Opportunities for Poets

About Red Room

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 producers carefully invite artists whose voice and style are the right fit, often in collaboration with our project partners. 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 so we can keep you in mind for future opportunities. You can also check out our FAQs to learn more about how we work with poets.

Opportunities for Poets

Whether you’re an emerging or established poet, we’ve compiled a list of opportunities currently open for submission for writers in Australia — from writing prizes, awards and competitions, to residencies, fellowships and courses.

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• The 69th Blake Poetry Prize is open for poetry submissions of 100 lines or less— Closing Monday, 15 December 2025
• Uplift publishes newsletters showcasing poetry events, opportunities, book reviews, writing prompts, and keeps a log of poetic events across the country — Subscribe

Journal and Anthology Submissions

• Splinter Journal — Submit
• Island Magazine — Submit
• The Suburban Review — Submit
• Creatrix Poetry —Submit
• UNSW Press — Submit
• Portside Review — Submit
• Overland — Submit
• Westerly — Submit
• The Marrow — Submit
• Loom — Submit
• Debris Magazine — Submit
• The World In Our Words Part II anthology is open for submissions — Closing Thursday, 30 October 2025

Residencies and Fellowships

• Varuna has a range of Residential Fellowship opportunities — Apply

Workshops and Writing Courses

• Writing Vital Nature Poems with Karen McCarthy Woolf — Tuesday, 9 Dec 2025
• The 2025 QLD Poet in Residence is running workshops and individual consults at QLD Writers Centre — various dates throughout December
• Speaking through Others is a masterclass with top UK poet, Hannah Lowe, exploring the glosa at — Monday, 19 January 2026
• Recharge your writing with Poetry & Mindfulness Uplift — Tuesday, 20 January 2026
• Dot. Dash – Go! Punctuation for Poets with Rishi Dastidar leads you through fundamental foundations and flights of experimentation in punctuation for practicing poets — Thursday, 29 January 2026
• Structuring Poetry with Andy Jackson is a new poetry writing course from Kill Your Darlings. Cost: $169 (10% discount for KYD members) —Open now
• Museum of Brisbane invites you to their Ekphrastic Writing Club — First Saturday of every month
• Cath Drake invites you to a range of courses and workshops — Year round

Opportunities for Young Poets

• The Somerset National Poetry Prize is seeking submissions from school-aged students — Closing Friday, 5 December 2025
• Voiceworks is on the lookout for poetry from writers under the age of 25 — Submit
• Pulch Mag is seeking poetry from WA-based young writers aged 16 to 26 — Submit

Opportunities for Educators

• Red Room Poetry has a bunch of free Learning Resources for Educators — Find out more
• Beyond the Frame is a free Learning Resource developed by Red Room Poetry in partnership with the National Gallery of Australia for Poetry Month — Explore the resource
• QLD Artsbook is an accessible, user-friendly platform that connects Queensland schools and educators with high-quality touring and local artists, arts organisations and institutions — Find out more

Red Room Rewards: Poetic Perks

Red Room Rewards: Poetic Perks offers curated discounts, invitations, and special access to events—available only to our Red Room audience. A small thank you for walking with us through poetry.

• Bread & Butter Poetry Slampionship will see wordsmiths from the Inner West’s biggest poetry night return to compete for the title of 2025 Poetry Slampion. Book your spot now and receive an early-bird discount (NOTE: discount is now closed, there's still some tickets available for $30, book your spot before it sells out) —  Friday, 19 December 2025

Other Opportunities

• The Office for the Arts maintains a register for those interested in being considered for appointment to statutory and non-statutory boards, councils and committees within the portfolio of the Minister for the Arts — Submit your EOI

Be in the know

Want to be the first to know about new opportunities for poets? Subscribe to our newsletters below to receive the latest poetry, news, events and opportunities from Red Room Poetry straight to your inbox.

Have a poetic opportunity you think we should feature? We would love to hear from you. You can send us a message via our Contact Us page.