Solarpunk Poetry Book

It’s an idea I can’t shake. I love poetry, but I’m pretty miserable at the moment. I can’t handle the angst of Young poets on climate change - the power of being a young writer.

So, be the change you want.

I want to put together a set of light-hearted poetry about places and characters (like Pam Ayres “Who are you calling vermin”), but set in a recognisable solarpunk world. Poems that might be called “Overheard at the Library”, “Ballad of Bike Bridge”, “The Agrivoltician’s Holiday”, “Lawnmower’s Reincarnation”, etc.

Examples of the tone I am hoping for

Poetry about people and situations. Funny snapshots.

Poetry about places and hopeful feelings.

Rough Plan

Small paper book, 34 lines to a page.

Submissions close end of Jan 2027.

Send to cromlyngames@gmail.com with subject: “solarpunk poetry book submission”.

Plan A is all typeset and made available for download, local print on demand (as we have done for Fully Automated RPG). Plan B is using LaTeX to set out as a foldable, bindable zine, and personally doing a limited print run for participants (postage from UK is going to suck).

What I need

  1. Share this to likely people; there is a world out there, and a small target!
  2. If submitting, somewhere between 3-9 English-language poems, ideally 6 with varied topics. This is to get variety so many different people can be accepted.
  3. Ideally no poem longer than 100 lines, be kind to your editor.
  4. Poems rated PG at worst. I want to be able to give a copy of this to my 12 year old niece.
  5. If submitting, include a very short blurb. This may or may not be your real name, I don’t really care.
  6. Please include explicit permission for me to share your email address with other editors (UK GDPR).
  7. If you are interested/willing to workshop poems with other entrants, please state so. I’d like to be able to link some like-minded people up together. This is simialr to the fantastic guides and support on https://www.reddit.com/r/OCPoetry/ with the caveat I’m just a member there.
  8. If not submitting, but interested in getting a copy at the end, shoot me an email saying so.

Existing Examples.

These are examples i put together to show the tone and style I am looking for. They are not intended to be amazing (or even good, for some of them), but they are a starting point.

A Gardener Needs Permaquilture Slightly Foxed Short and loud Makerspace Haiya