Seren Books is one of Wales’ leading English language publishers and has a rich legacy for publishing works of international significance, as well as books which have redefined, enriched and deepened Wales’ cultural identity. We are seeking to amplify our tradition for both reflecting and challenging contemporary Wales by publishing writers and books who appeal to a broader readership. Read on for general advice about submitting to us as well as the details of open call-outs.

General Advice

All writers are welcome to submit book ideas which fit our call-outs, including emerging writers, those we’ve published before and those published elsewhere. We’re also keen to hear from those who may not consider themselves a writer but have a sensational idea and the ability to pull it off.

We want to help create a literary culture which represents an entire spectrum of lived experience. The more diverse the perspectives we publish, the stronger, more meaningful and popular our books and their influence will be. We encourage submissions from all communities, faiths, backgrounds, and from anyone who experiences racism, ableism, poverty, homo- and trans-phobia, those under 30 years old, and from everyone else.

Details of all open submission call-outs will be detailed below. We’ll occasionally run open submission windows, but will always make commissioning decisions based on our strategic position, including our current editorial priorities and what readers and booksellers want. We will not accept submissions outside of call-out windows or which don’t fit what we’re looking for.

Poetry Collection Submissions for Publication in 2028/2029

Seren Books is one of the UK’s leading independent publishers, specialising in English-language writing from Wales. Though we publish across multiple genres, we’re perhaps best-known for our renowned poetry list, which includes prize-winning works of international significance alongside books that have helped shape and deepen Wales’ cultural identity. With this call-out, we’re looking to continue that work: publishing poetry that reflects and challenges contemporary Wales and the wider world and connects with a broad and engaged readership.

Our 2026 window for poetry submissions will be open from Friday 1 May 2026 to 5 pm on Friday 15 May 2026. Please read on for full details.

Who we’re looking for

For this call-out, we’re primarily looking for submissions of full collections from Wales-based writers, with a particular interest in emerging Welsh voices. We also welcome submissions from more established UK-based poets with a strong publication record and an established readership. We’re open to debut works as well as second/third collections and beyond.

If you’re submitting a debut collection and you’re based in Wales, we’d expect to see some prior publication in magazines or recognition in competitions. If you’re based elsewhere in the UK, we may still consider debut collections, but these would need to show a higher level of recognition: for example, major competition success or other signs of an established profile.

If you’ve submitted work to us before, we’d love to see something new, but we’re happy to revisit earlier manuscripts if they’ve been substantially revised.

The kind of work we’re interested in

We’re interested in a wide range of poetic approaches, from narrative to formally innovative work. Our list reflects a broad range of concerns and styles and while the books we publish often resist simple categorisation, some recurring areas of interest include:

• writing on nature and the ecological crisis
• explorations of grief and loss
• work engaging with disability and illness
• writing that explores women’s experiences

At the same time, many of our books sit across or beyond these areas. We’re always excited by distinctive, original projects that don’t fit neatly into categories, whilst having clear appeal to core poetry readers. Please don’t feel you need to shape your work to match a theme.

To get a sense of the range of voices we publish, we encourage you to explore our poetry pages which feature writers such as Abeer Ameer, Wendy Allen, Kathryn Bevis, Lorcán Black, Judy Brown, Zakia Carpenter-Hall, Eric Ngalle Charles, Betty Doyle, Carrie Etter, Glyn Edwards, Jonathan Edwards, Kathryn Gray, Richard Gwyn, Bethany Handley, Maggie Harris, Paul Henry, Carolyn Jess-Cooke, Kim Moore, Katrina Naomi, Pascale Petit, Taz Rahman, Deryn Rees-Jones, Carol Rumens and Rupinder Kaur Waraich.

A note on inclusion

We want to help create a literary culture which represents an entire spectrum of lived experience and support poets whose voices and experiences have been historically underrepresented within publishing. The more diverse the perspectives we publish, the stronger, more meaningful and popular our books and their influence will be. We encourage submissions from all communities, faiths, backgrounds, and from anyone who experiences racism, ableism, poverty, homo- and trans-phobia, those under 30 years old and from everyone else. Above all, we’re interested in authentic, distinctive voices, so please send us your strongest work.

Submission requirements

To pitch a full collection for this call-out, please email the following materials to poetrysubmissions@serenbooks.com by 5 pm on Friday 15 May with:

1. Your name, email address and phone number.
2. The working title of your collection.
3. Your connection to Wales, if applicable.
4. A short description of the collection (max 100 words).
5. A brief biography of yourself (max 75 words), including previous publications, pamphlets/chapbooks, and any relevant prizes or recognition.
6. A 15-page sample from your collection (we don’t need to see the full manuscript at this stage), attached as a single MS Word document and named as follows: [Your Name] – [Manuscript Title].
7. A sense of your target readership (max 100 words): who might read and stock this book, and why? Thinking about potential comparable titles that would sit next to it on the shelf can be helpful here.
8. How you might support the book’s promotion (max 100 words). e.g. What networks or communities are you active within, do you have any (realistic) ideas for marketing or events? (We’re a small independent publisher with limited access to advertising funds. Writers who actively support promotion can make a big difference to a book’s success!)
9. A brief content warning if your work includes material that may be distressing (for example, violence, abuse or self-harm). This won’t affect how your work is assessed; it simply helps us support the well-being of the commissioning team reading your work.
10. Do you have any specific access needs you’d like us to be aware of? If so, please outline specifically what we can do to support you through the process e.g. you prefer information laid out in bullet points. Where possible and without prejudicing other submitting writers, we will do our best to accommodate these in confidence.