Rack Press ever impresses – Poetry Review
The consistently reliable Rack PressTimes Literary Supplement
I have come to hope that a Rack Press pamphlet may be a tiny gift-box of unusually good poems – Alison Brackenbury, PN Review
Rack Press has the courage to be brief and elegant – The Rialto

Sunday 30 December 2012

New Poetry From Rack Press

Four exciting new poetry pamphlets from Rack Press, the Welsh poetry pamphlet publisher which last year was shortlisted for the Michael Marks Award, will be launched on 24th January. The four titles are:-

Susan Grindley, New Reader
Rosalind Hudis, Terra Ignota
Ian Parks, The Cavafy Variations
Ian Pople, Silencing the Dust

The pamphlets can be ordered here online using the Paypal button.

New Reader, by Susan Grindley
Susan Grindley’s poems have been published in Magma, Rising,
Nth Position and The Page and in anthologies including Gobby
Deegan’s Riposte (Donut Press, edited by John Stammers), for
which she wrote the title poem. She has had poems highly
commended in the Edwin Morgan International Poetry
Competition, 2010 and the Larkin and East Riding Poetry
Competition, 2011.
‘Susan Grindley’s poetry is the product of a wonderful
combination of a delicate poise and an acerbic ear. Her poems
are often personal and whilst they carry a gravity of feeling can
at the same time astonish and delight with her capacity to touch
on the subtlest nuances of the human experience. She is a
refreshing addition to our poetic lives.’ - John Stammers

Terra Ignota, by Rosalind Hudis
Rosalind Hudis is a former musician turned writer. She lives
near Tregaron, in West Wales, where she is studying for an MA in
Creative Writing at University of Wales Trinity St David,
Lampeter. Her poems have appeared in a variety of leading
journals and anthologies and she has won a number of awards,
including the 2011 Wilfred Owen Bursary, and a commendation
in the 2011 National Poetry Competition and a commendation in
the 2012 Poetry London competition. She is developing a
full-length collection.
Terra Ignota explores the shifts in perceptual boundaries when
we are swung away from a known and comfortable reality into
one that is darker and unmapped. Such ‘ruptures’ or
dislocations are themselves metaphors for the way poetry can
shock us into unexpected re-imaginings of our interior and
exterior terrains.
‘Exact, visceral and meticulously honed, Terra Ignota combines
a sensual attention to detail, perfect sense of place and a deeply
humane sensibility. Rosalind Hudis is fresh, distinctive voice
who understands the rhythms of words and how to perfectly
balance their ‘stored codes’ with what must be left unsaid. An
accomplished and exciting debut.’- Jan Fortune


The Cavafy Variations, by Ian Parks
Ian Parks was one of the Poetry Society New Poets in 1996. His
collections include Shell Island (2006), Love Poems 1979-2009,
The Landing Stage (2010) and The Exile’s House (2012). A Paston
Letter was published by Rack Press in 2010. His poems have
appeared in Poetry Review, The Times Literary Supplement,
Modern Poetry in Translation, The Observer, The Independent on
Sunday, London Magazine and Poetry (Chicago). He was a
2012 writer in residence at Gladstone’s Library and is currently
the Royal Literary Fund Writing Fellow at De Montfort
University, Leicester.
‘Cavafy’s versatile rhythms are almost impossible to replicate in
English – but Parks has both an empathetic sensibility and a rare
literary dexterity all his own. He is a true original as Cavafy was
a true original: to see one refracted through the other is quite
extraordinary.’ - Rory Waterman


Silencing the Dust, by Ian Pople
Ian Pople was born in Ipswich. He was educated at the British
Council, Athens and the Universities of Aston and Manchester.
His first book of poetry, The Glass Enclosure, (Arc, 1996) was a
Poetry Book Society Recommendation and short-listed for the
Forward Prize for Best First Collection. His other collections are
An Occasional Lean-to, (Arc, 2004), My Foolish Heart
(Flarestack, 2006) and Saving Spaces (Arc, 2011). He teaches at
the University of Manchester.
‘...meticulously crafted... combining movement and search with
resting-points of sharply-seen detail...’ - Carol Rumens PN Review
‘Ian Pople ... offers a poetry that George Herbert would have
appreciated and even employs some of his gestures. [Pople’s]
gift is for the salty lyric: uncompromising, unshowy, alert to the
resonance of the ordinary.’ -  John Greening Warwick Review


