Peter Swanborn's poetry debut, Bij het zien van zijn lichaam (At the sight of his body), was published in 2007. One year later the book was nominated for the C. Buddingh' Prize for the best poetry debut of the year. In 2009 Een koud bad (A cold bath) was published. This book with 24 songs about people who drowned, was nominated for the PZC Public Award.
The same year Podium Publishers published Tot ook ik verwaai (Untill I too drift away), a poetry memoir about a mother with Alzheimers. This book was nominated for the J.C. Bloem-poëzieprijs.
May 2013 Het huis woont in mij (The house lives in me) was published, also by Podium Publishers.

Poems by Peter Swanborn have been published in many international magazines such as Het Liegend Konijn (BE), Poëziekrant (BE), Septentrion (BE), Modern Poetry in Translation (UK), Revue Europe (FR), Action Poétique (FR), Talisman (USA) and Ganymede (USA). He is an editor of the literature and arts magazine Tortuca, published in Rotterdam, and works as a literary critic for De Volkskrant, a leading Dutch newspaper. Before 1997 he worked as an artist and photographer.