The poetry market

Britain and Ireland have an incredible poetry tradition - but you wouldn't guess it from your local bookshop. Very few shops now stock poetry, unless you count a few of the classics and a handful of more recent anthologies.

This is sad. But there is a thriving sub-culture of small presses, enthusiastic magazines and committed readers.

Getting a foot in the door of this small but passionate community is tough - and your work needs to be very strong. But the rewards are very high too, not in terms of money but in terms of your own personal satisfaction.


Who are we?

Our poetry editors are both published poets who teach creative writing at the University of East Anglia, Britain's foremost creative writing school. They love working with new poets, and will be both sympathetic and very honest.

Sarah Law

Sarah was born in Norwich, and studied literature at Cambridge and London universities. She currently teaches literature and creative writing at the University of East Anglia. She has had two poetry collections published with Stride - Bliss Tangle and The Lady Chapel, and a third collection, Perihelion, was published by Shearsman in February this year.

'Informed by mystery as much as by mastery of form, her work sings in the dark and glows in the silence.' (Rupert Loydell)

Helen Ivory

Helen has had two collections of poetry published with Bloodaxe Books - The Double Life of Clocks (2002) and The Dog in the Sky (2006). Of the last book, Judith Kazantzis commented in the Poetry Review: 'The Dog in the Sky twitches the dark; light-hearted personae playful against a cosmic shiver. Any surrealism relies at bottom on a certain passionate madness ... In the end erotic love lives and lives hard.'

She has taught creative writing since 2001 and is now Academic Director and tutor of Creative Writing for Continuing Education at the University of East Anglia.

‘A voice that quickens one's pulse’ Pratima Bhati Mitchell

How we can help?

We can help as follows:

First, we can assess your poetry. We can tell you if it is good enough for publication. Our assessment will be understanding of your objectives as a poet - but also realistic about the standards that need to be met.

Second, we can offer you feedback on what elements of your poetry are working, and which are not. We will give you advice on how to improve your work.

Third, we can advise you on your publication options. We'll give you lots of advice and info on how to go about getting your work published. If conventional publication isn't a realistic option, we will give you lots of advice on self-publishing.

And fourth, we'll talk to you. About your work. About publication options. About whatever it is you want to know.

How do I go about getting advice?

We charge £130 for giving feedback on up to 15 poems (max 25 pages). In return for this, you get:

Is this service right for you?

Our poetry service is particularly aimed at those who are fairly serious about their own work.

If -

• You read poetry yourself
• Enjoy contemporary verse
• and want to improve your own work

then we are probably the right people to help.

If you don't read or enjoy contemporary verse, then you might want to think hard before deciding to send your work to us for comment.