Sunday Mornings at the River is an indie poetry press run by a poet. It’s aim is to provide a home for poets outside the traditional publishing world.
Sunday Mornings at the River is entirely self-funded. No grants, no backers, no mysterious publishing benefactor hiding in the bushes — just me, a carer with a book obsession. If you like what I do here, you can buy me a beer at Buy Me a Coffee if you want to.
If you buy me a beer, there’s a decent chance it will eventually become a little barcode on the back of a poetry book. Which is probably the most productive beer I’ve ever had. If you barely have enough coins for your own cookie jar, you make a tremendous difference by just sharing our substack and engaging with our posts there.
Founded in 2012 by Dutch care worker and writer Rebecca Calles Rijsdijk, Sunday Mornings at the River is an independent poetry press dedicated to publishing work that asks difficult questions and refuses easy answers.
I've long believed that the most interesting poetry happens in the margins. Inspired by Salman Rushdie's belief that poetry should “name the unnamable, point at frauds, take sides,” I publish poems that bear witness: to grief, love, illness, work, resistance, hope, and the complicated reality of being alive.
As a one-woman press, every book is edited, designed, and published by me. Over the past decade, I've had the privilege of working with poets from around the world, creating space for voices that might otherwise go unheard — not because they are quiet, but because the literary world doesn't always know how to listen.
Our community lives on Substack, where I share poems, conversations, recommendations, news from the press, open calls, and the occasional behind-the-scenes look at running a tiny independent poetry press. We're not on Instagram, Facebook or the other social media platforms; apart from Substack, buyusacoffee and YouTube, we prefer to spend our time making books and talking to actual people.
I don't believe poetry has to save us. But I do believe it can witness, challenge, comfort, provoke, and remind us that we are not alone.
Welcome to the little spot where the tree's roots touch the river. I saved you a seat in the sun.