Can you believe that Feb. 13 will mark the ✨3rd YEAR✨ of JLRB Press #publishing #poetry; uplifting #queer, #transgender, #women, #neurodivergent, & #emergingvoices; and getting into all *kinds* of trouble?? 😈💖📚 Head over to jlrbpress.ca/books & respond with the book title you'd like to read in 2026!

Enough! We have watched our U.S. quiblings, sisters, and brothers get arrested, beaten, and murdered by ICE agents. On Jan. 30, 2026, we invite all Canadian poets, authors, and human beings to join the #nationalshutdown in solidarity. Learn more at nationalshutdown.org #iceout #abolishice #stopice

👋 Hi, friends! What're all y'all doin' at 10am Pacific on Jan. 31, 2026?? 🤔 If *we* were betting women, we'd guess you're attending the #jlrbpress virtual #booklaunch for _Becoming: An Anthology of What-If Poems about Women and Womanhood_, right? ➡️ bit.ly/becoming-virtual-book-launch We knew it! 😉

We love making beautiful books, but we won't make you choose between pomes and lunch! We've got autism-fuelled divorce drama jlrbpress.ca/hateful-people, a queer/trans epic jlrbpress.ca/good-man & womanhood galore! jlrbpress.ca/becoming 📚 100% DRM-free CAD $4.99/USD $3.69. What've you got to lose? 💥

Today's the day! 🎉 We're proud to announce the softcover release of _Becoming: An #Anthology of What-If #Poems about #Women and #Womanhood_ 💃 Feat. Katie Cowger, Glitch Dewis, Julie G. Fox, Terri Gower, Kath Healing, Marilyn Letts, Lucía M. Polis, and Nancy Takacs ➡️ Learn more: jlrbpress.ca/becoming

We stand in solidarity with our American friends, colleagues, and loved ones to condemn the senseless murder of #ReneeGood by ICE—beyond the labels of wife, mother, #lesbian, and #poet, she was a vibrant human being and the extinguishing of a life is the extinguishing of a world #JusticeForReneeGood

Well, it's 2026 (Happy New Year!! 😃) and we've come out of our hibernation midway through this strange winter with a teaser #poem from _Becoming: An #Anthology of What-If #Poems about #Women and #Womanhood_, out on Jan. 12 🌸 Here's "Doilies May Deceive You" by Marilyn Letts 📚 jlrbpress.ca/becoming

💃 Hey, friends! 🗓️ On January 12, 2026, we're going to release our brand-new #anthology of speculative #poems about #women and #womanhood! 👩 Congrats to the authors and the editors—@redcandyisbest.bsky.social, @7gower.bsky.social, and Lucía—for their hard work! 📚 Learn more at jlrbpress.ca/becoming

❄️ Is it winter already? 🤔 Not yet! But it *is* the First Annual Ladysmith Winter Book Fest, organized by Jackie Sharp 📚Check out our booth at the Fraternal Order of Eagles Hall (921 1st Ave) in Ladysmith, this coming Saturday, November 22 ✨ Stop by for a free sticker and peruse our books and merch!

Hey, poetry lovers! 👋 Catch us at 12:30–5pm at Winter Poetry Fair, organized by @byallmeanswrite.bsky.social ➡️Open Space Victoria, this Saturday, November 15! 📚Listen to Lucía M. Polis and others read poems, get a free sticker, peruse our recent releases, and learn about our upcoming projects! ❄️

👋 Hi, folks! The submission period for our _Becoming_ anthology about all things women and womanhood closes Sep. 30 at noon—BUT, in service of upholding equity and empowering voices heard less often, we're going to keep our submissions open until Oct. 10 at noon! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️✍️➡️ jlrbpress.ca/becoming-submit

✊📕 Friends! Book lovers! Anarchists! 🗓️ This weekend, JLRB Press will have a booth at the Victoria Anarchist Bookfair (11am-6pm Sep. 20 and 11am-5pm Sep. 21) at the Fernwood NRG (1240 Gladstone Avenue) 📚 Stop by to check out our latest books and more! #poetry #bookfair #canadianpublishing #jlrbpress

Get your poems and crafts readying for a cozy night of crafting and poetry! This is a bring your own craft event.

