Submissions

Brick Books publishes full-length poetry collections of the highest quality by both new and established writers. While our definition of poetry is expansive and encompasses many aesthetic modes, we do not publish chapbooks (i.e., books fewer than 48 pages), single poems, fiction, or conventional prose nonfiction.

Our editors are interested in seeing work from as broad a range of aesthetics and experiences as possible. We encourage submissions from Indigenous poets, racialized poets, poets from LGBTQ+ communities, and poets with disabilities. We recognize that many Indigenous writers do not identify as citizens and that the concept is problematic as well for refugees and others living in diaspora; please note, however, that although we are investigating alternatives, our current funding model limits us to publishing writers who are deemed by the government to be Canadian citizens or landed immigrants living in Canada.

We receive two to three hundred manuscripts for consideration every year. We publish seven or eight books a year. Our publishing schedule is filled two years in advance to allow time for rigorous editing. Please note that we only accept submissions between February 1 and May 31. Please only submit one manuscript per author in a given reading period.

How to Submit

• Please email your manuscript as a Word (doc. or docx) or PDF attachment to acquisitions@brickbooks.ca between February 1 and May 31 (midnight wherever you are!).
• Please title your file with this convention: FirstName_LastName_ManuscriptTitle
• Please insert your cover letter at the beginning of your manuscript document. This year’s acquisitions editors are Manahil Bandukwala and River Halen Guri, and you can address your letter to them. In the cover letter, please make sure to include your current email address and mailing address. You may also include a brief note outlining any relevant information about yourself, your writing in general, and this manuscript in particular. If you have an interest in working with a particular editor on our collective (should your manuscript be accepted for publication), please note this. Please also note if you are submitting simultaneously to other presses.
• Please send your full manuscript (approximately 48 to 120 pages of poetry).
• The subject line should include the words “2025 Submission.”

Please do not send publication queries or manuscripts to any other Brick Books email or postal address or through our contact page. These emails and packages will not be responded to.

If you are submitting your manuscript to other presses while it is under consideration at Brick Books, it is not only important to us that you say so in your submission, but also that you keep us updated on the status of your manuscript throughout our process.

If you have not received an email acknowledging receipt of your manuscript within 2 weeks of submitting, please reach out again to the acquisitions@brickbooks.ca email.

Please contact acquisitions@brickbooks.ca if you have any questions.

Please allow 4-5 months from the time of submitting your work for further updates on the progress of your manuscript in our selection process.

The Selection Process at Brick Books

The present procedure of selecting the final manuscripts for publication, evolved over a number of years, involves a 3-phase sorting:

• • first reading by an acquisitions editor, occasionally in consultation with another acquisitions editor or editors
  • compiling a list of about 15 finalists to be read in depth by a committee of 3-5 editors
  • and a meeting by the committee to compare and discuss shortlisted manuscripts and to choose the year’s publications.

The majority of our titles are selected through this yearly contest process, though we do reserve occasional spots for solicited manuscripts.