About Forward Press . . .

We have been publishing poets for nineteen years and during this time we have been instrumental in the changes to the poetic world. Founded by Ian Walton (our Managing Director) in 1989, Forward Press was born from the many barriers a poet can encounter when seeking publication of their poems. After experiencing first hand the exclusiveness of academic cliques and the monopolies that the bigger publishing firms had on the poetry publishing world, certain revelations came to light.

The average person who wrote poetry in the UK was being denied the basic chance of publishing their work. Restricted that is, by those deemed to be the elite, or by those who would publish poets solely for financial gain. Poets it seemed were in need of bridges to publishing, not barriers.

Seventeen years later, and with over 900,000 poets now published, we have found ourselves in the unexpected position of being the largest publisher of new poetry in the world.

The publication of poems or stories in anthologies is a lengthy and quite complex procedure. Take a look at our Publication Timeline to see what goes into publishing your work.

We publish under various imprints. Click on the names below to find out more.