Monday 24 December 2012

New Rack Press Pamphlets Launched 24th January






New Rack Press Pamphlets 
launched on 24 January

Four new Rack Press pamphlets are launched on 24 January in London and will shortly be available to order online.
 The poets are: 
Rosalind Hudis, Terra Ignota
Ian Pople, Silencing the Dust
Ian Parks, The Cavafy Variations
Susan Grindley, New Reader


        
Rosalind Hudis


Ian Parks
Susan Grindley

Ian Pople















                                              

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Rack Poets in Clerkenwell

Luke Heeley and Liz Berry
A great night at the Horseshoe at Clerkenwell last night with a rich and varied sextet of poets (Martina Evans, Nicholas Murray, Cliff Forshaw, Róisín Tierney, Luke Heeley and Liz Berry). The Horseshoe is turning into a very atmospheric poetry venue and we will be back next year!


Róisín Tierney

Sunday 18 November 2012

Autumn Poetry in Clerkenwell 20th November


We are getting very excited about next week's Autumn Poetry Reading in Clerkenwell: 

Rack Press and Invited Poets.

The poets reading will be:

Martina Evans  
Nicholas Murray  
Cliff Forshaw 
Róisín Tierney   
Luke Heeley   
Liz Berry

Venue: The Horseshoe, 24 Clerkenwell Close, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 0AG.
Time 7pm.   Entrance:  Freeb
Directions: CLICK HERE.

Martina Evans is a poet and novelist. Her collection Facing the Public (2009) was a TLS Book of the Year and received the Piero Ciampi International Poetry Prize in 2011. Rack Press brought out her pamphlet Oh Bart earlier this year.  A book-length prose poem, Petrol was recipient of a Grants for the Arts Award and was published by Anvil Press in September 2012.

Nicholas Murray’s most recent collection is Acapulco: New and Selected Poems  (Melos) and he runs the Welsh poetry pamphlet imprint Rack Press which was shortlisted this year for the Michael Marks Award for poetry pamphlet publisher of the year.  His previous collections include Get Real!  a verse satire on the coalition Government and The Narrators – both from Rack Press.

Cliff Forshaw lives in Hull where he teaches at the university. His collections include Trans (Collective Press, Wales, 2005), and the chapbooks Wake (Flarestack, 2010) and Tiger (HappenStance, 2011); Vandemonian, is due from Arc in 2012. He has held residencies in Romania, Tasmania and California, twice been a Hawthornden Writing Fellow, and won the Welsh Academi John Tripp Award. He is also a painter and film-maker.

Róisín Tierney  is an Irish poet based in London.  She read as part of the Poetry Ireland Introduction Series in June 2008.  Her work has won many prizes and is published in several  pamphlets, the most recent being  The Art of Wiring (Ondt & Gracehoper, 2011) and Dream Endings (Rack Press, 2011).   Her first solo publication, Dream Endings (Rack Press), won this year’s  Michael Marks Pamphlet Award.

Luke Heeley grew up in Lincolnshire and now lives in south London. The winner of an Eric Gregory Award, his work has appeared in The Times Literary Supplement, The Wolf, The Rialto and the anthologies Ask for It by Name, The Art of Wiring and Psycho Poetica. He also won the 2011 Crashaw Prize for Poetry.  His debut collection Dust Sheet is due from from Salt Publishing in December.

