New Ventures at Exeter's Dirt Pie Press - Poetry Wanted

Dirt Pie Press is a small-scale not-for-profit publisher that has been producing the highly acclaimed Riptide (www.riptidejournal.co.uk) short story anthologies since 2007.

Each collection features work by established and up-and-coming authors but the aim is also to discover and encourage new writing talent.

Over the years Riptide collections have included stories by such luminaries as Michael Morpurgo, Helen Dunmore and Philip Hensher but also the first work by newer authors who have gone on to publish novels of their own, including some writers from Devon - Penny Feeney, Riptide's own Ginny Baily, Chelsey Flood and Plymouth-based Tom Vowler to name but a few.

Riptide launches are renowned for their music, readings and celebratory atmosphere and have been held at various venues in the city, including the library and RAMM.

Now, Dirt Pie Press is branching out with two new ventures. Earlier on this year it published its first ever book of poetry - a collection of childhood-themed poems as part of Exeter's children's literature festival, Exetreme Imagination.

Now it is moving on to the next stage and is setting up a new poetry journal, Canto (www.cantopoetry.co.uk) which will appear as an online journal in the first instance. It has an impressive editorial board comprised of Andy Brown, poet and head of creative writing at the University of Exeter, multiple prize-winning poet Julia Copus and Anthony Wilson, poet and academic, as well as the two Riptide editors: Ginny Baily and Sally Flint.

Ginny Baily's debut novel Africa Junction, set in Exeter and Senegal, won the McKitterick prize in 2012. She is also a poet and winner of the Plough poetry prize.

Sally Flint's debut poetry collection 'Piece of Us" is appearing in January 2014.

The deadline for submissions is 28 June so if you are a budding (or an established) poet, send in up to three poems to the Canto editors by email.

Dirt Pie Press has also started up a new editorial service - giving feedback on stories, novel extracts and poetry. If you would like to get help fine-tuning, refining and editing your work from a team of highly experienced editors / published writers - see www.riptidejournal.co.uk for details. Copies of Riptide can be bought via the website or from the Roman Gate Waterstones.