Welcome to Red Room Poetry
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20+ Years
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90+ Major projects
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1,818+ Poets commissioned
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43,665+ Poems created

Poetry Month 2025
A National Celebration of Poetry
This year's program is so packed it is bursting out of August. The festivities kick off with Writers Victoria on 30 July and stretch through til 3 September at the iconic Sydney Opera House. With incredible ambassadors sharing their love of the form, brand new 30in30 poems and prompts every day plus showcases, debates, workshops, Q+As, films, performances, competitions, new music, fine art, book clubs and the return of the National Poetry Month Gala, the full program is now available here.
Poetry Month Highlights
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National Poetry Month Gala
Thursday 28th August 2025
Until Thursday 28th August 2025

Poem Forest 2025: Understory
Unveiling the Understory
Step into the 2025 Poem Forest and explore this year’s theme: Understory — an invitation to uncover the rich, hidden layers of the natural world and ourselves. We’re calling on students and teachers to slow down, listen deeply, and give voice to the vibrant life beneath the forest canopy — from fungi and insects to roots, memory, and quiet growth. Whether you're writing from the spinifex plains or the depths of a classroom, we invite you to notice what often goes unseen and celebrate the stories that thrive in shadow. Join us in nurturing both creativity and Country — for every poem submitted, a tree will be planted, helping to grow a future where every voice matters.
Upcoming Workshops
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Threatened Species Day (Primary)
Friday 05th September 2025
Until Friday 05th September 2025 -
Threatened Species Day (Secondary)
Friday 05th September 2025
Until Friday 05th September 2025
Featured Theme
Looking to the stars...
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all the while, trying to start the engine
By Vacant Dragon à la Subverted Lips, Helen Franzmann(for Jupiter)
between waking and sleep, two switches flicker
connecting stop-starts from Life and Now -
The Great Displaced
By Omar MusaFor Jess
The boy lights a candle
and faces a perilous horizon.
Featured Projects
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ABC Line Break
We are thrilled to be partnering with the national broadcaster, ABC Radio National, to bring you a weekly poem across 2025 from poets across the continent. -
Baraya Barray - Whale Song
Baraya Barray is a cultural immersion experience for young First Nations people, celebrating First Languages through the creation of poetry, song and dance. -
Middle of the Air
A new national competition with ABC RN, uniting poem and song
Featured Theme
Find your new favourite poem
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How Long
By Jo Giles“So, have they told you how long they think you’ve got?”
Gun loaded, trigger pulled, gun shot.
It’s a common question, I should mention
This Doctor’s not so out of line -
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Poem For a Stranger in a Time of War
By Tishani Doshi, Vacant Dragon à la Subverted LipsWe left the city and found at the gates
a prescription with your name on it.
We took the metro to the beach
and on the shore, we saw