Liz Berry was born in the Black Country and now lives in London where she works as an infant school teacher. She received an Eric Gregory Award in 2009 and her pamphlet The Patron Saint of Schoolgirls was published as the winner of the Tall-Lighthouse prize in 2010. Liz won first prize in this year’s Poetry London Competition. www.lizberrypoetry.co.uk

Wednesday 7 November 2012

Three Poets in Soho

Rack Press publisher Nicholas Murray
Three Rack Press poets, Róisín Tierney, Martina Evans, and Denise Saul gave a warmly received reading last night in Soho at the Society Club, reading from their Rack Press pamphlets and from newer work in progress.  It was a great evening.
Denise Saul

Róisín Tierney watched by Martina Evans

Monday 5 November 2012

Rack Press Poets in Soho 6 November




Three Rack Press poets will be reading on 6 November at a special poetry night at the Society Club from 
6:30 – 8:30

The three poets will be Martina Evans, Denise Saul and Róisín Tierney, with introduction by poet and publisher of the Rack Press, Nicholas Murray.

The Society Club says: "Rack Press was established in 2005 and is based in Wales.  In 7 short years, Rack Press has established itself as an independent poetry publisher producing high-quality chapbooks of new voices as well as award-winning poets such as Christopher Reid.   Nominated for the 2012 Michael Marks Award for Best Poetry Pamphlet series, we celebrate their success with readings from three poets – all published earlier this year by Rack – along with publisher/poet Nicholas Murray."

Admission is free so get along there and meet the poets!


Sunday 28 October 2012

Rack Press Poets and Friends 20 November



We are pleased to announce an Autumn Poetry Reading:
Rack Press and invited Poets
20th November 2012.
Martina Evans Nicholas Murray Cliff Forshaw
Róisín Tierney Luke Heeley Liz Berry
Venue: The Horseshoe, 24 Clerkenwell Close, Clerkenwell,
London EC1R 0AG.
Time 7pm. Entrance: Freeb
Directions: http://www.beerintheevening.com/pubs/s/29/29428/Horseshoe/
Clerkenwell
Martina Evans is a poet and novelist. Her collection Facing the Public (2009) was a TLS Book of the Year and
received the Piero Ciampi International Poetry Prize in 2011. Rack Press brought out her pamphlet Oh Bart earlier this
year. A book-length prose poem, Petrol was recipient of a Grants for the Arts Award and was published by Anvil Press
in September 2012.
Nicholas Murray’s most recent collection is Acapulco: New and Selected Poems (Melos) and he runs the Welsh poetry
pamphlet imprint Rack Press which was shortlisted this year for the Michael Marks Award for poetry pamphlet
publisher of the year. His previous collections include Get Real! a verse satire on the coalition Government and The
Narrators – both from Rack Press."
Cliff Forshaw lives in Hull where he teaches at the university. His collections include Trans (Collective Press, Wales,
2005), and the chapbooks Wake (Flarestack, 2010) and Tiger (HappenStance, 2011); Vandemonian, is due from Arc in
2012. He has held residencies in Romania, Tasmania and California, twice been a Hawthornden Writing Fellow, and
won the Welsh Academi John Tripp Award. He is also a painter and film-maker. http://www.cliff-forshaw.co.uk/
Róisín Tierney is an Irish poet based in London. She read as part of the Poetry Ireland Introduction Series in June
2008. Her work has won many prizes and is published in several pamphlets, the most recent being The Art of Wiring
(Ondt & Gracehoper, 2011) and Dream Endings (Rack Press, 2011). Her first solo publication, Dream Endings (Rack
Press), won this year’s Michael Marks Pamphlet Award. www.roisintierney.blogspot.com
Luke Heeley grew up in Lincolnshire and now lives in south London. The winner of an Eric Gregory Award, his work
has appeared in The Times Literary Supplement, The Wolf, The Rialto and the anthologies Ask for It by Name, The Art
of Wiring and Psycho Poetica. He also won the 2011 Crashaw Prize for Poetry. His debut collection Dust Sheet is due
from from Salt Publishing in December.
Liz Berry was born in the Black Country and now lives in London where she works as an infant school teacher. She
received an Eric Gregory Award in 2009 and her pamphlet The Patron Saint of Schoolgirls was published as the winner
of the Tall-Lighthouse prize in 2010. Liz won first prize in this year’s Poetry London Competition.
www.lizberrypoetry.co.uk


Tuesday 9 October 2012

Spring Journal Reviewed

Following a very positive review of the four 2012 Rack Press pamphlet titles in the Poetry Review (see post below) we were pleased to see another perceptive review of Dan Wyke's pamphlet, Spring Journal on the Rogue Strands blog. 

