About us

About us

Nine Arches Press is committed to creating a welcoming, respectful, inclusive space for all poets, readers and audiences.


We are opposed to discrimination of all forms, including racism, homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, ableism, or any other form of prejudice.



Nine Arches Press are an independent poetry publisher and a poetry development organisation based in the West Midlands, UK. We publish, develop and support the some of the most exciting and talented voices in contemporary poetry, nationally and internationally.


Founded in 2008, Nine Arches Press have published nearly 140 poetry publications and more than 30 issues of Under the Radar magazine. We have created poetry books which have gone into the hands of over 30,000 readers since 2016. Our Director / Editor is poet and tutor Jane Commane.


Nine Arches Press run a year-round programme of live events, workshops, outreach and mentoring, and a platform for the publication of new voices in poetry in Under the Radar magazine. Alongside this, we publish a critically-acclaimed range of books of poetry, many of which focus on underrepresented voices.


We are proud that our publishing list includes titles which have been nominated or shortlisted for the Forward Prizes for Poetry, TS Eliot Prize for Poetry, Michael Marks Award, Ledbury Munthe Prize, Polari Prize, Laurel Prize, Jhalak Prize, Ted Hughes Prize, East Midlands Book Award and the Michael Murphy Prize. We were a winner of the Saboteur Award for Most Innovative Publisher in 2014, and a regional shortlistee for The British Book Awards' Small Press of the Year 2019.


We believe in making ambitious, innovative, inclusive poetry from new and established voices available and accessible to everyone in printed, digital, live and participatory forms, and developing new audiences for poetry through a programme of outreach. We work closely to promote poetry to new audiences with a number of other poetry organisations, libraries, festivals, and literary development agencies.


As an independent publisher, Nine Arches Press is also unique in placing a high value on supportive and conscientious editing and mentoring as part of publication, and in working closely with all our authors and poets throughout the process. Our support for our poets does not end with publication and we believe there is much more to publishing than just printing a book. Our status as an independent press gives us freedom to publish the work we truly belive in and closely support our writers, to invest our time and expertise in supporting and sustaining their talent and developing opportunities for audiences to encounter the best in contemporary poetry. 


Our programme of mentoring and publication has enabled poets we work with to feature nationally and internationally in broadcast media, on BBC World Service, BBC Radio 2, 3, 4, and 6Music, as well as in The Guardian, The Telegraph and TLS. Our poets regularly perform at festivals in the UK and around the world, including Ledbury, Birmingham Literature Festival, Aldeburgh, StAnza amongst others. Our support enables poets to work with partner organisations on numerous high-profile projects, including with the BBC, the British Council, Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, Coventry City of Culture Trust, Writing West Midlands, the National Centre for Writing, The Poetry School and the Poetry Society.


Nine Arches Press are supported by public funding through Arts Council England and we are proud to be a National Portfolio Organisation (from April 2018 to present). We have a 15-year track record in widening access and creative excellence through  poetry books, live events, mentoring opportunities, reader development and workshops. We are committed to delivering Arts Council England’s Let’s Create and ensuring our work not only celebrates poetry and poets, but inclusively develops future audiences and encourages everyone to consider themselves a potential reader and participant in the artform of poetry.

 


BookSource is the trading arm of Publishing Scotland. Set-up in 1995 the company
distributes for over 120 client publishers and sends books to all corners of the world. It specialises in
supporting independent presses, helping them navigate their way through publishing.
About Inpress.


Inpress is a sales and marketing agency based in Newcastle upon Tyne, it is an Arts Council
England funded NPO (National Portfolio Organisation) with a commitment to promoting the work of small independent publishers through sales and marketing and assisting publishers’ growth with business development. Inpress represents over 60 of the most dynamic independent publishers across the UK, many of whom are regular award and prize winners.


Like many independent publishers, we depend upon the sales of our titles to help sustain our work  - please consider supporting us by browsing and purchasing our books in our online shop.



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