NOTE
Unsolicited submissions may be sent via Submittable during open submission periods only. Please see our Facebook Page or sign up to our Mailing List to be kept informed of the next open submission period. Except by prior arrangement, we do not accept hard-copy submissions at any time.
WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE'RE INTERESTED IN
THE DEDALUS PRESS is one of Ireland's best-known and longest established poetry publishers. In fact, we've been publishing new poetry for 40 years now. Our main interest is in new writing by Irish poets or by poets from elsewhere but living in Ireland. We publish 7–8 books per year, ranging from established to up-and-coming voices, and our open-submission periods regularly draw hundreds of new manuscripts, of which we can hope to take on just one or two per year.
We also publish poetry from around the world in English translation (recent projects include anthologies of contemporary Turkish and Portuguese poetry), Such projects are, however, usually initiated by us and we do not therefore accept submissions through this platform.
When responding to one of our open-submission or Mentoring Programme calls, as well as a selection of your very best poems, we invite cover letters that include general biographical and bibliographical information. However, in the spirit of fairness and impartiality, we operate an initial 'blind' reading policy, and material other than the poems themselves is consulted only after an opinion has been formed on the work submitted.
If you're not already on it, do sign up to the Dedalus Press Mailing List, and/or like the Dedalus Press Facebook page, to keep up with our latest publications and occasional calls for new work.
Thanks for your interest in the press.
Poetry Matters: Spread the Word
DEDALUS PRESS is pleased to announce details of our 2026 Mentoring Programme for emerging poets.
Combining online Mentoring Sessions and the publication of a selection of your work in our annual ‘Introductions’ anthology, the Dedalus Press Mentoring Programme is a unique opportunity to get your work seen, and closely read, by people who care for poetry and are willing to share their experience and expertise.
We’re delighted to confirm that this year’s Programme will be facilitated by David Nash, whose debut collection No Man's Land received the Seamus Heaney Prize in 2024 and was shortlisted for both the UK-based Ondaatje Prize and the Pigott Prize at Listowel Writers Week.
Submission to the Mentoring Programme is open to poets of all ages and backgrounds who fulfill the following criteria:
1. Poets must be born in or currently resident in Ireland (a minimum of 2 years).
2. Poets must not yet have published a full-length collection of their work in English.
3. Submissions in English only will be considered (though poets translating their own work from other languages will be eligible).*
Mentor David Nash will read all submissions and choose four poets who will each be offered three hour-long one-to-one online mentoring sessions over the following months. Sessions may include feedback on individual poems, suggestions for revision, and advice for the shaping of a larger body of poems such as a chapbook or first collection manuscript.
At the end of the mentoring process, these four poets will be invited to submit a selection of their work (approx 20 pages) for publication in the 2026 edition of our annual ‘Introductions’ series (see here for details of the 2025 edition, entitled Beginnings Over and Over, edited by Leeanne Quinn, and featuring Mai Ishikawa, Róisín Leggett Bohan, Emer Lyons and Cal O'Reilly).
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Applicants are invited to submit up to 12 pages of poetry, together with a short biographical note, and any other information that might be relevant. Successful applicants will be notified and offered the online mentoring sessions in the Spring, with precise dates and times to be agreed upon between themselves and the Mentor.
Application is open from 01 to 16 Jan 2026 only. (Submissions cannot be accepted after this period.)
There is no charge to apply for the Dedalus Press Mentoring Programme which is made possible through the financial support of The Arts Council / An Chomhairle Eaiaíon.
* Dedalus Press does occasionally issue new poetry in translation, usually in bilingual formats, but this Programme is specifically for new poetry in English.
ABOUT OUR MENTOR
DAVID NASH was born in Co. Cork and lives between Ireland and Chile. His work is widely published in journals, and his texts have appeared in numerous art exhibitions and books, including for Wolfgang Tillmans at IMMA. A Spanish-language children’s book, Bajo Mis Pies, came out in 2020, as did two translations of books on the cultural history of Chile. He writes for Harper’s Bazaar Korea and Elle Korea, and his essays have appeared in The Irish Times. His first pamphlet, The Islands of Chile, was published in 2022. His first full-length collection, No Man’s Land (Dedalus Press, 2023) won the Seamus Heaney First Collection Prize in 2024 and was shortlisted for both the Piggot Poetry Prize and the Ondaatje Prize of the Royal Society of Literature.