#30in30 Writing Prompt Roundup
This year saw the return of Red Room Poetry's #30in30 writing competition for Poetry Month.
From 1-31 August 2023, we released a fresh daily writing prompt created by our incredible 30in30 commissioned artists. And your responses were outstanding. Now, as Poetry Month comes to a close, we've been taking a moment to reflect on all the wonderful 3-line poems you created.
For those of you that didn't get a chance to take part - or for those of you who did, but are left wanting more - we've put together this list of all #30in30 writing prompts published for Poetry Month this year. Why not have a go at responding to one (or three, or five)? Try writing more than three lines, play with form, or close your eyes and just scroll, see where your cursor lands and respond to that prompt.
For further inspiration, we'd also highly encourage you to check out the incredible poetry penned by commissioned poets as part of the project.
1 August, Simon Armitage
Remember: people aren’t as interested in you as you are. Readers want writing. Write a poem about your first memory without using the word “I”.
2 August, Nam Le
Write a poem that no-one but your mother would recognise is to her, about her.
3 August, Heather Mitchell
Recall a moment. Recall an associated feeling. Sit with it. Eyes closed. Breathe into it. Allow unconnected words to form. See it, Hear it, Feel it. Open eyes and write them down. Walk away. Revisit exercise again later and repeat.
4 August, Dylan Van Den Berg
First love, bubbling resentment; photographs stand-in for life’s moments, both thrilling and banal. Choose one. Write about that time or the time before – or the time you wish it was.
5 August, Mitch McTaggart
Fever dream before, or fever dream now? The TV is re-playing the show I thought my brain had invented. Write a poem on/from its set.
6 August, Pascalle Burton and Andrew Galan
- Choose a piece of legislation or bureaucratic form that has impacted your life in some way.
- Use this text to create a poem (up to 20 lines or can be a visual poem).
- Remember to cite the texts.
7 August, Zainab Syed
All of us have inherited something from our ancestors beyond materiality. Write about your inheritance(s)
8 August, Patrick Lenton
Is there a moment from your youth that makes you viscerally cringe every time you remember it? Try to find this moment and write a poem about it from your adult perspective.
9 August, Rob Waters
Write a poem or a soundtrack in words for overcoming writer's block?
10 August, Rebecca Jessen and Zenobia Frost
What topic do you most hope someone will ask you about at a party? Write a poem through the lens of this passion, capturing a slant self-portrait in the niche details that light you up.
11 August, Chika Ikogwe
Write a poem in response to this image, ‘Queen of Hearts’ by Stephanie Martei @stephmartei
12 August, Lang Leav
Flip a coin. If it lands on heads, write a poem about hunger. If it lands on tails, write a poem about luck.
13 August, Kirli Saunders
Sit with a body of water, write what you see, feel, hear and know.
Not all mob are saltwater connected, but our waterways are.
14 August, Felicity Plunkett
Carl Phillips writes: ‘any poem that has resonance will contain tension’ (The Art of Daring). Write a poem containing tension. This might be in the subject, language, lineation, rhythm, etc.
15 August, James Colley
The world is a dark and serious place. Poetry doesn't need to be. Make me smile. Make me laugh.
16 August, Hasib Hourani
List five objects in the room and write a poem combining them into one story.
17 August, Ouyang Yu
What’s your image of a hero or heroine? Write a poem about it.
18 August, Aries M. Gacutan and Lucy Norton
Write about the ocean – as barrier, as dream, as trade route, as home, as connective tissue, as material reality. - Aries M. Gacutan
Think of a dream you once had, and couldn’t shake. Write a poem as if it were a memory. - Lucy Norton
19 August, Jonathan Sriranganathan
Corporations are cooking the planet. Governments drop bombs on hospitals. Landlords keep jacking up the rent. Yet still we slumber. Write a utopian poem about how we transform everything.
20 August, Laura Panopoulos
For a week, record three “good” things a day. They can be insignificant events, like perfectly poached eggs or green traffic lights on a drive. Include several in a poem.
21 August, Sonya Holowell
Create a vocalised dialogue poem by listening to the song of the Whales. Reflect what
you have heard back to them, offering something of yourself in the exchange.
22 August, Dominic Guerrera
Write a poem to your grandmother and tell her why you love her
23 August, Juran Adams
Close your eyes and visit a memory where you feel cared for and nurtured, where
you feel warm and loved.
Remember that moment, what did it smell like? What did it feel like on your skin? What do you hear? What senses does this memory spark?
24 August, Manal Younus
Write about something that, in another life, you would be an expert in.
25 August, Patrick Gunasekera
Write a poem about someone else making up for a past wrong, and how you feel about their growth.
26 August, Adrian Mouhajer and Princess Arinola Adegbite
Write an ode to a characteristic you once disliked about yourself but are learning to embrace, reflecting on how your ancestry could influence this journey.
27 August, Ella Jeffery
Write a poem about a piece of art, film or music that you find strangely compelling, for reasons you don’t fully understand.
28 August, Phoebe Grainer
Fire.
Big.
Burning. Fire.
What keeps your fire burning?
What is your fire? Tell a story of fire.
29 August, Natalie Damjanovich-Napoleon
Find a text with an issue that either angers or inspires you. Print it out. Whiteout or blackout portions of that text. Create a new narrative, find the poem within.
30 August, Aloma Davis
Think of a place you treasure. Describe what you can hear, see, and physically and emotionally feel. Write a poem about the way you carry that place in your mind.
31 August, Theresa Violet Sainty
Thinking about pathways, write something about the Milky Way as a pathway.
1 September, Kerry Bulloojeeno Archibald Moran
Girrwaanbi Aborigine Lore
Is an important role
A practice of belief and values
Encouragement by others
To break the Lore
Can cause you to trespassing
Leads waagi spirits to prosecution
Write a poem reflecting on your ancestors' lore.
2 September, Gabrielle Journey Jones
Write a poem about your favourite work of art, describing what it looks like, what story it tells, what words, memories, thoughts or feelings the art evokes within you.
