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About Arcana Poetry Press

Arcana Poetry Press, an independent publisher based in the Hudson Valley, New York, is dedicated to publishing contemporary poetry and fostering a space for poets to share their work. We aim to engage with the complexities of lived experience while connecting diverse voices in poetry with a broader community of readers.

The name Arcana reflects our fascination with the mysteries of the human soul. We are drawn to poetry that embraces complexity, contradiction, and emotional depth while resisting easy answers.

As a poet-centered press, we are committed to supporting both emerging and established writers, including those who are cultivating audiences through nontraditional paths such as social media. We firmly believe in the value of the creative process and are dedicated to compensating poets for their contributions.

The Work We Publish

At Arcana Poetry Press, we publish poetry that holds together as a book, embracing various forms while ensuring that each piece is intentional and fully realized.

We welcome a wide range of styles and perspectives, seeking work that demonstrates care, control, and a clear sense of purpose. We are particularly drawn to free verse poetry that engages complexity, resists easy answers, and explores the inner life while remaining anchored and deliberate.

Our approach is guided by editorial instinct rather than a fixed formula, shaped over time.

Ultimately, we believe that a good book is simply a good book, no matter its form.

Submissions & What to Expect

At Arcana Poetry Press, we open submissions periodically throughout the year.

For full-length manuscripts, we offer two submission options. A $20 reading fee guarantees a full manuscript review and a response within three months. This fee supports the time and labor involved in evaluating work, as well as the ongoing operations of our press.

We also provide a free submission option; however, due to submission volume, response times for free submissions are flexible, and a full manuscript review may not be possible. Not all free manuscripts will receive a response unless accepted.

Given the high volume of submissions we receive, we can only accept a small percentage of manuscripts.

Additionally, anthology submissions are always free.

The response timelines for our poetry anthology calls are outlined within each individual submission call.

Working with Arcana

Arcana Poetry Press is a poet-centered publisher. Full-length and chapbook authors benefit from advances, royalties, and a set of complimentary author copies, and we work closely with each writer throughout the editorial process. Each book is approached with care at every stage, from editing through publication.

Arcana Poetry Press does not require authors to pay for any stage of the publishing process. At an author's request, we are open to collaborating with independent editors or incorporating outside support.

Anthology contributors receive a complimentary copy of the anthology.

Authors retain rights to their work, with full terms clearly outlined in individual contracts.

We approach all collaborations with an emphasis on clear communication, mutual respect, and professionalism.

Distribution & Reach

Arcana Poetry Press titles are made available through a combination of small print runs for direct sales and print-on-demand distribution. Our books are accessible through major online retailers, and we explore opportunities for placement in independent bookstores and community spaces whenever possible.

Many of our authors also pursue direct sales and consignment opportunities with local bookstores, which can be an effective way for small press titles to reach readers in physical spaces.

We are committed to growing the reach of each book over time, with a focus on accessibility and meaningful connection to readers.

Editorial Reviews

“A gut punch of a collection. This is what authenticity feels like—you’ll walk away black-eyed and begging for more.”

—L.E. Bowman, author of Shapeshifter

"This book gives voice to all the things women feel but rarely say out loud. I know I will return to these delicious poems over and over again.”

—Raquel Franco, author of I’ll Cry If I Wan

“A gut punch of a collection. This is what authenticity feels like—you’ll walk away black-eyed and begging for more.”

—L.E. Bowman, author of Shapeshifter

"This book gives voice to all the things women feel but rarely say out loud. I know I will return to these delicious poems over and over again.”

—Raquel Franco, author of I’ll Cry If I Want To

“Set the Bone is a fiery and fearless excavation of modern womanhood. Stacia’s work is simultaneously furious and tender, sharp and intimate. This book feels like it was conjured from deep within, leaving room for something new. I’ll be recommending this to all the women in my life who are looking for permission to keep becoming.”

—Elise Powers, author of The Size of Your Joy

“In this powerful feminist read, Jillian Stacia writes with ferocity and lyric precision about inheritance, womanhood, and endurance. The poems of Set the Bone braid myth, confession, and sharp imagery into a collection that reminds us, again and again, ‘what a wonder, the things women survive.’”

—Alicia Cook, author of More Stuff I've Been Feeling Lately

“Jillian Stacia’s Set the Bone tells stories that move like memory itself: lyrical, jagged, and yet daringly intimate. With sharp wit and emotional precision, these poems bear witness to womanhood, inheritance, and the difficult work of staying alive. A phenomenal debut.”

—Maria Giesbrecht, author of A Little Feral

“In Set the Bone, Jillian Stacia writes like she is fighting for her life, and asking you to fight beside her. “The mind is a boxing ring,” she warns, and these poems keep their gloves on: ferocious, funny, and unflinching. […] With a dash of witty cynicism and a full dose of charm, Stacia names the cost of survival in unprecedented times—as a woman, partner, mother, defender of antidepressants, and fierce advocate of a child-like sense of wonder.”

—Isabelle Correa, author of Portrait of a Person Who Pushes Love Away in Fear of Losing It

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"SAVED is a script for the hopeless; raw truths and open wounds that knit themselves closed one at a time with each turn of a page. Each poem packs a delightful, vulnerable, agonizing bite-sized punch. As the reader, you will go through a full cycle of transformation – taken apart and put back together – between the first and last pages,

—Ophelia Monet, Editor-in-Chief of wildscape. literary journal

"Prudence Brooks’ SAVED from Arcana Poetry Press is a searing collection of poems that refuses easy comfort or neat resolutions. Instead, it charts the raw interior of a woman’s life as she navigates the complexity and weight of religious principles, a patriarchal society, living with chronic illness and understanding one's mental health. Brooks doesn’t offer readers the glossy veneer of inspiration. What she offers is truth—unflinching, messy, and necessary."

—Z. Elliot, founder of cozy ink press

"SAVED is a cathedral of haunts. Brooks’ second collection revisits the grief of neglect and abuse then dives deeper into the sacredness of the mess of pushing past it to the convalescence. Through the haze of church incense and heady blood-wine, these pieces paint all the ways we make a ritual of the trauma-response to soothe the wound. SAVED is the survivor’s demons placed willingly at the altar. SAVED is the priest. SAVED is, most importantly, an exorcism."

—Emily Perkovich, author of lamb/&/slaughter

"In SAVED, Prudence Brooks writes from the front lines—where a father isn’t a person but a “sticky bar counter,” bodies revolt, and a girl learns to survive. With ferocious, cutting voices, these poems track an orphan through Midwestern winters, altars, hospital beds, grocery aisles, and the endless, glitching hallways of the internet. Hunger becomes hex; Bipolar renames herself; a roach evolves into a patron saint of persistence."