The innovative, independent poetry publisher Penned in the Margins has won a three-year grant of £135,000 from Arts Council England. On its website, director Tom Chivers, pictured, said: “This new support (starting 2015) will enable us to make more and better work, reach new and wider audiences, and build a more sustainable organisation for the future … We are looking forward to continuing our support for talented writers and artists, working with cultural partners, and making new work for audiences who are not afraid of taking risks.”

Penned in the Margins began in 2004 as a poetry reading series in a converted railway arch in south London. Also celebrating is the Poetry School, which received a 25% increase in funding. It said the additional funds will enable it to develop a new artistic programme "beyond the classroom", encompassing live events, collaborative projects, and digital activities on its Campus social network. The Poetry School's director, Ollie Dawson, said the new investment would help it focus on "supporting a more connected and diverse poetry community". 

But there was not such good news for the Wordsworth Trust at Grasmere. It lost £80,000 of its annual grant, the Guardian reported. That cash had been used to fund a contemporary literature programme, including poetry readings, a full-time literature officer, and current poet-in-residence Zaffar Kunial.

There was bad news for other poetry organisations, the Bookseller reported, with Manchester-based Commonword among those that have lost National Portfolio status in the latest round of funding. Commonword organises writers' workshops and live events including the Superheroes of Slam. New writing co-ordinator Martin Demello said: "Arts Council England provided the majority of our funding this year."

Commonword's artistic director, Pete Kalu, said: "A scrutiny of our achievements will show incontestably that nobody has engaged with black writers in the north-west better than us. Nobody in the north-west has fostered a youth writing programme that engages with disadvantaged young people better than us. Nobody has built a national community of writers committed to diversity in children’s writing better than us. We have always been a radical organisation, fearlessly addressing the issue of who gets published and why, and unconvinced that the answer is entirely a matter of merit. To do our job well, we have always unflinchingly addressed uncomfortable topics, such as our July 4 2014 Islamophobia and literature conference, run in association with Manchester University. 

"The reasons for our loss of funding? We defied political gravity for a long time, in particular, the Arts Council NPO focus on private donations and private income streams. Commonword has faced and met bigger challenges. We will survive this and will emerge stronger, retaining our belief that giving voice to marginalised communities is in the common good. Our work goes on."

The Poetry Book Society's director, Chris Holifield, said she was "very disappointed" that her organisation's application had been rejected. The Poetry Book Society, which organises the TS Eliot prize, lost its NPO status in 2011 amid a storm of protest led by the poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy. It had applied for regularly funded status once more in the latest round. 

But Bristol-based Poetry Can, which has lost its £15,000 annual funding from Bristol city council, was relieved to hear that its £43,000 Arts Council grant will continue. Poetry Can’s director, Colin Brown, said: “It means that we can cover all our basic costs, but things will be difficult and we will have to fundraise.”