Candlestick Press is a small, independent press publishing beautiful Instead of a card poetry pamphlets. Based in Nottingham in the UK, weve been making our mini-anthologies since 2008 and have now sold over 915,000 titles which means that weve shared over nine million poems with our readers all over the world.

Most of us can remember our first kiss, whether it was glorious and transporting or merely awkward. Kissing, it transpires, can happen anywhere on a train, in a city park or against a kitchen fridge.

The poems dramatize the fact that a kiss can make time stand still or send us into a dizzy spin:

And the world all whirling
Round in joy
Like the dance of a dervish

from Kisses in the Train by DH Lawrence

The selection wouldnt be complete without a sly antidote to all this romance, which is why weve includedMary RueflesWhy I Am Not A Good Kisser with its inventory of things not to do or think about when a kiss is in the offing.

Our pamphlets are supplied with an envelope for posting, a bookmark for a special message and an Instead of a card sticker to seal the back of the envelope for a lovely finishing touch.

Paperback | 24 printed pages