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.

On Wednesday, December 17th, at 6:30 PM, Elaine Sexton will be the featured reader at Big Red Books, as part of their op...
12/05/2025

On Wednesday, December 17th, at 6:30 PM, Elaine Sexton will be the featured reader at Big Red Books, as part of their open-mic series. Her fifth collection of poetry, ๐‘†๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘†๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘–๐‘“๐‘–๐‘: ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ค & ๐‘†๐‘’๐‘™๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ƒ๐‘œ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘ , was published by Grid Books earlier this year.

To learn more about the reading, head to the Big Red Books website today: https://www.bigredbooks.net/events/3788720251217

Find out more about Elaine Sexton on our website today: https://www.grid-books.org/elaine-sexton

A friendly reminder that if you head to our website, you can hear audio versions of poems from a selection of Grid Books...
11/12/2025

A friendly reminder that if you head to our website, you can hear audio versions of poems from a selection of Grid Books authors, including Keith Althaus, Jon Davis, Sharon Hashimoto, and Dicko Kingo, among others.

This group of poets includes winners of the Off the Grid Poetry Prize as well as some who have published multiple titles with Grid Books. Audiobook versions of most of our titles are available from the store on our website.

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

On Wednesday, November 12, Elaine Sexton will read her poetry as part of the Hugh C. Hyde Living Writers' Series at San ...
10/31/2025

On Wednesday, November 12, Elaine Sexton will read her poetry as part of the Hugh C. Hyde Living Writers' Series at San Diego State University. The event is free and open to the public, beginning at 7:00 p.m.

https://mfa.sdsu.edu/community/living-writers

Elaine will read from her newest collection of poetry, ๐‘†๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘†๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘–๐‘“๐‘–๐‘: ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ค & ๐‘†๐‘’๐‘™๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ƒ๐‘œ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘ , published earlier this year.

Pick up your copy from Grid Books today: https://www.grid-books.org/site-specific

Authors who have visited us in the recent years included: Edward Albee, Derek Walcott, Billy Collins, Philip Levine, Norman Rush, Alice Fulton, Gary Snyder, Carol Muske, Nahid Rachlin, Tess Gallagher, Dorianne Laux, Judy Grahn, Toi Dericotte, C.K. Williams, Rick Bass, David Mura, Clayton Eshleman, J...

Now available from Grid Books, ๐‘†๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™ ๐‘ƒ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘โ„Ž by Elton Glaser, winner of the 2025 Off the Grid Poetry Prize."Poems of an int...
10/31/2025

Now available from Grid Books, ๐‘†๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™ ๐‘ƒ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘โ„Ž by Elton Glaser, winner of the 2025 Off the Grid Poetry Prize.

"Poems of an intelligence struggling with our perilous cultural moment and trying to persuade it to sing. Epigrammatic, sardonicโ€”very impressive." -- Gregory Orr, 2025 Off the Grid Contest Judge

Elton Glaser, a native of New Orleans, is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English at the University of Akron, where he also directed the University of Akron Press and edited the Akron Series in Poetry. Glaser has published nine full-length collections of poetry, most recently ๐บโ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘‰๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘  (Pittsburgh, 2023). With William Greenway, he coedited ๐ผ ๐ป๐‘Ž๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘€๐‘ฆ ๐‘‚๐‘ค๐‘› ๐‘†๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘“๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐ผ๐‘ก: ๐‘€๐‘œ๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘› ๐‘ƒ๐‘œ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘‚โ„Ž๐‘–๐‘œ (Akron, 2002). Among his awards are fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council, the Iowa Poetry Award, the Crab Orchard Poetry Award, and the Miller Williams Arkansas Poetry Prize. His poems have appeared in the 1995, 1997, and 2000 editions of ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐ต๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐ด๐‘š๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘ƒ๐‘œ๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฆ. He has also won a Pushcart Prize.

Pick up your copy of ๐‘†๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘™ ๐‘ƒ๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘โ„Ž from Grid Books today: https://www.grid-books.org/soul-patch

Tomorrow at The Crumpet in Bucksport, Maine, Elaine Sexton will be reading as part of THREE POETS: THREE VOICES. Elaine ...
10/21/2025

Tomorrow at The Crumpet in Bucksport, Maine, Elaine Sexton will be reading as part of THREE POETS: THREE VOICES. Elaine will be reading alongside poets James Brasfield and Ann Van Buren, beginning at 6:00 PM.

https://thecrumpet1.com/

Sexton's most recent collection of poems is ๐‘†๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘†๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘–๐‘“๐‘–๐‘: ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ค & ๐‘†๐‘’๐‘™๐‘’๐‘๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ƒ๐‘œ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘ , published earlier this year by Grid Books. Learn more about her work and grab your copy of ๐‘†๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘†๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘–๐‘“๐‘–๐‘ from our website today:
https://www.grid-books.org/site-specific

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

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