Grid Books / Off the Grid Press

Grid Books / Off the Grid Press ๐ด ๐ท๐‘œ๐‘š๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘ ๐ฟ๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘˜๐‘๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘˜ by JoAnne McFarland available now!

Grid Books began as Off the Grid Press, founded in the fall of 2003 by Tam Lin Neville and Bert Stern to provide a forum for older poets who are sometimes overlooked by the current marketplace. Off the Gridโ€™s mission was established with its first offering, Loyalty: New and Selected Poems, the second book by poet and social justice activist Henry Braun. In 2008, Loyalty went on to win the Maine Li

terary Award for Poetry, and the press has since brought forth nine books to the acclaim of critics and poets alike. The press has also distinguished itself for the quality of its publications, which are produced with smyth-sewn binding and are designed by Michael Alpert of Bangor, Maine. Over the years, the press has evolved in its mission to publish writers whose work is often sidelined by mainstream publishing. In 2011, Stern and Neville established the Off the Grid Prize to honor writers whose sensibilities were formed in earlier generations but whose vision is fresh, and a winner is awarded annually each December. In 2015, hoping to broaden the pressโ€™s mission and reach, Stern and Neville granted editorial control to poets Elizabeth Murphy and Rob Arnold, who re-launched the project as Grid Books. Today, Grid Books continues its mission to publish work that springs from the margins by representing writers of all ages and backgrounds, and in a range of formats.

The third book of poems from 2014 Off the Grid Prize Winner Dicko King is now available from Grid Books!๐ด ๐พ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐ด๐‘š๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก...
09/26/2025

The third book of poems from 2014 Off the Grid Prize Winner Dicko King is now available from Grid Books!

๐ด ๐พ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐ด๐‘š๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘ฆ ๐บ๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘€๐‘–๐‘›๐‘‘, a novelette in verse, chronicles the transformation of the young Mikey Mulkerrin as he navigates the historically Irish Catholic neighborhood of South Boston, a story that culminates in Mikeyโ€™s remaking as Southieโ€™s venerable Archangel.

Pick up your copy of ๐ด ๐พ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐ด๐‘š๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘ฆ ๐บ๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘€๐‘–๐‘›๐‘‘ by Dicko King from Grid Books today!

https://www.grid-books.org/amnesty

We are extremely grateful for the many submissions we received this year for the 2026 Off the Grid Poetry Prize. The win...
09/10/2025

We are extremely grateful for the many submissions we received this year for the 2026 Off the Grid Poetry Prize.

The winner will be announced in December, to be selected by this year's contest judge, John Yau.

Learn more about the contest, as well as previous prize-winners, on our website today: https://www.grid-books.org/off-the-grid-press

๐“๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ž๐š๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž to submit full-length manuscripts to the ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐†๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ณ๐ž! ๐๐จ๐ž๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ”๐ŸŽ are eligi...
08/31/2025

๐“๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ก๐ญ ๐ข๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐๐ž๐š๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž to submit full-length manuscripts to the ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐†๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ณ๐ž!

๐๐จ๐ž๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ”๐ŸŽ are eligible to end their submission in until the end of the night.

Head to our website now to learn more about ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐›๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ and previous prize winners.

https://www.grid-books.org/off-the-grid-press

We're excited to announce forthcoming titles from Grid Books!September will mark the release of the third collection of ...
08/29/2025

We're excited to announce forthcoming titles from Grid Books!

September will mark the release of the third collection of poetry from Dicko King, the novelette in verse ๐ด ๐พ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐ด๐‘š๐‘›๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘ฆ ๐บ๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘€๐‘–๐‘›๐‘‘. King previously won the 2014 Off the Grid Poetry Prize for his collection ๐ท๐‘œ๐‘”๐‘”๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘: ๐ด๐‘›๐‘๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘ƒ๐‘œ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘ .

https://www.grid-books.org/amnesty

October will mark the release of ๐‘†๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™ ๐‘ƒ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘โ„Ž by Elton Glaser, which won the 2025 Off the Grid Poetry Prize, selected by last year's contest judge Gregory Orr.

https://www.grid-books.org/soul-patch

Head to the links above to pre-order your copy of both books, and to learn more information about Dicko King and Elton Glaser. Stay tuned for information regarding the 2026 Off the Grid Poetry Prize, which closes for submissions in just two days! Winner will be announced in December 2025.