Books for Breath is now collecting donations for our November book sale. We accept gently used books. The money raised will go towards the Pulmonary Hypertension Association of Canada www.phacanada.ca.

📚 Join us this Saturday at Small Press Fest in Victoria! 📍 We'll have our booth at the Victoria Public Library (Central Branch Courtyard) at 735 Broughton St. 🗺️ Come see what we've been up to! #bookfair #smallpressfest #smallpressfestvictoria #victoriapubliclibrary #canadianpublishing #jlrbpress

🙋‍♀️ Hi, friends! Just a friendly reminder that submissions for _Becoming: An Anthology of What-If Poems about Women and Womanhood_ are still open! 💁‍♀️ jlrbpress.ca/becoming-submit #poetry #poems #anthology #writing #women #womanhood #submissionperiod #callforsubmissions #jlrbpress #canadianpublishing

We're proud to announce the release of _Granville: 20th Anniversary Edition, Expanded & Revised_ by Lucía M. Polis, now available from major retailers in softcover. 🎉 Learn more: jlrbpress.ca/granville ✨ We'd also like to give heartfelt thanks to everyone who has attended Lucía's virtual launch! 😌🩷

On Aug. 30, 2025 join us for a virtual #booklaunch for the 20th Anniversary Edition of _Granville_—Lucía M. Polis will read #poems from her book, tell about the original collection's composition and its later reimagining, and take part in a #qanda. 🛣📚️ REGISTER ➡️ bit.ly/granville-virtual-book-launch

Chief Editor Lucía M. Polis has re-recorded the talk titled "History, Memory, Trauma: Poetry and Publishing as Mutable Historiography of Self" (sound fixed) from Jul. 14, 2025, given for @eavesdropmagazine.bsky.social's Vancouver Island Artist Summer Talk Series ⏳🧠🩸bit.ly/history-memory-trauma

Hey, #crafty #poetry lovers! 👋 There was a little hiccup with the last #coupletsandcrafts date, but now it's on again! 🙌🩷 Tomorrow, August 5, 2025, join @7gower.bsky.social at 7:00 PM for a #poetry #openmic for #crafters at 709 Douglas Street in Victoria! 🧵🪡 #byocraft 📝🗣️ #byopoem

Meet our latest cohort of #editors! 👩🏻👩🏼🧔🏻‍♀️ They simply can't wait to read your poems for _Becoming: An Anthology of What-If Poems about Women and Womanhood_ from August 1! ♀️🏃🏻‍♀️👧🏻🏋🏻‍♀️👠⚧️🏳️‍⚧️🏳️‍🌈🩷 jlrbpress.ca/becoming-submit! ✍️📨📕✨ #poetry #poems #anthology #writing #women #womanhood #jlrbpress #canadianpublishing

Overwhelmed by publishing options? 🤷‍♀️ Can you tell apart self-publishing from independent presses, traditional presses, hybrid presses, and vanity presses? Check out "What I Learned from Self-Publishing with a Vanity Press" by Associate Editor @redcandyisbest.bsky.social ➡️ jlrbpress.ca/what-i-learned

Despite the best-laid plans of mice and women, we've made the difficult decision to cancel our August Calgary plans jlrbpress.ca/2025-07-17 🐁❤️👩 The open submission period for women/womanhood anthology still opens Aug. 1 jlrbpress.ca/becoming ♀️✍️ Granville will launch Aug. 30 jlrbpress.ca/granville 🛣️📚

It's that time of year again! 🌈 We'd like to wish one and all a SAFE AND #HAPPYPRIDE! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️ Here's what we're up to: Catch Lucía's reading, grab a free sticker, see new books & merch, and chat with our editors about upcoming #poetry projects 📚 For more summer hijinks, see jlrbpress.ca/events #jlrbpress

