Blue Diode Press: Publications Schedule 2025

2025 looks like being an important year for Blue Diode Press, and I thought I’d present an outline of scheduled publications.

First of all, a debut collection, Good Sons by Tim Craven, published in February. This is unique collection that makes connections between science, pathology, ecology and mental health. It’s mainly short poems but with a brilliantly structured extensive sequence in the middle. Definitely one to check out.

Second is Recital by Marianne MacRae, which will be published on 17th March. This is also a debut, although – like Tim’s – you would never guess that. The writing is assured and endlessly inventive. The first thing you’d notice would be humour and surreal imagination, but behind all that lies a weight of loss, which filters through and gives significant depth to the collection.

Third is Kiss My Earth by Alice Willitts, which will be published on 2nd April. This is a bold second full collection, consisting of five longish poems. These rage at environmental destruction in ways that both challenge and reflect, and her ‘womb proverbs’ reimagine and rebuke the misogynistic legacy of patriarchal religious interpretation.  

Fourth is Afterbody by Medha Singh, which will be published on 8th May. The writing is modernist, the language embodies the beauty and sadness it means to convey. Politics, family relationships, death and loss, India and the UK: everything rubs up against each other in a range of unexpected, dramatic forms. Spectacular poetry.

Fifth, and this is a big one – the launch of a Blue Diode press pamphlet imprint! I haven’t decided whether to call it the Blues in D pamphlet series, or just Blue Diode pamphlets, but the first three are coming out in June – by David Kinloch, Sophie Cooke and James Appleby. More on these soon, but they are all very exciting publications of real quality, and very different from each other.

Sixth is Still by Alan Buckley, which will be published in July. Don’t be fooled by the quiet-sounding title. This is a collection of short poems full of movement and ever-shifting, subtle and strong emotions, all presented within formal syllabic constraints and indeed real-life constraints too. Buckley’s second collection is unlike anything else.

Then, seventh, eighth and ninth: the debut collection by Jane Bonnyman in October (title still to be decided), focussing on both the comedy and tragedy of modern dating and relationships. Also in October, Annie Brechin’s second collection called How to Make Love, which is somewhat self-explanatory, but will still take you by surprise! And finally in November, Another second collection, How Much is the Right Amount to Eat, the Right Amount to Say by Tess Jolly. I think this book is perhaps even stronger than her first one…

So plenty to look forward to! Please buy some books and keep Blue Diode press afloat.

I should say that the 2026 line-up is already complete, except for that year’s set of pamphlets. Please don’t send me pamphlet manuscripts right at the moment though as I will have no time to look at them. More news will follow in due course, and at some point I will also start thinking about full collections for 2027.