Airlie Press is a nonprofit publisher run by writers, dedicated to cultivating and sustaining fine contemporary poetry and to promoting poets from the Pacific Northwest. Our mission is to offer writers in the region a shared-work publishing alternative.

Airlie Press was founded in 2007 by Donna Henderson, Carter McKenzie, Anita Sullivan, and Jess Lamb, and was inspired by Sixteen Rivers Press, a publishing collective based in the San Francisco Bay area.

Airlie operates under a unique publishing model in that we are a collective, so our authors also join the press for three years as editors, helping to produce books by other poets. All members contribute to the necessary tasks of running the press, and all decisions are made by consensus. That includes both editorial decisions (selecting manuscripts and members, book production, and marketing) and business operations (fundraising, budget management, distribution and sales, and vision for our development as an organization).

We consider our collaborative process invaluable to our goal of offering writers in our region a publishing alternative: not only do we publish books of poetry, but as a collective we support their creation in every aspect, and in so doing, support the process of the poet. As of 2020, the press has published a total of 25 titles, and is one of only three non-profit collective poetry publishers operating in the United States.

Airlie Press produces two to three full-length poetry books each year, typically two books by our poet-editors and one by our national prize winner. All funds earned through book sales, contest fees, and contributions are returned to Airlie Press for the creation of new books of poetry. Although our prize winners are not required to join the collective, we do ask each of them to participate in the selection of the following year’s prize winner, so that they also have an editorial relationship with the press, even if they are not full editorial members.

As a press, we commit to participate in the ongoing conversation and practice regarding inclusion and equity. To this end, we encourage submissions from underrepresented voices and poets from marginalized communities.