Submission Guidelines

You can contribute in a number of ways:

1. Submitting poetry, poetry/prose.

2. Interviewed (email questions for you to answer at your leisure).

3. Writing your own personal story.

Or a combination of the above.

1 - POETRY, POETRY/PROSE

You can submit up to SIX pieces or poetry. Any style welcome including poetry/prose. You can submit previously published material (but NOT copyright free material found freely on the Internet)), as long as we have the appropriate permission to re-publish. After each piece, or at the end of all the pieces, please also write a few lines 'about the piece/s', for example; why you wrote they, what they mean, what they relate to, etc. Please also send a brief writers' biography (up to 150 words), and any contact/social media details you don't mind being published with it (otherwise we will NOT add any contact details). IMPORTANT: We don't take fictional pieces - ALL poetry contributions MUST be personal - about your own challenges with mental health, or about friends, family, loved ones, work colleagues etc., who have suffered, and the impact it has had. ALSO, please make sure you send proof-read, print-ready versions or your work, as we cannot change contributions once they have been submitted.

2 - INTERVIEWS

If you would prefer an interview, we can e-mail you a list of general questions, which you can then reply to at your leisure and adapt according to your own personal circumstances and experiences.

3 - PERSONAL STORIES

Or you can simply write a piece of prose (written text) specifically about your own personal journey with mental health. Up to around 2500 words. Please also send a brief writers' biography (up to 150 words), and any contact/social media details you don't mind being published with it (otherwise we will not add any contact details). 

PLEASE NOTE: No profanities of any kind, or anything of an adult nature. VERY IMPORTANT – Some experiences can be very painful to remember, or to put into words, so please ONLY write what you want write, and only write about things that you feel happy to share with others. You can also write under a pseudonym/anonymously if you prefer.

NOTE: We cannot send free author copies of the paperback out to everyone contributing - with so many people contributing from around the world, it would be prohibitively expensive, and logistically very difficult, and we simply couldn't publish if we did. However, all contributors will get a free pdf e-book copy. Please do not contribute if you are unhappy about this.

By submitting you agree for us to publish your work in the above title, as well as on this website and our Facebook page (also under a pseudonym, or anonymously if you prefer).

Please try to send your submission/s altogether in one email, or as a .doc attachment to: Robin@PoetryForMentalHealth.org with BOOK in the subject line (otherwise we might miss your submission). Please do not send as a pdf file, as they are sometimes difficult to cut and paste from keeping the correct poetic format.

We will normally acknowledge your submission within a few days, but please be patient - it can sometimes take a while to get through everything! Any questions? Click here.

Look forward to reading your work.!