Upcoming Australian Poetry Competitions & Calls For Submissions

 

The Red Room Company has always been here to support and develop the Australian poetry scene, so here are a few things for our published and unpublished poets out there. These are all poetry contests, poetry competitions, poetry awards, and calls for submissions in Australia. Don’t forget to read submission guidelines. Good luck!

 

NARRATIVE’S SEVENTH ANNUAL POETRY CONTEST

Narrative’s Seventh Annual Poetry Contest runs until July 20. In a continuing effort to encourage and support talented poets, Narrative are offering prizes and widespread public announcement of all winners and finalists. Narrative is always looking for new voices, so all entries will be considered for publication in the magazine.The contest is open to all poets. Entries must be unpublished and must not have been previously chosen as winners, finalists, or honorable mentions in other contests. Each entry may contain up to five poems.

Entries close Monday 20 July, 2015.

For submission and entry guidelines: http://www.narrativemagazine.com/seventh-annual-poetry-contest

 

IPSWICH POETRY FEAST – INTERNATIONAL POETRY WRITING COMPETITION

An annual poetry writing competition giving poets of all ages the opportunity to compete for over $7,500 in prizes. Widely promoted to schools, libraries and the general community, this competition attracts local, interstate and global entries.

Entries close Friday 24 July, 2015.

For submission and entry guidelines: http://www.ipswichpoetryfeast.com.au/competition.htm

 

STRICTLY POETRY

Applications close for Strictly Poetry, a Varuna Focus Week to be led by Deb Westbury from Monday 19 to Sunday 25 October at Varuna, the National Writers House in Katoomba.

Entries close Thursday 6 August, 2015.

Submission and entry guidelines: www.varuna.com.au or (02) 4782 5674 (Mon, Tues and Thurs).

 

2015 MINDSHARE POETRY AWARDS

Open to emerging and established poets the Mindshare Poetry Awards aims to give artists with a lived experience of mental illness a creative voice.

Winners will be announced at the Festival of Now on Friday 9 October 2015 by guest MC, awards judge and poet Geoff Goodfellow.

Entries close on Friday 7 August, 2015.

For submission and entry guidelines: http://mindshare.org.au/mindshare-poetry-awards/ 

 

AUSTRALIAN POETRY – JOURNAL VOL 5 NO 2 & AUSTRALIAN POETRY ANTHOLOGY 2015

Australian Poetry Journal:

Submissions are open for Volume 5 No 2 of the Australian Poetry Journal, an unthemed edition in which relationships between poems will arise organically.

Australian Poetry Anthology:

An annual publication launched in 2012, the Anthology showcases our subscribers’ poetry from the year gone by.

To celebrate the achievements of subscribers, a portion of the anthology will be given over to previously published and award-winning poetry, which will sit alongside new voices and undiscovered gems. Please indicate whether your poem has been previously published, and if so, where.

Entries close Saturday 15 August, 2015.

For submission and entry guidelines: https://australianpoetry.submittable.com/submit 

 

2015 RIAUS SCI-KU COMPETITION

In celebration of the International Year of Light and Light-based Technologies, the 2015 RiAus Sci-ku invited poetry that best reflects (yes) this theme of LIGHT.

Science haiku poems can be submitted in three categories: primary school, secondary school, or open.

Entries close on Sunday 23 August, 2015.

For submission and entry guidelines: http://riaus.org.au/sci-ku/

 

LANE COVE LITERARY AWARDS – POETRY

All poems must be no more than 50 lines, and not exceed 1000 words.

Entries close 26 August, 2015.

For submission and entry guidelines: http://www.lanecove.nsw.gov.au/Community/Library/Pages/LaneCoveLiteraryAward.aspx

 

TOOWOOMBA WRITERS LITERARY PRIZE – POETRY

Toowoomba Wordsmiths and Fellowship of Australian Writers Queensland invite your entries!

POEMS UP TO 40 LINES. 3 poems accepted per entrant.

Entries must be unpublished work and work that has not previously won in another competition even if it was not published.

Entries close 31 August, 2015.

For submission and entry guidelines: http://www.australianpoetry.org/competitions/28643/ 

 

POETICA CHRISTI PRESS 2015 ANNUAL POETRY COMPETITION

The theme for this competition will be IMAGINE.

This topic lends itself to poems about imagination, fantasy, illusion, dreams, legend, the future, creativity, exuberance, whimsy, fancy, reverie, utopia, idealism, playfulness, hope, wonder, imagery, empathy and social justice.

Entries close Monday 31 August, 2015.

For submission and entry guidelines: http://poeticachristi.org.au/?page_id=279 

 

THE DOROTHY PORTER PRIZE FOR EMERGING POETS

Part of the Lord Mayor’s Creative Writing Awards, designed to encourage emerging writers and celebrate Melbourne’s status as a UNESCO City of Literature.

The competition is open to anyone residing in Victoria, Australia.

The poem must be more than 100 lines.

Entries close Monday, 31 August, 2015.

For submission and entry guidelines: http://www.melbourne.vic.gov.au/MelbourneLibraryService/Pages/CreativeWritingAwards2015.aspx 

 

RED ROOM POETRY OBJECT

Red Room Poetry Object is a free poetry-writing competition for students Years 3-10. Created by The Red Room Company, Red Room Poetry Object invites young writers and their teachers to submit poems about objects that are special to them.

Red Room Poetry Object is open to all AUSTRALIAN and NEW ZEALAND schools.

Entries close Friday 18 September, 2015.

For registration and submission guidelines: http://redroomcompany.org/projects/poetry-object/  

 

THE FRACTURED SELF: POETRY OF CHRONIC ILLNESS AND PAIN

The Fractured Self: Poetry of Chronic Illness and Pain will showcase up to three poems per poet on the subject, so that chronic illness and pain are seen as multi-faceted experiences not only among different sufferers / carers, but within the one body of a single sufferer / carer.

Entries close Saturday 30 October, 2015

For submission and entry guidelines: http://www.australianpoetry.org/competitions/call-out-for-the-fractured-self-poetry-of-chronic-illness-and-pain/ 

 

VINE LEAVES LITERARY JOUNRAL: OCTOBER ISSUE – POETRY

"Vignette" is a word that originally meant "something that may be written on a vine-leaf." It’s a snapshot in words. It differs from flash fiction or a short story in that its aim does not lie within the realms of traditional structure or plot. The vignette focuses on one element, mood, character, setting or object. It's descriptive, excellent for character or theme exploration and wordplay. Through a vignette, you create an atmosphere.

Entries close Monday 30 November, 2015.

For submission and entry guidelines: http://www.vineleavesliteraryjournal.com/submission-guidelines.html

 

OVERLAND JUDITH WRIGHT POETRY PRIZE FOR NEW AND EMERGING POETS

Poems must be unpublished (including online) and not under consideration by other publishers.The Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize was established in 2007, with support from the Malcolm Robertson Foundation, to foster poetry by writers who have not yet published a book of poems under their own name. It has subsequently grown to become the richest prize for emerging poets in Australia.

The competition will reopen on Monday 14 September, 2015.

For more details: https://overland.org.au/prizes/overland-judith-wright-poetry-prize-for-new-and-emerging-poets/

 

For sources and other writing competitions and calls for submission, please see:

Australian:

International:

 

Happy Writing!