Tavern Books

Tavern Books is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit poetry publisher that exists to print, promote, and preserve works of literary vision, to foster a climate of cultural preservation, and to disseminate books in a way that benefits the reading public. We administer two programs that strive to bring poetry to its widest possible audience: The Living Library (our publishing program), and The Wrolstad Contemporary Poetry Series (our submission-based series open to young women). WHY WE'RE DIFFERENT In all of our programs, we take the extra steps necessary to ensure that readers are given exciting and diverse avenues into the essential poetic voices of our modern era. We believe that books are more than words—that’s why all of our Living Library titles are issued in a beautifully designed, uniform series in both paperback and hardcover editions. Even though digital short-run printing, e-books, and print-on-demand platforms are markedly inexpensive alternatives to craft printing, we’ve chosen to offset print all of our full-length collections on Heidelberg printing presses here in the United States. This traditional craft method uses printing plates to create books that are exceptionally beautiful and a joy to hold. We commission original artwork from world-class artists for every title we publish, and believe that the dialog between image and text is an essential, meaningful element of a reader’s experience. And we believe that books deserve to last, which is why the contracts we issue our authors specifically state that all titles we publish will remain in print. We believe that our editorial, design, and production decisions reflect our commitment to the culture of the written word.