The Poetry Box Press

The Poetry Box Press—Boutique and Bodacious

When looking for a press where I felt comfortable submitting my manuscript, “Just the Girls: A
Kaleidoscope of Butterflies; A Drift of Honeybees,” I specifically researched female-directed
presses where I believed my poems would be read and considered with the most thoughtful care.

The Poetry Box Press—based in Portland, Oregon—met my top-line criteria with co-
founder/editor Shawn Aveningo-Sanders (also a poet!). In this press, I saw other advantages:
gorgeous chapbooks with striking covers and compelling themes…a sincere desire to support
poets…an understanding of and appreciation for today’s most pressing challenges. Plus, I
believed that this press was small enough to provide personal attention and large enough to offer
wise marketing support and advice.

I was correct on all counts and was delighted when they accepted my chapbook for publication.
I asked Shawn (whom I have never met but with whom I have a stead email correspondence)
about her reasons for launching The Poetry Box. She said…

I started The Poetry Box as a way to bring poetry to everyone—not just other poets and
academics. Poetry is an art form that I fell in love with when I was a teenager but was put on the
back shelf of life while I raised my family. In 2006, I attended a poetry reading on a whim, and
the fire inside me was ignited. I love viewing the world through the lens of poetry, and it's been
an absolute joy to publish so many talented poets. Our boutique press has given me a platform to
lift up other women poets and to help support poets of color, as well. And that makes me very,
very happy!

As a poet published by The Poetry Box Press, I have experienced everything I imagined:
personal attention…Shawn’s belief in my work and why it matters…encouragement in pursuing
my vision of cover that is reflective of the poems…and support that inspires me to continue
writing.

This experience has been the best thing that happened in my life in 2020. Okay—in a year that is
not known for being particularly good (understatement)—that may not sound like much…but,
truly, I’ll remember 2020 as the year when The Poetry Box Press published Just the Girls.