Poetry on subscription

Headless Poet is a poetry publisher and subscription service specialising in the art of the introduction.

We give poets and writers space to (re)introduce readers to poets of the past, especially those whose work has been buried by time. We also publish short introductions to our pick of the best new poetry.

Each pamphlet comes in card covers and should fit neatly in your coat pocket.

Headless Poet will be open for proposals until 11 September 2026.

A note on heads

Headless Poet takes its name from this statue of Dante, which stands on the steps of the Crystal Palace in London. The palace burnt down in 1896. We don’t know exactly when Dante lost his head.

Headless Poet could equally have taken its name from Emily Dickinson:

“If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that is poetry.”

Headless Poet is edited, designed and published in South London by Jeremy Wikeley, not far from the Crystal Palace. He wrote an introduction to the project here.