Founded in 2010, Poetry Space Limited is a company that is dedicated to promote and nurture creative expression without fear, judgement or prejudice. We believe in organic, sustainable creative growth, bearing in mind quality, collaboration and care in all our products and services.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES – updated 23.04.24
Submission Guidelines:
Quarterly Showcase: Unpublished poems are accepted all the year round and will be considered for the next available showcase. All submissions should be marked SHOWCASE . Please accompany your submission with a cover sheet listing poem titles, your name, e-mail contact details and your country.
Audio recordings : If you love reading your work then we would love to receive them for this new feature on the website. There are plenty of sound recording apps and voice recorder software that you can install on your computer. I find these work best with a microphone plugged in to the computer. Have fun. Your recording can include a short introduction to your work if you wish. Previous unpublished poems only.
Poetry Space Prize – opening for entries on April 30th. Go to Poetry Space Competition | PoetrySpace
Submission guidelines – Young Writers Space. This page is specifically for submissions from young people up to and including the age of 16 and accepts a variety of work: poems, short stories, novel extracts, art work and photography.
Other services :
Mentoring – As an experienced poet with a background in teaching and counselling, I can help with confidence building and help you to develop your poetry writing or help you to explore writing for your own well-being.
Leaflets, booklets for weddings, funerals, naming ceremonies, birthdays. Specially commissioned poems. Please enquire. I have written special poems for birthdays, anniversaries and for funerals based on facts or anecdotes you give me.
Collections: for pamphlet collections please enter our new Poetry Space Prize from the end of April 2024. Pamphlets will only be considered via this route this year unless you are self-financing.
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Susan Jane Sims FRSA – Founder & Editor
As a reader and writer of poetry over a lifetime , work gathered momentum after taking a free-fall writing course with Angelika Weinrich at the Gestalt centre in London in 2009. Suddenly I wasn’t scared any more; the course helped me to get past my inner censor and to write from a much deeper place within. Now with numerous poems in print I encourage others to find their voice through poetry and love running workshops with both adults and children. .
My first full collection A number of things you should know was published in June 2015 by Indigo Dreams Publishing
My pamphlet collection, Irene’s Daughter has proved popular amongst general readers and particularly those who have been bereaved. If you are a counsellor or therapist and want a copy for use working with clients please ask for a free copy. It is also available in the PS online shop.
Each Autumn from 20o8 to 2015, I worked with Year Six children (10 and 11 year olds) encouraging and inspiring them to write poems, through Somerset based organization Threshold Prize. Sadly this came to an with final sessions in Autumn 2015 and the schools receiving prizes in Summer 2016. Sadly this is due to schools being unable to incorporate visiting writers into their schedule.
In December 2014 I became a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and enjoy working onprojects that have the potential to promote social change.
In February 2016, I was delighted to be on the judging panel for a regional Poetry by Heart competition in Hampshire. This took place at Oaklands School.
I a member of Bath Writers and Artists group which meets at various venues in Bath and a member of the Second Light Network of Women Poets. Both groups have been invaluable or support and development.
I am a Hawthornden Fellow and spent 4 weeks on retreat at Hawthornden Castle in 2018. This resulted in my my most recent collection Splitting Sunlight published in 2019 by Dempsey and Windle.
After a move to Beaminster in Dorset in 2018, Chris and I opened Tangerine Cafe and Gallery in April 2019. After an initial period of opening three days a week we now organise and open for special events only. These include food theme nights, poetry reading and performances, occasional open mic, gallery and bookshop, regular not for profit events for the local community and to raise funds for Cancer research UK.
I currently run an online poetry group on Zoom. Send me a message for details.
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Freelance Editors and volunteers:
Wendy French edited a first full collection by Margaret Eddershaw, a prizewinner in Poetry Space competition 2012. Wendy won The International Hippocrates Prize for Poetry in 2010.
Richard Gall edited That Sweet Name like Magic Has Made Me by Michael Kawaku Kesse Somuah published in March this year. Richard studied for a Master’s degree in English at The University of Manchester and has now moved on to a full time career in publishing.
Johanna Boal helped promote Poetry Space Competition 2014 Johanna Boal retired from her role as a prison librarian in Yorkshire and a great social networker and uses this well to promote poetry and writing generally. Her pamphlet collection Cardboard City is available in the Poetry Space online shop.
Competition Judges:
Philip Lyons 2010
Rose Flint 2011
Cheryl Moskowitz 2012
Martyn Crucefix 2013
Alison Brackenbury 2014
John Siddique 2015
Myra Schneider 2016
Michael Di Placido 2017
Gill McEvoy 2018
Caroline Price 2019
Bobby Parker – 2020
Rosie Jackson – 2021
Poetry Space Prize 2024 – I will read and shortlist entries and Patricia Brody will read the top five finalists in each category
Guest Editors for Showcase Quarterly:
Moira Andrew, Jo Waterworth, Margaret Eddershaw, Denni Turp, Thelma Laycock, Jean Harrison, David Mark Williams. Prem Kumari Srivastava, Mandy Pannett ,Di Coffey, Johana Boal, Nick Cooke, David Norris-Kay, Rosie Jackson, Pam Zinnemann-Hope, Nick Cooke, Lizzie Ballagher, Leela Gautam have all edited editions.
If you would like a voluntary spot as a guest editor, do get in touch. Coming up we have:
Other voluntary help needed:
Simply spreading the word by sending a link to Poetry Space to your friends, even if they think they might not like poetry. We may be able to change their mind.
Volunteer editors, proof readers, typesetters always appreciated. Whilst I pay for a limited amount of help. the PS budget won’t allow for as much as we really need. Being a Poetry Space volunteer in any of these roles is a great way to gain experience.
The Kill
For Emily Dickinson
The surprise is
that we are shocked
at the viciousness of the kill
and the coolness
of the killer
after the act.
Watch the lioness at rest
the satiated sleep
the playful cuff of a cub’s head
the carefully retracted claws.
Rewind:
watch the lady pinpoint her target,
stalk, and strike.
It’s the covering of tracks
the washing of hands
the desire to be clean again
that marks out a human kill.
And it’s in the aftermath of rage
that we spot hope’s feathered edges
and reach.
Susan Jane Sims
From collection, A number of things you should know. (IDP) First published in Bath Cafe Poets anthology, The Listening Walk (2014)
