“Is Poetry the New Adult Coloring Book?” If Publishers Weekly’s recent musings on market trends becomes a reality, Paraclete Press is prepared with a deep backlist in this category. With two new releases in poetry every season, the focus on this genre for a religious publisher is unusual.
Publisher Jon M. Sweeney credits the house’s longstanding friendship with the late Phyllis Tickle (1934-2015) as the inspiration for a commitment to poetry that has been a core charism for the house for many years. As Phyllis Tickle said, “Paraclete is a house firmly rooted in presenting and curating religious poetry that has deep resonance and potent significance for the shaping of the surrounding culture itself. It means the on-going giving away and sharing of God with humility through mystery.”
Video trailers and social media buzz have taken a more significant role in launching poetry books in the past year, and Paraclete plans an even greater emphasis on reaching new readers through these platforms in the coming months.
Poetry Editor Mark Burrows’s introduction to the recently published Paraclete Poetry Anthology articulates why poetry is becoming increasingly important in our culture: “Poems awaken to us the sense of wonder by which we discover again and again traces of the beauty that saturates our world.”
Paraclete’s Fall 2017 poetry releases are: Almost Entirely by Jennifer Wallace in November, and What Will Soon Take Place by Tania Runyan in December.
For more information, contact Sr. Antonia Cleverly, srantonia@paracletepress.com, (508) 255-4685 x 329