Copies of Dan's pamphlet are still available and can be ordered online here by clicking on the panel to the right.

Friday 5 October 2012

Poetry Review on the Rack Poets


We were very pleased to read an excellent review by David Morley, in the latest Poetry Review, of the 2012 batch of Rack Press pamphlets.  Here it is:-


Thursday 4 October 2012

A Poem for National Poetry Day

To celebrate National Poetry Day here is a poem from one of the earlier Rack Press pamphlet collections, Inconsequences (2006) by Dai Vaughan who sadly died earlier this year.  Known as a documentary film editor and the author of imaginative and innovative fiction he also wrote poetry and we were very pleased to be able to publish this collection. [It is now out of print.]



Secret Games

Parachute taut,
Torn and tethered
In the tall tree,

The goat nibbling
At the green fern
Where, guardedly,

We hid playing
Infancy’s dear
Misdemeanours  -

And in due time
Thus multiplied
The mimes of fear.

Tuesday 18 September 2012

Rack Press Interviewed

Poet Martina Evans interviews Rack Press publisher Nicholas Murray (aka moi) on the Writer's Hub.  Have a look!

Sunday 9 September 2012

Free Verse poetry publishers' fair

Here are some pictures from the wonderful Free Verse poetry book fair held in London on Saturday.

Left: The inspirational Charles Boyle of CB Editions and prime mover of the Fair, introduces Christopher Reid, who opened the fair.  For once he was entitled to stand on a soap-box!








Right, poet Martina Evans reads at the Fair from her Rack Press pamphlet, Oh Bart!  Even the camera trembled with admiration.


Left: Denise Saul reading from her Rack Press pamphlet, House of Blue including her Geoffrey Dearmer prize-winning poem, "Leaving Abyssinia".



















Right: Melos Press founder, William Palmer, reads his moving poem "The Island Rescue" from the collection of that name.


Left: In the audience during the reading Rack Poets Denise Saul, Michèle Roberts, and Martina Evans



Right: The Rack Press book fair quiz:

Q: which national poetry treasure on the left is Michèle talking to here?

A: M****** Hor***tz

Tuesday 4 September 2012

Poetry Book Fair Approaches!

Don't miss the poetry book fair in London this Saturday 8 September.

We will be there with readings from Denise Saul and Martina Evans at 11.30am

And countless other poets and publishers; it's the event of the season for lovers of real poetry

Wednesday 8 August 2012

Poetry Fair 8 September: Get Your Diaries Out

We are very pleased to be taking part in the Poetry Book Fair in London on Saturday 8th September which promises to be bigger and better than last year.

We will be sharing a table with Melos Press and two of our Rack Press 2012 poets will be reading, Martina Evans and Denise Saul. There will be a chance to buy the work of all our poets.  There will be readings and workshops all day so if you like poetry and the independent presses make it a date now.

http://www.poetrybookfair.com

Wednesday 25 July 2012

Robin Hood Book launched or Rack Press Goes to Hackney

23 poets, including the inimitable Michael Horovitz were at Centreprise Bookshop last night in Hackney for the launch of The Robin Hood Book: Verse Versus Austerity (Caparison) a collection of poems and prose edited by Alan Morrison and Angela Topping (copies of whose Rack Press pamphlet Catching On are still available here). Rack Press poets Ian Parks and Nicholas Murray read from their contributions to the anthology and we were pleased to see another voice from Wales, Mike Jenkins who read an excellent poem in Merthyr dialect.  The book can be obtained from www.the recusant.org.uk

Wednesday 18 July 2012

Get Real Reviewed

Get Real!, the 2011 Rack Press pamphlet by Nicholas Murray, is reviewed positively in the latest issue of the estimable Poetry Wales (Summer 2012, 48 (1)) by Steve Hitchins who describes it as a "rhyming rant" which the author certainly wouldn't dispute. Written in response to the events surrounding the formation of the coalition government in 2010, Get Real! is done in a Burns-style stanza though the very strict metrical form resembles most closely that used by W H Auden in the 1930s in his poem "Brothers, when the sirens roar".  It is unfortunately sold out but the entire poem is included in Nicholas Murray's new poetry collection, Acapulco: New and Selected Poems (Melos) and it can be ordered online from Melos.  Hurry and buy now before the Coalition dissolves!