One rainy evening, on May 17, 2025, Lucía M. Polis launched _The Love of a Good Man: The Queer Epic Poem_ at @russellbooks.bsky.social ❤️👍👨 Recording by Planet Earth Poetry youtu.be/00wZarWyN-U?t=963 ☔📚🎤 ty @jesbattis.bsky.social for the photo #queerpoetry #transpoetry #canadianpublishing #jlrbpress

More events! 🎤💬 Tomorrow, May 16, join us at Planet Earth Poetry (7:30pm at @russellbooks.bsky.social in Victoria) for the relaunch of _The Love of a Good Man: The Queer Epic Poem_ under Lucía M. Polis's true name! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️📚 Learn more: jlrbpress.ca/good-man-epic-poem #queerpoetry #transpoetry #jlrbpress

So here's something cool to look forward to: JLRB Press will have a booth at the #nanaimopridefestival! Come find us on June 8 at Maffeo Sutton Park, check out our new books, chat with our editors, and learn about the upcoming open submission period for our women's anthology! #pride #poetry 📚 🏳️‍🌈 🎉

On May 2, 2025, @tomdoerksen.bsky.social launched his debut collection _Through the Cities and the Woods_ at Planet Earth Poetry at Russell Books Victoria. 🏙️🌲 Here are some photos of Tom—congrats on a successful launch and a compelling reading! 📚 #ecopoetry #booklaunch #canadianpublishing #jlrbpress

👋🙂 Hello poetry lovers! We're proud to announce the book launch for @tomdoerksen.bsky.social's debut poetry collection _Through the Cities and the Woods_! 📚 Join us on May 2, 7pm at Planet Earth Poetry at Russell Books, Victoria to meet the author and listen to a reading from his debut collection! 💬

Today we're proud to announce the release of the poetry collection _Through the Cities and the Woods_ by @tomdoerksen.bsky.social, now available worldwide in softcover. 🏙🌲️📚 Learn more—and get a taste of one of Tom's poems! jlrbpress.ca/cities-woods #poetry #publishing #canadianpublishing #jlrbpress

Coming soon from JLRB Press! 🏙️🌲🌲📚

Congrats to @kjuliastamm.bsky.social & @literaturegeek.bsky.social for winning some #swag in the JLRB Press 2nd Anniversary Drawing: #poetry #books _We Were Hateful People_ by Lucía M. Polis and _Holes: An Anthology of Poems about Depths, Darkness, and Desire_; T-shirts; stickers—and more! 📚👕😊🎉

As promised, our Chief Editor Lucía M. Polis has re-recorded and posted her never-published 2024 CreativeMornings/Victoria talk, now titled "Poetry and Trust, Redux: How Institutions Stifle Creators and Their Creations and What You Can Do About It" 🏢🛑✍️🩷 bit.ly/poetry-and-t...

JLRB Press prides itself on being self-sufficient. But, in 2024, our founder Lucía M. Polis gave a talk on Trust to @creativemornings.bsky.social Victoria, sponsored by the Victoria Arts Council. 220 days later, the talk remains unpublished. Here's what happened next: jlrbpress.ca/poets-vs-govts 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️✊

💖 Authors: Thank you for all the poetry! 💖 Readers: Thank you for attending events & buying our books & merch from shop.jlrbpress.ca 🎂🎂 To celebrate, we’re giving away 2 gift packs (book, T-shirt, & sticker!) To enter: Follow us on Bluesky, tag a friend in a comment, and get them to follow us too! 📚

Friends, b/c of recent policy changes & actions by Zuck/Meta and Elon/X, meant to dehumanize & degrade the dignity of women, people of colour, & queer/trans humans, we will be leaving Instagram, Threads, Facebook, FB Messenger, Meta Business Suite, & X at end of Jan. Join us on these alt platforms.

