Our Origin

Sudden Valley is to be found on a track in the Arthurs Pass National Park in the South Island/Te Waipounamu, New Zealand/Aotearoa. It is a sudden opening out of a fairly narrow valley into a broader expanse.

The co-founder of Sudden Valley Press, the late John O’Connor, chose the name  to encompass the surprise and broadening of understanding that poetry can lead to.

Our Mission

Sudden Valley Press (SVP) is a not-for-profit press specialising in providing publishing opportunities for excellent poetry books by New Zealand poets. As such it has, over the years, produced over twenty books of poetry. These have often been the first books from these poets, many of whom first performed their works in the long-running poetry readings series held by the Canterbury Poets Collective.

SVP’s approach is to assist poets to publish quality poetry in books, chapbooks etc, rather than to publish it for them in the traditional (or commercial) way.  We believe that much good, even excellent, poetry remains uncollected mainly because of the cost of publishing.

Please note that we are not currently accepting unsolicited submissions.

Our Editors

David Gregory is the author of three poetry collections published in New Zealand, Always Arriving, Frame of Mind, (both by Sudden Valley Press) and Push (Black Doris Press). His poetry has appeared widely in publications and anthologies and he has performed his work here and in the UK. He was a member of the Canterbury Poets Collective for over 20 years.

Joanna Preston is the author of two award-winning poetry collections, The Summer King (Otago University Press, 2009) and tumble (OUP, 2021). She runs The Poetry Class, has edited/co-edited collections, anthologies and literary magazine magazines, and is a member of the Canterbury Poets’ Collective.

Contact Us