Submissions open 15 July – 14 August 2026
Out-Spoken Press is now open for submissions for full collections of poetry for our 2027-28 publishing list, until 11.59pm UK 14 August 2026. Please read the guidelines below and send your submissions via our Submittable page here:
Standard Submissions Guidelines
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR
We are open for poetry submissions of full collections only for our 2027-28 publishing schedule under the Editorship of Anthony Anaxagorou between 15 July – 14 August 2026.
At this stage we would like a sample of your poems, together with a one-page covering letter, where you can tell us a bit about yourself (including any publication history) and the work.
Anthony will review each of these and will select those from whom we will request to see further work or a full manuscript.
HOW TO SUBMIT
Please upload the following via our Submittable portal:
a sample of 3 poems, in PDF format; and
a short covering letter (no longer than a single side) with a brief bio, introducing us to who you are and the types of themes or concerns you see your work exploring.
Please title your poem attachment "[YOUR NAME] submission" and your cover letter "[YOUR NAME] cover letter".
All submissions will be reviewed by Anthony Anaxagorou. We regret that we are not able to offer personal feedback on submissions which are not selected.
We do not charge submission fees.
Publishing with Out-Spoken Press
We typically publish only 6–9 books each year, to enable us to give each title the attention it deserves. If your work is selected for publication, you will work closely with your Editor to ensure your manuscript is in the best possible shape for publication. We recommend you get a sense of the range of work we publish by browsing our backlist here.
You will be provided with a publishing contract, with a manuscript delivery date, together with a comprehensive Author Handbook, setting out the timeline to publication, the various stages of the publishing process, and what you can expect from us. We pay royalties at a competitive percentage of net income from book sales.
We distribute via BookSource, via Inpress, and all of our titles are made available as ebooks as well as physical books.
Since its founding in 2016, Out-Spoken Press has focused on platforming diverse new voices, particularly through early-career support of writers who have gone on to more mainstream success, including Joelle Taylor, Raymond Antrobus, Sabrina Mahfouz, and Harry Josephine Giles. Press titles have won the OCM Bocas Prize for Caribbean Literature, been shortlisted for the T.S. Eliot, Rathbones Folio and Forward Prizes, been Poetry Book Society Choice, and longlisted for National Jewish Book Awards and the Polari Prize.