagon, even when the bandwagon is aesthetic, romantic, and wearing a cardigan.

When things feel true, when they’re poetic, nostalgic, gorgeously packaged, we want them to be true. That’s human. But that’s also when it’s most important to pause. Ask questions. Cross-reference. Read with care.

Because in an age of viral speculation, algorithmic manipulation, and aesthetic misinformation, the line between reality and narrative blurs quickly.

The Takeaway

So no, I do not think Taylor Swift secretly uploaded four anonymous poetry books to Amazon and Kindle Unlimited. But I do think the existence of those books, and the eagerness with which people embraced them, says something important about how we engage with art and information online.

Many of the poems in these collections are reminiscent of the Instagram-style “poetry” that consists of a single sentence broken into several short lines. This style tends to prioritise aesthetics over depth, often relying on emotion or formatting rather than literary technique. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, though I personally don’t enjoy it. But it feels a world away from the layered, emotionally complex writing Taylor is known for.

Still, some people online defend the books by saying, “Maybe she didn’t want to write a literary masterpiece.” And while that might seem like a reasonable point at first glance, it completely overlooks the Taylor Swift we have come to know. This is the same artist who, after Reputation was snubbed by the Grammys, went quiet and worked even harder. She returned with Lover, Folklore, Evermore, Midnights and now The Tortured Poets Department, all of which show a clear artistic progression and a deep commitment to her craft.

To suggest she would publish something rushed or unpolished just for the sake of secrecy does not match the Taylor who labours over metaphors, who hides easter eggs in liner notes, and who sees writing as a form of architecture. It simply does not align with her track record or her standards.

At the heart of all this is not really a question about Taylor, but a question about us. Why are we so ready to believe something just because it looks or sounds a certain way? Why do we treat speculation as truth when it suits the narrative we want to believe?

We all love a good mystery. But sometimes, reading between the lines means stepping back and asking who wrote them, and whether they were ever meant to be read at all.

P.S. I know this means you’re getting two Taylor Swift posts back-to-back on consecutive Mondays, sorry about that. I usually try to space them out a bit more, but this one felt important. It wasn’t planned, just something I stumbled upon that got me thinking, and I didn’t want to wait too long to share it while the conversation was still happening. (And yes, you just got a little spoiler as to what’s happening next Monday.)