Write Out Loud has just notched up its 1,000th poet profile, in another sign of the site's surging success. Matt Tilke is 28, from Brighton, and discovered WOL through an old school friend. He explained: "I had been starting to write again after a bit of a hiatus and I knew he was doing quite a lot, so asked where was best online for poetry and this is where I ended up." Matt, a musician who plays the bass and is also a DJ, grew up in Exeter, and moved to Brighton to study multimedia arts. He added: "I now work in finance, and no, I'm not a banker and i've never had a bonus before anyone starts to boo.  I'm enjoying the layout of the site and it's been great to read other people's works. There are so many talented people out there and it's so good to have them all in one place."

 "My poetry tends to go one of two ways - either it's deeply cynical and self-loathing, or it's surreal and uplifting.  My main aim for joining the site was purely to get my writing out there for people to read. It has all been stored away and unread for so long and I believed the time was right - not only to unleash them on the world but also to start writing again. I, like most people, would love to one day have them published but I'm just happy if people are able to read them if they want."

Winston Plowes, WOL's long-serving profiles supremo, said: "This is my last month as a member of the WOL admin team so I am especially pleased to have overseen the arrival of our 1,000th member before I leave.  Matt has come to us from a predominantly musical background, which shows the range of writers and the crossover in genres we have in the WOL community. Welcome Matt, I look forward to reading your regular blog posts as much as I have enjoyed those of the 999 members before you."

In addition to the 1,000 names currently on WOL's poet profiles, Write Out Loud actually has 4,570 members - people who have chosen to register on the site, and who receive the regular Write Out Loud newsletter. Not only that - in each of the last two months, record numbers of more than 12,000 unique individuals have used the site.