Saturday 23 June 2012

Dream Endings Wins 2012 Michael Marks Award


Róisín Tierney’s poetry collection Dream Endings has won the 2012 Michael Marks Award for the year’s best poetry pamphlet.  Rack Press was also shortlisted for the 2012 Michael Marks Publisher's Award (won on the night by Yorkshire publishers Smith Doorstop).  In addition to the prize of £5000, Róisín (seen here at the awards ceremony at the British Library with publisher Nicholas Murray) has won a place on the Harvard poetry school this summer in Greece.

The winner was announced at a ceremony at the British Library on 22nd June. It is the first time since the award was launched four years ago that a Welsh publisher or poet has been shortlisted.

When the shortlist for publisher of the year was announced, the judges said: "Rack Press, run by Nicholas Murray  and based in Powys, is notable for its beautifully minimalist, elegant pamphlets. Whilst the appearance of each is identical - a slim volume with simple typography on high-quality cream laid paper - Rack's published poets have a real diversity of style. Murray states that he believes 'in the poetry pamphlet as the natural vehicle for the single poem or sequence' and the judges felt that this was particularly effective in this year's Rack Press pamphlets.”

Roίsίn Tierney was born in Dublin in 1963 and studied psychology and philosophy at University College Dublin. She moved to London in 1985, where she has held jobs ranging from make-up artist to museum administrator. She has been widely published in magazines and group anthologies, and won many prizes, but Dream Endings represents her first solo published collection.

As the judges put it: "Dream Endings assembles a cast of misfits and eccentrics to explore illness, madness, incest and death, but Tierney's vision is at all times tender and non-judgemental. Her language is remarkable both for the lucidity of its surface and for the depths that it allows us to apprehend."

Dream Endings has very nearly sold out but a reprint has been arranged and it can be ordered now online here.

Friday 22 June 2012

Praise for Reid and Tierney in the TLS

Two of the four Rack Press pamphlets published in 2011 and submitted for the 2012 Michael Marks Award are reviewed in the Times Literary Supplement today.  Christopher Reid's Airs and Ditties of No Man's Land [sold out now but to be reprinted in the autumn in his new collection, Nonsense] is described as "one of several fine offerings from Rack Press this year" and its dialogue commended as well as its "almost Gilbertian panache".  Róisín Tierney's Dream Endings [shortlisted for the 2012 Michael Marks Award for pamphlet of the year] is also welcomed by the reviewer, Andrew McCulloch.  The remaining poets of the 2011 Rack season [18 months has become a normal time scale for poetry reviews to appear, it seems] that the reviewer didn't mention are Angela Topping's Catching On, a fine tribute of poems to the Liverpool poet, Matt Simpson, and Nicholas Murray's Burns-style political diatribe, Get Real! [also sold out but reprinted in his recent Acapulco: New and Selected Poems (Melos) and available online].

Thursday 21 June 2012

Denise Saul Wins Geoffrey Dearmer Prize

We are delighted to announce that Rack Press poet Denise Saul has won the annual Geoffrey Dearmer Prize for the best poem in Poetry Review during 2011 from a poet who has not yet published a full length collection.  The poem, "Leaving Abyssinia" was first published in Poetry Review and is now in her Rack Press pamphlet, "House of Blue", a pamphlet which has also been recommended by the Poetry Book Society in its summer selection for 2012.  The pamphlet can be ordered online from this site.

Our picture shows Denise reading at the Rack Press launch in January this year (fellow Rack poet Michèle Roberts seated).