Whew! It’s been one busy year—December is our month of rest! 🫖☃️📚 We’d like to thank everyone who has attended our events, read our books, and watched us grow this year! #happyholidays and a #happynewyear in 2025! 💝 #poetry adventures await! 😃 #canadianpublishing #jlrbpress

Lastly, just two more photos of Lucía M. Polis reading from _The Love of a Good Man_ (3/3)

More photos! Lucía M. Polis reading her poems from _Holes_; Lucía’s friend Dr. Jess Nicol supports the book launch for _Good Man_; Lucía before the reading; Queer Writers of Calgary & friends: Fenn Bustos, our future Managing Ed. CJ Braxton, Dr. Rod Moody-Corbett, Hunter Chico, & Noah Brawn (2/3)

Greetings, friends! As 2024 winds down, we wanted to showcase some of the awesome events we were part of this past year in a fun throwback montage ✍️🪄📚 We've been real busy, which means you get some exclusive never-before-seen photos! (1/3) #throwbackthursday #poetry #canadianpublishing #jlrbpress

We might not always agree on poetics, but we have something to say about current politics: We will defend your right to exist, whether you're a fellow queer or neurodivergent, a trans or an enby person, or a person of colour. ❤️🫱#noroomforhate#poetryispowera#canadianpublishingc#jlrbpresslishing #jlrbpress

✒️ On Oct. 12, JLRB Press Chief Editor Lucía M. Polis hosted a virtual poetry workshop on scansion, metre, and rhythm. Check out the full recorded workshop on YouTube: youtu.be/AcZtH35LeCQ 📽️ #poetry #editing #rhythm #jlrbpress #canadianpublishing

The wait is over! 🎉 Jul. 1–Sep. 1, JLRB Press is going to be open to submissions of chapbook- (25-50 pages) and book-length (50-150 pages) poetry manuscripts. ✍️✉️📚 To learn more about our editorial practices and submission guidelines, and to submit your manuscript, head over to jlrbpress.ca/submit

On June 22, Chief Editor Lucía M. Polis held a virtual #poetry #workshop on #selfediting for #readability, #lineation, #rhythm, and #sound. 📑✍️🥁🎵 We had a great turnout—watch the entire recording at youtu.be/rxbBE_mI4jU 🌈🦄💅 #queer #queerpoetry #queerpoet #lgbt #lgbtqia #jlrbpress

Who's up honing their #poetic craft? 👀 Kidding aside, on Jun. 22, 10am Pacific our very own Lucía M. Polis is going to host a free virtual #writingworkshop on #selfediting, #readability, #lineation, #rhythm, and #sound. 👨‍🏫✍️📖 Register here: bit.ly/3wRyVIR #canadianpublishing #jlrbpress

Join us on June 28 at The Vault Cafe for a #poetry #openmic and readings from the _Holes_ anthology, featuring James S. Chumsa, Katherine DeCoste and Lucía M. Polis 🎤📓🕳️ Admission is free; open mic sign-up starts at 7 PM 🌈 #booklaunch #queer #neurodivergent #pride #canadianpoetry #jlrbpress

We've released some pretty ✨ #queer ✨ stuff lately—and we can't wait to publish some more! 🌈📚😘 From all of us at #jlrbpress, we wish you a safe and happy #pridemonth! #happypride!! 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️🎉 #queerpoetry #lgbtpoetry #gay #lgbt #lgbtqia #pride #pride2024 #happypride2024 #canadianpoetry #canadianpublishing

We are proud to announce the release of _Holes: An Anthology of Poems about Depths, Darkness, & Desire_ in softcover. Learn more: jlrbpress.ca/holes 📚 The culmination of 4 months of hard work, this book includes 53 poems from 17 Canadian writers, 6 American writers, and 1 Puerto Rican writer 🇨🇦🇺🇸🇵🇷

Dear #poetry lovers! When we first put out the #callforsubmissions for the _Holes_ anthology, we didn't anticipate the amount of interest we were going to generate and we've received lots of wonderful poems. 📨 😅 Send in poems for the anthology by 12 noon on Friday, March 15. ⏰ 🗓️ jlrbpress.ca/submit