There are ๐Ÿ“ ๐๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ญ in the submission period for the ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐†๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ! ๐๐จ๐ž๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ”๐ŸŽ have until this ๐’...
08/26/2025

There are ๐Ÿ“ ๐๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ญ in the submission period for the ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐†๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ!

๐๐จ๐ž๐ญ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ฏ๐ž๐ซ ๐Ÿ”๐ŸŽ have until this ๐’๐ฎ๐ง๐๐š๐ฒ, ๐€๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐Ÿ‘๐Ÿ, to send their full-length manuscripts in!

For more information on ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐›๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ž๐ฏ๐ข๐จ๐ฎ๐ฌ ๐ฉ๐ซ๐ข๐ณ๐ž-๐ฐ๐ข๐ง๐ง๐ž๐ซ๐ฌ, head to our website today:
https://www.grid-books.org/off-the-grid-press

GRID BOOKS Creativity that springs from the margins

The Grid Books reading at Brookline Booksmith last week was a smashing success; thank you to everyone in the audience fo...
08/25/2025

The Grid Books reading at Brookline Booksmith last week was a smashing success; thank you to everyone in the audience for an awesome turnout, and a big shout out to all the staff at Brookline Booksmith for hosting!

Pictures (in order):

1 - Jennifer Barber, former Board Member of Grid Books and most recent Poet Laureate of Brookline, MA

2 - Grid Books Director Elizabeth Murphy

3 - Grid Books poet Elaine Sexton (๐ท๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’, 2022; ๐‘†๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘†๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘–๐‘“๐‘–๐‘: ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ค ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘†๐‘’๐‘™๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ƒ๐‘œ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘ , 2025)

4 - Grid Books poet Lisa Sewell (๐น๐‘™๐‘œ๐‘œ๐‘‘ ๐‘ƒ๐‘™๐‘Ž๐‘–๐‘›, 2025)

5 - All featured readers gathered for Q&A

๐Ž๐ง๐ž ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ค ๐ฅ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ญ for poets over 60 to submit full-length manuscripts of poetry to the ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐†๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ, jud...
08/24/2025

๐Ž๐ง๐ž ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ค ๐ฅ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ญ for poets over 60 to submit full-length manuscripts of poetry to the ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐†๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ, judged by John Yau!

Winner receives $๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, promotion, and distribution of their book in print and audio formats.

For ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐›๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ and information on previous winners:
https://www.grid-books.org/off-the-grid-pres

Subscribe to Nina MacLaughlin's New England Literary News Substack for important information in the writing community. H...
08/24/2025

Subscribe to Nina MacLaughlin's New England Literary News Substack for important information in the writing community. Her most recent post from today includes a wonderful review of Elaine Sexton's newest book, ๐‘†๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘†๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘–๐‘“๐‘–๐‘: ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ค ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘†๐‘’๐‘™๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ƒ๐‘œ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘ , available from Grid Books.

Click to read New England Literary News, by Nina MacLaughlin, a Substack publication with hundreds of subscribers.

The poem "[BODY FARM] [ARIA] [A FORENSICS]" by Dennis Hinrichsen, from his collection ๐‘‡๐ป๐ผ๐‘† ๐ผ๐‘† ๐‘Š๐ป๐ธ๐‘…๐ธ ๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐‘‰๐ธ ๐ผ ๐ป๐ด๐‘‰๐ธ ๐‘๐‘‚๐‘Š๐ป๐ธ๐‘…...
08/20/2025

The poem "[BODY FARM] [ARIA] [A FORENSICS]" by Dennis Hinrichsen, from his collection ๐‘‡๐ป๐ผ๐‘† ๐ผ๐‘† ๐‘Š๐ป๐ธ๐‘…๐ธ ๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ผ๐‘‰๐ธ ๐ผ ๐ป๐ด๐‘‰๐ธ ๐‘๐‘‚๐‘Š๐ป๐ธ๐‘…๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฟ๐‘†๐ธ ๐‘‡๐‘‚ ๐บ๐‘‚, winner of the 2020 Off the Grid Prize.

