Our 2024 competitions are open!

We are now accepting entries for our two poetry competitions: the International Book and Pamphlet Competition, open to all poets at any stage in their career, and the New Poets Prize, open to poets aged 17-24 who have yet to publish a book-length collection. Both competitions offer the chance to be published by us.

Welcome to The Poetry Business

We publish books, pamphlets, audio and eBooks under the smith|doorstop imprint; edit a literary magazine, The North; and run Writing Days, masterclasses, residential courses, and a Writing School for published poets. We also run the annual Book & Pamphlet Competition. 

Our poets have won or been shortlisted for almost every major poetry prize, including the Forward Prize on 11 occasions and 10 Poetry Book Society awards, and smith|doorstop Books was awarded Michael Marks Publishers Award in both 2012 and 2017. 

the Bookshop

New releases

Coming Soon

The Poet's Room