About Us

Some Day You'll Meet Your Waterloo

Andrew Duncan's words, made at the minutes he took at our meeting with the Arts Council, have proved prophetic. Yet another small press with beautiful production standards (never mind the text, feel and fondle the dust wrappers) sets out to establish platforms for new and already famous poets - with the avowed aim of getting them poached by the majors. This has already happened. But Waterloo, in this shrinking carping pond, has just got bigger.

In 2004 Stride magazine named Waterloo as one of 20 winning small poetry publishers in its Alt-Gen Competition. It was awarded for Andrew Duncan's collection Skeleton Looking at Chinese Pictures. This is still available, though stocks are getting low. At the same time, Poetry Review named Simon Smith's Fifteen Exits, as a major collection. You can look at both these collections by clicking onto our individual publications.

The generous ACE Grant has further extended the publication of 16 volumes and 14 pamphlets of poetry. Of these, eight are forthcoming over 2006 and early 2007. The poetry we publish is extraordinarily varied, from quirky and powerful Brighton voices to Cambridge modernists, from established to scarcely emergent. We look for linguistic excitement, originality, however quirky it might seem, and true, not groomed potential; not simply at the hit rate in magazines. We're actively encouraging BME writers.

Waterloo is run by poets for poets, but is otherwise quite safe. One is even a qualified accountant in a previous life. Another learned bookkeeping off the top business Accountant of the GLA. After such knowledge, what forgiveness for running a poetry press? We take risks. We know we're taking them.

We now seriously invite further funding from any sources close to the arts, including individuals, businesses, funding bodies and societies. Modes of payment will be available soon, and a full catalogue available. Individual books and a sample of their contents are listed just a click away. Enjoy browsing, and please buy them.