Celebrating poems by women this International Women's Day

In recognition of International Women’s Day, we’re celebrating women and the poetry they create. Red Room Poetry is proud to host the largest online collection of Australian poetry, showcasing a diverse array of voices.

In 2019, we commissioned 55 women poets to create new poetic works across the spectrum of our projects.
 
Today, we give our thanks to these remarkable poets, and proudly share a selection of their poems.
 
 
Extinction Elegies
 
‘Mal de la mer, or I walked the island searching for you’ by Michelle Cahill
 
‘A collection titled THE EXTINCTION OF KINDNESS’ by Ali Cobby Eckermann
 
 
Poetry in First Languages
 
‘Gugagara’djanaba’ by Nicole Smede
 
‘Bugiya, Naway, Burradja (Yesterday, today and tomorrow)’ by Lyndsay Urqhart
 
‘Gibam Garandalehn (Full Moon)’ by Ellen Van Neerven
 
‘calbunyas initiation’ by Kaitlen Wellington
 
 
Red Room Poetry Fellowship
 
‘O, Australia’ by Jeanine Leane
 
‘The lifeguard is taxed’ by Susan Bradley Smith
 
‘Initial Impressions of a Pakistani-Australian in London’ by Maryam Azam
 
‘Blue Carbon’ by Caitlin Mailing
 
‘Hear/Not here’ by Tricia Dearborn
 
‘My father’s portrait’ by Sarah Rice
 
‘Transitional’ by Jessica L Wilkinson
 
 
Punch Lines: Poets Play Duchmap
 
‘The Bush’ by Evelyn Araluen
 
‘one can look at seeing; one cannot hear hearing’ by Pascalle Burton
 
 
Poetry on The Block
 
‘Pivot’ by Nikki Gemmel
 
‘Our Children’ by Gloria Demillo
 
 
New Shoots
 
‘In Search of the Meelup Mallee’ by Nandi Chiina
 
‘Karri (or, Slow Arrival in Karri Country)’ by Renee Pettitt-Schipp
 
 
Poetry Object
 
‘Ode to a Wooden Spoon’ Arielle Cottingham
 
‘Forever, Flag’ by Claire G Coleman
 
‘The Candle’ by Eleanor Jackson
 
‘To my tent’ by Jacqui Malins
 
 
‘HOME’ by Sara Saleh
 
 
A Sweatshop in a Red Room
 
‘Sri Lanka Quietly Fades’ by Christine Shamista
 
‘An Act of Charity in Islam’ by Abeny Mayol
 
‘Tinder Scheme’ Merynah Khodr
  

Go to our poem library to explore more poems by women poets over the years >