About

Against the Grain Poetry Press is an innovative small independent poetry publisher dedicated to publishing challenging, well-crafted poetry. We love writing that is moving and provocative from strong, fresh, diverse voices.

We produce beautiful, starkly-designed, high quality books and pamphlets with high production values and an edgy appeal.

We have an annual submissions window for pamphlets in June selecting four of the best for publication.

Established in 2017 we work closely with our poets, launching their books at The Poetry Café, London or online during the pandemic.

We ran a poem competition in 2018 and 2019.

poets

Editors
• Abegail Morley
• Karen Dennison
• Jessica Mookherjee

Olga-Dermott-Bond’s winning poem: My daughter’s first eye test

October 25, 2020 by Abegail Morley

Every year, Poetry on Loan runs a poetry competition for people who live, work or study in the West Midlands. This year’s theme was Vision, and the winner of the adult category was this poem – My daughter’s first eye test, by Olga Dermott-Bond. Olga is originally from Northern Ireland and read English at the University of St. … Continue reading Olga-Dermott-Bond’s winning poem: My daughter’s first eye test

The Editor’s Wilderness Poem

October 5, 2020October 5, 2020 by Karen Dennison

by Carl Griffin When I first invited poets to send me their fragments or poems so that I could stitch them together into one cohesive poem (which became Arrival at Elsewhere), I had a few ideas in mind of the kind of poetry I wanted to see, and the topics I wanted to avoid. However, … Continue reading The Editor’s Wilderness Poem

Arrival at Elsewhere – creating characters

September 23, 2020October 3, 2020 by Abegail Morley

By Carl Griffin Although many of the poems/fragments I received for this project featured family members or neighbours, I didn’t always think it was right to use these as part of a larger poem, although some managed to survive. But by weaving a few minor characters from these fragments with new settings from other fragments, … Continue reading Arrival at Elsewhere – creating characters

Arrival at Elsewhere – a glimpse…

September 19, 2020September 19, 2020 by Karen Dennison

Arrival at Elsewhere is a book-length long-poem response to the coronavirus outbreak of 2020, curated by one poet, Carl Griffin, but written by many (97 to be precise!). We are publishing it in November with sales in aid of NHS Charities Together and it can be pre-ordered now. Excerpt from Arrival at Elsewhere – The … Continue reading Arrival at Elsewhere – a glimpse…

Recent Posts