
Emma Press launches call for children’s poems about kings and queens
The Emma Press is looking for poems about kings and queens, for a new anthology aimed at children aged 8+. The deadline for submissions is 13th November 2016 and the book will be published in September 2017.
The book will be titled The Head that Wears a Crown: Poems about Kings and Queens. It will be edited by Rachel Piercey and Emma Wright, who previously edited Falling Out of the Sky: Poems about Myths and Monsters and Watcher of the Skies: Poems about Space and Aliens, which is publishing this week. It will include illustrations and factual annotations throughout, and also feature prompts to encourage the reader to write their own poems.
Publisher Emma Wright said: ‘When deciding on the subjects of our anthologies, Rachel and I discuss what we liked reading about when we were younger, and we have both always been fascinated by kings and queens. We’re hoping to assemble a variety of approaches to the men and women who have ruled in the British isles and Ireland, with poems about their characters, deeds and relationship with their subjects.’
The Emma Press’s children’s poetry list has grown rapidly since launching last summer. Their first title, Falling Out of the Sky: Poems about Myths and Monsters, was shortlisted for the 2016 CLiPPA poetry book award and described by the judges as ‘An exciting collection that challenges in a way few anthologies for children do.’ Last month they published Moon Juice, the debut collection of Kate Wakeling, with illustrations by Elīna Brasliņa.
Poets are invited to send up to three poems to the editors for consideration. Submissions guidelines can be found on the publisher’s website.