About

Stewed Rhubarb is a small Scottish publishing house with its roots in Edinburgh. We are an inclusive, friendly press that champions new and diverse poetry written across a wide range of styles, always with a strong (but not exclusive!) interest in spoken word performance. Poetry pamphlets are our mainstay.

Current Staff

Charlie Roy (she/her) – Head of Publishing Programme

Charlie Roy

Ultra-caffeinated, Charlie was born in London and grew up in Spain, eventually trading the sunshine for Scottish wind, making Edinburgh her home. She joined the Stewed Rhubarb team as Head of Marketing & Publicity in 2018. A writer of prose and poetry, she performs regularly around Edinburgh, and is the author of THE BROKEN PANE. She got stuck potholing once.

Duncan Lockerbie (he/him) – Director

Duncan is a typography geek, poetry fanatic, and tea-drinker extraordinaire. In 2013 he founded the poetry press Tapsalteerie and he also runs a small business helping authors to self-publish their work (Lumphanan Press). Salman Rushdie once poured away a cup of coffee that Duncan made him, proclaiming it to be “undrinkable”.

Rebecca Tozer – 2024 Guest Reader (poetry submissions)

Rebecca is currently at St Andrews University studying Comparative Literature, French, and Spanish. Since she could write Rebecca has been scribbling stories, and enjoys reading in every language she can understand. She is very excited to join the Stewed Rhubarb team this year as a Guest Reader.

History

Stewed Rhubarb began its life as a spoken-word pamphlet publisher at 1am in an Edinburgh garrett. Its very first publication, The Glassblower Dances by Rachel McCrum, won the Callum Macdonald Memorial Award in 2013. Stewed Rhubarb went on to publish sixteen pamphlets and an anthology over the next four years with Rachel McCrum and James T. Harding as co-editors.

In 2018 Stewed Rhubarb was relaunched by James T. Harding, with initial help from Rebecca Raeburn, and with Charlie Roy working on behalf of the press as Head of Marketing and Publicity. James officially transferred the business to Duncan Lockerbie in 2020 and for the following year Beth Cochrane also acted as a commissioning editor.

Big thanks and gratitude go out to everyone involved in the press over the years – it’s because of your dedication and hard work that Stewed Rhubarb is still an active and thriving part of the Scottish poetry pamphlet scene!