The Poetry Pharmacy secures Pan Macmillan anthology series
The founder of a bookshop that prescribes poetry for your emotional ailments has compiled eight poetry books in collaboration with the UK publisher giant Pan Macmillan.
Deborah Alma has put together eight titles based on the themes in the bookshop and they will be released in pairs, with the first two ‘Comfort’ and ‘Words for Love’ coming out on January 23, 2025.
Alma owns The Poetry Pharmacy which first launched in Bishop's Castle, Shropshire, before a London store opened this June on the first floor of Lush’s Oxford Street location.
C+D visited the store in July to check out the dozens of prescription bottles containing poems and quotes from literary texts placed in capsules, selected on themes around “hope”, “courage”, “love” and “mindfulness” among others, to medicate for a person’s mood or feelings.
The bookshop has already gone viral on TikTok, and now their stock is to rise higher as they release the 80-page, pocket-sized hardback books over 2025.
The “gift book contains carefully curated prescriptions in verse compiled by Deborah Alma” and will include poems by William Blake, Emily Dickinson, Edward Thomas, W. B. Yeats, William Shakespeare and many more.
Alma says it has “been a joy to work with Macmillan” on the anthology series and believes it fits a “gap in the growing poetry and well-being market”.
It’s something to “easily pull off the shelf with confidence, that can be recommended as good quality and accessible poetry to the customer asking for some sort of solace for themselves or a loved one,” she adds.
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Macmillan associate publisher Gaby Morgan bought the rights for eight books and is “delighted to be working with Deborah and the Poetry Pharmacy team”.
She is a self-declared “Poetry Pharmacy fangirl”, adding “their themed shelving and achingly cool aesthetic welcome everyone in. A series of poetry books matching their perfectly curated sections made so much sense”.
“They are completely tuned into what readers are looking for emotionally,” Morgan says.
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The 2025 release schedule for the books will see ‘Wild Remedy’ and ‘Becoming’ come out on April 3, then ‘First Aid’ and ‘Inspiration’ on July 10, before the final two ‘Joy’ and ‘Calm’ come out on October 2.
Macmillan commented “whether readers are looking to find solace for times of ill-health, loss and grief, cope with matters of the heart, need poetic inspiration for courage and confidence, or want to find peace and tranquillity in wild spaces, there is a collection for everyone”.
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