FAQs

Red Room Poetry isn't a literary journal and we don’t run ongoing open submissions. Instead, we commission poets based on the needs of each project — which means our project producers carefully invite artists whose voice and style are the right fit, often in collaboration with our project partners. We also engage poets for live readings using the same approach. While this means we don’t accept unsolicited work for publication, we do invite poets to share their details via our Expression of Interest form — we do not guarantee any commission opportunities from this form, however we keep all EOIs on file for consideration for future projects.

At times, we also run public submission projects or have open calls for submission. These will be visible on our website, and you can sign up to our newsletters and follow us at @redroompoetry on Facebook, Instagram and Threads to be the first to know when opportunities like these arise.

Another key way we select poets for commissioned publication is through our 30in30 Writing Competition — a daily competition run on our social media channels across Poetry Month in August. Every day a new prompt is posted, and you have 24 hours to submit your 3-line entry. Every day a book of contemporary poetry is awarded to a daily winner, and at the end of the month 3 emerging voices are selected to develop their poem with Red Room Poetry staff for a paid commission and publication on our website.

Please note that our commissions are drawn from a number of additional sources.

The poems featured in our Friday Poem newsletter are selected from our archive of past commissions by the Editor. We currently do not commission poems specifically to be featured in Friday Poem. 

Our producers will only be in touch with you if there is a project matching your profile. Their selection process is dependent on a wide range of factors unique to each project. We really appreciate your interest in becoming involved with Red Room Poetry and encourage you to attend our events, subscribe to our newsletters and engage with us on social media channels.

While we appreciate that your biography will change and grow throughout your career, unfortunately we don't have the capacity to accept requests for poet biography changes unless it is within six months of your most recent publication with us.

Once a year, we run the Emerging Poets Residency project with two available places. At least one of the two places is reserved for an emerging First Nations poet. Find out more here.

Another great way for emerging poets to interact with Red Room is via our 30in30 Writing Competition during Poetry Month each August. Follow us at @redroompoetry on Facebook and Instagram to take part.

You can also find a section titled Opportunities for Young Poets under our Opportunities for Poets page.

We regularly run project-related workshops (online and in-person). Check out our upcoming workshops and events here.

While we never share contact details of our commissioned artists without permission, we do pass on enquiries to the contact details of the artist that we have on file. If interested and available, they will be in touch with you directly.

We currently have two dedicated education programs — Poem Forest and Baraya Barray - Whale Song. If you are interested in hosting local events in connection with our educational projects, you can download our free, curriculum-aligned learning resources and subscribe to our monthly educational newsletter, The Education Edit, for general educational news and other poetic activities.

We work with sponsors, partner organisations and local councils to create new work for specific projects. Feel free to reach out if you have an idea for a collaboration. The relevant project producer will be in touch.