Monday 18 June 2012

Latest Review of 2012 Series of Pamphlets

A very nicely written and perceptive review of the latest 2012 series of Rack Press pamphlets has appeared online at Sabotage Reviews.  It is written by poet Angela Topping.  Check it out!

Monday 11 June 2012

Dai Vaughan (1933-2012)

We are very sad to hear of the death of Dai Vaughan, an outstanding film editor, a brilliantly original writer of fiction and a poet whom we were proud to have published.  A very few copies of his pamphlet Inconsequences are still available.  Here he is pictured at a Rack Press launch in Bloomsbury with fellow Rack poet Hazel Frew in 2007.

Monday 14 May 2012

Rack Press Shortlisted for Michael Marks Award

Rack Press is delighted to learn that we have been shortlisted for the 2012 Michael Marks Publisher's Award. The winner will be announced on 23rd June. We think it is the first time since the award was launched that a Welsh publisher has been shortlisted.  We are equally thrilled that Róisín Tierney has also been shortlisted in the pamphlet category for her Dream Endings.  


Announcing the shortlist, the judges said that: "Rack Press, run by Nicholas Murray [seen here at this year's London launch of the 2012 series of pamphlets with Rack poets Denise Saul, Michèle Roberts, Martina Evans and Dan Wyke] and based in Powys, is notable for its beautifully minimalist, elegant pamphlets. Whilst the appearance of each is identical - a slim volume with simple typography on high-quality cream laid paper - Rack's published poets have a real diversity of style. Murray states that he believes 'in the poetry pamphlet as the natural vehicle for the single poem or sequence' and the judges felt that this was particularly effective in this year's Rack Press pamphlets."

Roίsίn Tierney was born in Dublin in 1963 and studied psychology and philosophy at University College Dublin. She moved to London in 1985, where she has held jobs ranging from make-up artist to museum administrator. She has been widely published in magazines and group anthologies, and won many prizes, but Dream Endings represents her first solo published collection.

As the judges put it: "Dream Endings assembles a cast of misfits and eccentrics to explore illness, madness, incest and death, but Tierney's vision is at all times tender and non-judgemental. Her language is remarkable both for the lucidity of its surface and for the depths that it allows us to apprehend."


Rack Press Poetry Book Society Recommendation

We are thrilled that Denise Saul's House of Blue from Rack Press has received a recommendation from the Poetry Book Society in its pamphlet category for Spring 2012.  Copies are still available so order now while stocks last!

Denise is seen here seated at the right of the picture at January's Bloomsbury launch of this season's new pamphlets.

Tuesday 17 April 2012

Reading in Clerkenwell, Tuesday 17th April


Five poets from Rack Press and Arc gave a very successful and well-attended reading at the Horsehoe pub at Clerkenwell on 17th April.  [Click HERE for details]   We are planning further events such as this so watch this space!

Wednesday 28 March 2012

Spring is in the Air!


Spring Poetry Reading: Rack Press/Arc Poets!  17th April 2012.
Michèle Roberts, Martina Evans, Katy Evans-Bush, Denise Saul, Astrid Alben,  Róisín Tierney.
MC - Nick Murray, Editor of Rack Press.

