Smokestack Books

Smokestack has published almost 50 titles since 2004. Smokestack authors include Martin Rowson, Linda France, Katrina Porteous, John Lucas, Alison Fell, Kevin Cadwallender, Kath Kenny, Tom Wintringham and Sebastian Barker. Smokestack's growing international list includes Martín Espada, (Puerto Rico), Francis Combes (France), Kristin Dimitrova (Bulgaria), Sergei Samolyenko (Russia), Andras Mezei (Hungary), Heinrich Heine (Germany), Nikola Vaptsarov (Bulgaria), Jim Scully (USA), Gustavo Pereira (Venezuela) and Victor Jara (Chile).

Smokestack Books aims to hold open a space for what is left of the English radical poetic tradition in the twenty-first century. Smokestack champions poets who are unfashionable, left-field or working a long way from the metropolitan centres of cultural authority. Smokestack is committed to the common music of poetry; is interested in the World as well as in the Word; believes that poetry is a part of and not apart from society; argues that if poetry does not belong to everybody, it is not poetry.

Coming Soon

Coming soon from Smokestack are books by Ian McMillan, Kate Fox, Steven Blyth, Pauline Plummer, Sean Burn, Owen Gallagher, Ruth Valentine, Rocco Scotellaro (Italy) and Giannis Ritsos (Greece).

'Smokestack are to be congratulated on recognising and maintaining such a wide and varied portfolio of excellent poets. Long may it continue.'

The North

'a welcome addition to the poetry world.'

Critical Survey

'one of the most courageous little presses in Britain.'

Penniless Press

'Smokestack has a well-deserved reputation as a pioneer in publishing progressive poetry from around the globe.'

Morning Star

'Smokestack has a great squad of radical poets lined up for its first season. I predict that the team will roll like thunder, strike like lightning and electrify British poetry.'

Adrian Mitchell