Cooper Dillon's Mission

Cooper Dillon is a small poetry press committed to upholding the virtues of Poetry as a high art and expression of truth, beauty, and sincerity: the values that make poems timeless.

Through the publication, distribution and promotion of positive and integrity-bearing full-length poetry collections and chapbooks, Cooper Dillon's full intent and purpose is to bring a sense of presence and joy via poems.

Cooper Dillon is dedicated to honesty, self-sufficiency (we don't take grants, government funding, endowments, donations or money from our authors), community building and evolution of the art form.

Become part of the Cooper Dillon Family by supporting our authors, teaching our books, and submitting your own work.

This Kind of Knowing is here!

Check out the store to pick up our latest chapbook, This Kind of Knowing, by Susannah Sheffer. Sheffer is a staff writer at the national organization Murder Victims’ Families for Human Rights, and also works with teenagers, helping them to understand their lives through writing, and we're honored to have her work. We'll have it at AWP, or order it from the store today!

In addition to This Kind of Knowing, she has a new nonfiction title, Fighting for Their Lives: Inside the Experience of Capital Defense Attorneys (Vanderbilt University Press, 2013). Learn more about her, and all of the poets at Cooper Dillon Books, by visiting our Authors page.

This Kind of Knowing features cover art by Max Xiantu, inspired by "The Making," a poem in the collection.

Congrats to Jill!

Please join Cooper Dillon in congratulating Jill Alexander Essbaum, a recipient of a 2013 NEA Fellowship in Poetry. She's in some magnificent company with other poets we've loved including Eduardo Corral, Srikanth Reddy, and Jake Adam York. Check out a complete list here. Harlot, from No Tell Books is a favorite, on sale at their site, and we hope you'll enjoy The Devastation, which you can find in our store.

There are No Deadlines!

Having realized that "open" and "close" dates for a reading period are arbitrary, as well as obstacles for us to find works we'd love to bring to the community, Cooper Dillon Books now is happy to read submissions from poets all year round. If it feels right to share your work with us, we'd love to read it! Head to our Submissions page for full details and guidelines.

2012 in Review

Have you checked out Ruining the New Road is in our store? It's the debut collection by the legendary William Matthews, in its entirety for the first time since 1970. If you're interested in reviewing this classic, please email us at editors@cooperdillon.com.

John Hollander wrote, "Fierce in its recognition of both beauty and the painful, yet tender truths of the universe, these poems remind us that Matthews is a genuine master at laying bare the complicated spectrum of the human condition. Here is a book where, as Matthews says, "Everywhere life is ludicrous/ but absolutely crucial."

We're Always Open to Art...

If you like art, and want to keep up with the Cooper Dillon covers and artists, check out The Art of Cooper Dillon blog we're building up. We take submissions from artists all year for consideration as book covers.

Details are on the Submission page.

Rise and shine with Pretty, Rooster!

Need more sonnets in your life?
Pretty, Rooster by Clay Matthews is here!

Reb Livingston says, "These tender, introspective poems pulse patiently as the world spins around and shines light."
Christina Davis writes, "Matthews infuses the sonnet form with a folksy acoustic and bucolic slang, mixed with the kind of tenderness, vulnerability and knowing you found find in a Shakespearean jester."

This collection also features fresh comics by Shannon Wheeler (Too Much Coffee Man) and Micah Farritor (White Picket Fences). Order now from the store!

Visit the artblog to learn how you can get a special micro-print when you order Haunts and Pretty, Rooster together.