I can’t call myself a Swiftie, much less a tortured poet (tortuous — maybe), but I do love many Taylor Swift songs, and I absolutely adore fountain pens. One evening, when I decided to watch the Eras Tour on Disney Plus, the description cleverly directed me to her merch store, and before I knew it I had a Tortured Poets Department fountain pen and journal in my cart.

The pen comes in a nice, black gift box with ‘From the Desk of Taylor Swift’ written across the front, and ‘TTPD’ on the back. Inside is the pen, a standard black ink cartridge, and a little note explaining why the ink is shipped separately, and how to install it in the pen. However, if the description doesn’t help you, I recommend watching this video review.

From the comments I’ve seen on social media, I think the choices made for this fountain pen show an excellent understanding of the target market. Most fans buying this pen have never used a fountain pen before. They might even consider $15 a high price for a writing instrument. While I wouldn’t be averse to a limited edition Taylor Swift fountain pen created in partnership with an established fountain pen company, I think this inexpensive, white-labelled pen is a great introduction to fountain pens for people who might never have thought to pick one up otherwise. It’s small, which is just right for writers who are accustomed to gel pens or ballpoints, but it isn’t light plastic. In fact, I would argue that this pen feels (and certainly looks) more luxurious than most entry-level fountain pens like the Lamy Safari, Kaweco Sport, or Platinum Preppy.

The Design

1. The pen has a wooden barrel on which is printed “Taylor Swift”, and “TTPD”, a brass cap, and brass threads and grip section. Personally, I find the sleek, linear profile and the combination of black and gold inordinately appealing, though it’s worth noting that the brass will tarnish with use and will need to be polished.
2. From a distance the body of the pen might look black, but it’s actually a rather lovely dark wood.
3. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the overall form factor resembles a tube of mascara.
4. Admittedly the nib could have done without the “Genius Iridium” stamp. This is absent in the marketing photos, so I suspect that either there was a miscommunication with the Chinese suppliers, or the cost of fitting a custom nib was unfeasible. Still, what’s more important is that it performs well and reliably (in my experience).
5. The cap unscrews, and can then be screwed onto the back of the pen — called “posting”. Though this is a small pen, I found that it was long enough to use comfortably even unposted.
6. As a writer, I really appreciate the addition of “from the desk of” to the stationery products. It coveys a personal, tangible element beyond the name.
7. The box is really nice, too. You can take out the foam insert and use it for small bits and bobs.

Filling the Taylor Swift Fountain Pen

If you’re a Swiftie who’s never used a fountain pen before, and you need some guidance, here you go:

1. Uncap the pen, and unscrew the section just above the nib (always being careful not to knock the nib against anything, as this may damage it). You’ll see that on the opposite end to the nib there’s a diagonally-cut protrusion. This is used to pierce the cartridge (or slot into the converter, if you have one).
2. The little plastic vial that comes with the pen is called a “cartridge”. One end of the cartridge has a hole that’s stoppered with a plastic ball. You push this end into the fountain pen until the cartridge is ruptured and ink can flow into the pen.
3. Once installed, you can give the cartridge a gentle squeeze to encourage the ink to flow towards the nib. Don’t squeeze too hard or you risk cracking the cartridge, and making a mess. It may take a few minutes for the ink to travel down the feed, and the pen to begin writing. Be patient!
4. Make sure you always cap your fountain pen after you’ve finished writing.
5. If possible, use up the ink and don’t let it dry inside the pen (which it will, if left too long).

Writing With Your Fountain Pen

1. Fountain pens require no pressure to write. Go gently.
2. Try out cursive, and experiment with different letter shapes.
3. If you’d like a thinner line, try turning the pen so that the nib is upside down. This is called “reverse writing”. While not terribly reliable (or satisfying), it can come in handy.
4. If you’re looking for more excuses to write with your new pen (and journal), try learning a new language, writing a story, or copying out passages from your favourite book.

Refilling Your Fountain Pen

When you’ve used up the cartridge, you have a few options:

1. You can buy more cartridges. The Taylor Swift fountain pen accepts standard short international cartridges, which give you a lot of options to choose from. Pelikan, Kaweco, Diamine, and J. Herbin all make cartridges in many different colours. Or you can go with whatever you find at local your stationers’. However, steer clear of brands that use proprietary cartridge designs that only fit their own fountain pens: Lamy, Sailor, Pilot, Platinum.
2. You can buy a “converter” and a bottle of fountain pen ink. Two important points:
   1. This pen uses a standard fitting, but the converter needs to be short/narrow enough to fit inside the fountain pen. The Monteverde mini converter, or a similar small converter should do the trick.
   2. You need to be careful to choose fountain-pen-friendly ink. Something like india ink, calligraphy ink or marker refills might clog up your pen.
3. You can buy a syringe and a bottle of ink. A regular syringe from the chemist will work just fine.
   1. Pull the empty cartridge out of the pen and clean it out by squirting water inside it using the syringe.
   2. Once all the pigment is washed out, suck up any excess water and leave the cartridge to dry.
   3. Make sure your syringe is also clean and dry, so you don’t contaminate the ink in your ink bottle.
   4. Dip the needle in the ink bottle, suck up a little bit of ink, and fill up the cartridge.
   5. Clean (“flush”) your fountain pen, then insert the cartridge back into the pen, as before.

How to Clean Your Fountain Pen

You will need to clean your fountain pen regularly for it to keep working well, but especially if you’re changing inks or ink colours or if the ink has dried up in your pen.

Goulet Pens has some excellent instructional materials for new fountain pen users, so please refer to their videos for further guidance.

Conclusion

As someone who enjoys both cheap and high-end fountain pens, I can say I definitely love the Taylor Swift fountain pen, and I’ve been using it frequently. In fact, I’ve already exhausted the included cartridge.

If you’re a fan, and you enjoy stationery, I don’t think you can go wrong with this little pen. Also, stationery merch is such a great idea — I really hope other creators will be inspired to follow suit!

The Tortured Poets Department Journal

The notebook design is really pleasing. It has a soft, foam-y cover, rounded edges, and a silver foiled fore-edge. Every page has an art deco border and “From the Desk of Taylor Swift” printed across the top.

Unfortunately, the paper isn’t very good. It has a pulpy texture, and bleeds on the reverse with wetter pens. And while the Taylor Swift fountain pen isn’t a particularly wet writer, if you’d like to explore other fountain pen-friendly options, Goulet Pens offers a nifty sampler pack.

The only thing I find strange about this notebook is that it’s so large. There is a smaller memopad, but considering the diminutive size of the fountain pen I might have expected a pocket notebook instead of this 9.5″x11″ guestbook. However, I think the aesthetic is more that of an affluent tortured poet composing at her desk in her Gatsby mansion, and I’m here for it.