Sunday Mornings at the River is an indie poetry press run by a poet. It’s aim is to provide a home for poets outside the traditional publishing world. We centre voices long ignored by the literary world: working-class poets, women, people living with illness, and anyone told their stories were too raw, too much, or not enough.

Poetry Open Call:
‘Diary 2026’

We’re opening submissions for the Sunday Mornings at the River Poetry Diary 2026 — and if you’ve got a seasonal poem tucked in a notebook somewhere, this is your nudge.

Here’s what we’re looking for:

• Up to 3 poems, all in one document

• Each poem should connect to winter, spring, summer, or autumn

• Include a short 3-line bio in the same document

• Poems will be edited in UK English with standard punctuation and capitalisation

We interpret seasonal loosely — it can be a mood, a memory, a shift in the light, the sound of wind, the smell of summer pavement. We’re not here to box you in.

There’s no monetary compensation (we’re a small independent press), but if your work is accepted, you’ll receive a free digital copy of the diary. And your poem will sit alongside beautiful seasonal writing from around the world.

The 2026 edition will launch at Dutch Design Week this October.

A note: if you send us questions already answered in the FAQ on our website, you won’t get a reply — we simply don’t have the capacity. Please check there first.

Send your submission via our form. No need to use the template on this one.

Deadline: 20th of August or when we reach the required number of submissions.

We can’t wait to read your words.