Pickup your copy of Hinrichsen's prize-winning book today: https://www.grid-books.org/this-is-where-i-live-i-have-nowhere-else-to-go

And don't forget, there are just ๐ž๐ฅ๐ž๐ฏ๐ž๐ง ๐๐š๐ฒ๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ญ to submit your full-length manuscript to the ๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐Ÿ๐Ÿ” ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐†๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ. Poets over 60 are eligible to submit until August 31st--contest judge is John Yau!

Submission guidelines can be found here: https://www.grid-books.org/off-the-grid-press

See you tomorrow at Brookline Booksmith!
08/20/2025

See you tomorrow at Brookline Booksmith!

This upcoming Thursday, August 21st, at 7PM, at Brookline Booksmith, join us to celebrate independent publisher Grid Books, now marking ten years of leadership under poet and editor Elizabeth Murphy.

For more information about the reading, head to the Brookline Booksmith website:
https://brooklinebooksmith.com/event/2025-08-21/third-thursdays-poetry-jennifer-barber-lisa-sewell-elaine-sexton-elizabeth-murphy

In 2003, Boston poets Tam Lin Neville and Bert Stern founded Off the Grid Press to provide a forum for older poets, too often overlooked by mainstream publishing; in 2015, they chose Murphy as its new director. She re-launched the press as Grid Books, which continues to foster intergenerational exchange by publishing poetry, fiction, and fine art books.

The celebration will feature readings by Grid poets Elaine Sexton and Lisa Sewell, as well as by Jennifer Barber, a former member of the advisory board, and by director Elizabeth Murphy, followed by a Q & A.

See you next week!

๐“๐ฐ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ญ to send your poetry manuscript to the ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐†๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ! Poets over 60 are eligible to submit u...
08/18/2025

๐“๐ฐ๐จ ๐ฐ๐ž๐ž๐ค๐ฌ ๐ฅ๐ž๐Ÿ๐ญ to send your poetry manuscript to the ๐Ž๐Ÿ๐Ÿ ๐ญ๐ก๐ž ๐†๐ซ๐ข๐ ๐๐จ๐ž๐ญ๐ซ๐ฒ ๐‚๐จ๐ง๐ญ๐ž๐ฌ๐ญ! Poets over 60 are eligible to submit until the end of August.

Winner receives $๐Ÿ๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ๐ŸŽ ๐š๐ง๐ ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐›๐ฅ๐ข๐œ๐š๐ญ๐ข๐จ๐ง, promotion, and distribution of their book in print and audio formats. This year's contest judge is poet and art critic John Yau.

For ๐ฌ๐ฎ๐›๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฌ๐ข๐จ๐ง ๐ ๐ฎ๐ข๐๐ž๐ฅ๐ข๐ง๐ž๐ฌ and a list of previous prize winners, head to our website today: https://www.grid-books.org/off-the-grid-press

This upcoming Thursday, August 21st, at 7PM, at Brookline Booksmith, join us to celebrate independent publisher Grid Boo...
08/16/2025

This upcoming Thursday, August 21st, at 7PM, at Brookline Booksmith, join us to celebrate independent publisher Grid Books, now marking ten years of leadership under poet and editor Elizabeth Murphy.

For more information about the reading, head to the Brookline Booksmith website:
https://brooklinebooksmith.com/event/2025-08-21/third-thursdays-poetry-jennifer-barber-lisa-sewell-elaine-sexton-elizabeth-murphy

In 2003, Boston poets Tam Lin Neville and Bert Stern founded Off the Grid Press to provide a forum for older poets, too often overlooked by mainstream publishing; in 2015, they chose Murphy as its new director. She re-launched the press as Grid Books, which continues to foster intergenerational exchange by publishing poetry, fiction, and fine art books.

The celebration will feature readings by Grid poets Elaine Sexton and Lisa Sewell, as well as by Jennifer Barber, a former member of the advisory board, and by director Elizabeth Murphy, followed by a Q & A.

See you next week!

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