Venue: The Horseshoe, 24 Clerkenwell Close, Clerkenwell, London EC1R 0AG.
Time 7pm.   Entrance:  Free
Michèle Roberts is a novelist, short story writer, playwright and essayist, as well as a poet. The Heretic's Feast (Rack Press, 2012) is her fourth collection of poems. She is half-French and half-English.
Martina Evans is a poet and novelist. Her collection Facing the Public (2009) was a TLS Book of the Year and received the Piero Ciampi International Poetry Prize in 2011. Rack Press brought out her pamphlet Oh Bart earlier this year. A verse novel, Petrol, is due from Anvil Press in September 2012. 
Róisín Tierney was short-listed for the 2006 Strokestown Poetry Prize and won joint 2nd prize in the 2007 Brendan Kennelly Poetry Competition.  She read as part of the Poetry Ireland Introduction Series in June 2008  Her work is published in several  pamphlets, the most recent being  The Art of Wiring (Ondt & Gracehoper, 2011) and Dream Endings (Rack Press, 2011). www.roisintierney.blogspot.com
Katy Evans-Bush’s poetry collections are Me and the Dead (2008) and Egg Printing Explained (2011), both published by Salt, and her pamphlet Oscar & Henry (Rack Press, 2010) was called ‘impressive’ in the Times Literary Supplement. She writes the blog Baroque in Hackney and has written reviews and essays for numerous publications. She tutors at the Poetry School.  Her website is http://baroqueinhackney.com 
Astrid Alben grew up in Kent and the Netherlands . She read English Literature and Philosophy at Edinburgh University. Her poems and reviews have been published in magazines such as The Wolf, Poetry Review, Drunken Boat, the TLS, Stand and Shearsman. She has translated the poems of several contemporary Dutch poets. Ai! Ai! Pianissimo (Arc, 2011) is her first collection. She lives in London.  www.astridalben.com.
Denise Saul was born in London . Her White Narcissi (Flipped Eye Publishing) was Poetry Book Society Pamphlet Choice for Autumn 2007. In 2008 she was selected for The Complete Works, a two-year mentoring and development programme for ten advanced black and Asian poets in the UK . Her mentor was John Stammers. Her House of Blue was published by Rack Press in 2012.

Monday 12 March 2012

Don't Forget Our Special Spring Offer

There are still available a few signed sets of the latest 2012 series of Rack Press pamphlets, consisting of all four pamphlets, each one individually signed and numbered by the author.

If you order now you can have a set for £15 instead of £20.

The special offer also means that if you order now you will receive an additional free copy of a copy of a pamphlet from our backlist chosen by us – so surprises are in store.

Friday 2 March 2012

Rack Press Poet Shortlisted for Major Award

Congratulations to Christopher Reid whose Rack Press pamphlet Airs and Ditties of No Man's Land (2011) is one of six shortlisted titles for the 2011 Ted Hughes Award for New Work in Poetry.  The text was set to music by leading contemporary British composer Colin Matthews last year and received its world première at the BBC Proms in August.

The winner will be announced at the end of this month and we are keeping our fingers crossed for Christopher.

Thursday 1 March 2012

Celebrate St David's Day!

Why not celebrate St David's Day (and World Book Day) by purchasing a pamphlet of poems from leading Welsh poetry pamphlet imprint Rack Press.  Order before the end of this month and take advantage of our Mad March Offer: order one of this year's pamphlets and get a free copy of a pamphlet from our back list which we will choose for you – so lots of surprises in store.

This year's pamphlets, launched at a lively reading in London on 26th January include Denise Saul's House of Blue, Michèle Roberts's The Heretic's Feast (both seen here at the launch with Denise reading), Martina Evans's Oh Bart and Dan Wyke's Spring Journal.  


Ordering couldn't be easier, just click on the "add to cart" button in the top right had corner of this web page or if you live in London copies are on sale at the London Review Bookshop near the British Museum.  Postal orders can also be sent to Rack Press, The Rack, Kinnerton, Presteigne, Powys LD8 2PF

Sunday 29 January 2012

Four new Rack Press collections of poetry were launched in London on Thursday 26th January to an audience of nearly 80 people (seen here being addressed by Rack Press publisher, Nicholas Murray).  The poets at the top table are, from left to right, Denise Saul, Michèle Roberts, Martina Evans and Dan Wyke.

You can order copies online here including the SPECIAL OFFER available until the end of February: a set of all four of the 2012 pamphlets each individually signed and numbered by the author for £15 (normal price £20)

Tuesday 10 January 2012

Four Exciting New Collections Launched


The 2012 series of Rack Press poets will be launched at a reading in London on 26th January and pamphlets are already available to order online here. This year we have four outstanding collections from established and newer names: Oh Bart by Martina Evans, The Heretic's Feast by Michèle Roberts, House of Blue, by Denise Saul, and Spring Journal by Dan Wyke.

The launch will take place on Thursday 26th January 2012 at the Marchmont Centre, 62 Marchmont Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1N 1AB.  Doors open (free admission with refreshments) at 18.30 and readings will take place at 7pm.