Poetry and the Australian publishing industry: A 2026 snapshot

Poetry has always been an essential part of Australia’s literary landscape, but the opportunities available to our poets are scarce and industry practices often opaque. Red Room Poetry and the Australian Society for Authors (ASA) are teaming up this National Poetry Month to host a free discussion with Australian industry experts to provide valuable insight into where poetry sits within the broader Australian publishing industry, the opportunities and the challenges for poets, and the role that festivals, organisations, literary journals, and publishers play, now and into the future.

Red Room Poetry’s Artistic Director David Stavanger will be joined in conversation by Wiradjuri poet and Editor-in-Chief of The Suburban Review Alison J. Barton, poet and Australian Poetry CEO and publisher Melinda Bufton, and director of Giramondo Publishing Ivor Indyk.

There will be time for further questions from participants.

This event is co-presented with ASA.