With Love, Red Room Poetry
This Valentine's, we asked the Red Room Poetry team all about love... and poetry, of course.
Valentine's Day is a celebration love in all its facets — romantic, platonic, fraternal.
To mark the occasion, we went behind the scenes with the Red Room team to talk about love, poetry, and everything in between. From sharing their favourite poems to reflecting on their own poetic practices, each team member has also selected a love poem from our vast contemporary poetry archive.
What makes a love poem timeless?
Rani: Truthfulness, exaggeration, pain. Brazilian poet Hilda Hilst’s ‘Ama-me’ (Love Me) is the perfect timeless love poem. I translated its closing stanza.:
“Love me. As I fade and beg. For lovers vertigoes
And requests are licit. And so great is my hunger
So forceful my song, so fiery my weave
That the whole world, my love, shall sing with me.”
Izzy: The same as any poem, one that rewards a return read — that opens up to you with new and different meanings as you grow and change over the course of years.
Luke: What makes me blush, my heart race and my butterflies flutter? A timeless love poem takes the breath away and reads like flowing water.
Jonty: It takes you inside the mystery while preserving the mystery. Tough gig.
Claire: Until we completely lose the capacity for love (I hope that never happens), any love poem that gives me goosebumps is likely to be timeless.
David: If it keeps returning to you, even if you're not fully aware it's there, then lines can evade the constraint of time.
Bec: A timeless love poem resonates deeply and differently every time I come back to it — even with a gap of years, or decades
Nicole: Sincerity. You can feel it in your bones and it cuts through any barriers.
Annie: Love, for the most part, is complex and intangible. It’s the ability to explain the inexpressible — that’s what makes a love poem timeless to me.
What's the first love poem you ever connected with, and why?
Rani: Not a poem, but a children’s tale by Oscar Wilde called 'The Selfish Giant'. As a young child, this is how I first learned about love.
“Who hath dared to wound thee?” cried the Giant; “tell me that I may take my big sword and slay him.”
“Nay!” answered the child, “but these are the wounds of Love.”
Izzy: As a bub, my parents played me the BBC Welsh cast recording of Dylan Thomas' 'Under Milk Wood' to get to sleep. It felt like a love letter to small towns, and to language, and it's still one of my favourite works of art. At the end of high school, studying John Donne and finding 'The Sun Rising' and then being introduced to Dorothy Porter were game changers for me, and made me determined to become a poet.
Luke: Some years ago a housemate studying theatre needed help reading lines. I’m unsure if Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night Act 1, Scene V is a love poem but it awoke something in me. I played Viola (dressed in drag) and my housemate as Olivia, Lady of the House. The banter, the barbs, the flirtations and flattering! Shakespeare crafts a tension, an edge-of-love so delicious that I enrolled in a poetry course the following semester. Excerpt:
VIOLA
If I did love you in my master’s flame,
With such a suff’ring, such a deadly life,
In your denial I would find no sense.
I would not understand it.
OLIVIA
Why, what would you?
VIOLA
Make me a willow cabin at your gate
And call upon my soul within the house,
Write loyal cantons of contemnèd love
And sing them loud even in the dead of night,
Hallow your name to the reverberate hills
And make the babbling gossip of the air
Cry out “Olivia!” O, you should not rest
Between the elements of air and earth
But you should pity me.
Jonty: EE Cummings’ 'somewhere I have never travelled, gladly beyond' (or, at least, Barbara Hershey reading it while Michael Caine, in big glasses, wanders moodily through his NY apartment)
Claire: I'm not sure — I had this lovely golden hardcover book of collected poetry (Collected from where? By whom? I don't know) which I used to read and re-read over years. I'm sure there was a love poem in there somewhere, but I got my loving feelings from song lyrics for a long time. 'Dos Gardenias', performed by the Buena Vista Social Club, was a high school crush lament.
David: 'True Colours' by Cyndi Lauper and 'Waiting' by Yevgeny Yevtushenko.
Bec: 'The Owl and the Pussy-cat'. It's a romantic tale of elopement in a pea-green boat, and a destination wedding on the edge of the sand.
Nicole: You know, I can't remember. My father used to read 'The Glugs of Glosh' by C.J. Denis to me when I was young. I had no idea what most of it was about, but it felt like love poetry. The fantasy, the language, the rhythms and the time spent with my dad enjoying each others' company.
Annie: It’s strange I can’t remember the first love poem I connected with. Probably something by Audre Lorde. Hers was the first collection of poetry I bought for myself. Before poetry it was music. Patti Smith, Lou Reed, the like. Before music it was my mum. She would read to me — everything from books to the morning paper. It didn’t matter what she read, really. It all felt like love poetry to me.
If you could write a love poem to one thing, what would it be?
Rani: In my practice, love has always been the central theme — the only thing that matters. If you read my poems, you’ll soon realise that I am not writing about being in love with someone, but rather about my lifelong passion and obsession with being in love with love.
Izzy: The first original poem I wrote was about my childhood dog — and I haven't changed much, because I'm still trying to write about my dog!
Luke: All my poems are love letters to Country in one way or another.
Jonty: My collection of jazz vinyl.
Claire: I guess my gratitude journal is just a lot of one-line love poems to things. I don't use it often enough, but one from last year was giving gratitude for a 'Lash lift, guuurl'.
David: My dog.
Bec: The Milky Way.
Nicole: Most of my poems are really love poems to ancestry, Culture and Country.
Annie: The first rays of sun in our garden at 6 o’clock.
What is your favourite love poem of all time?
Rani: For this impossible task, I'd choose 'All the Love Letters are Ridiculous' by Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. Here is a short excerpt:
All the love letters are
Ridiculous.
They wouldn't be love letters if they were not
Ridiculous.
In my time I also wrote love letters
Equally, inevitably
Ridiculous
Izzy: 'Summer Solstice' by Stacie Cassarino.
Luke: Every poem in Nganamay Mana Djurali: First Nations LGBTQI+ Poetry.
Jonty: Ewan MacColl’s lyrics for 'The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face'.
Claire: I don't know what this says about me, but I think it is honestly Jorie Graham's 'Salmon'. Because what are we, really, but 'two gold currents / wrapping round and round each other, fastening, / unfastening'?
David: Today it is 'The Ride' by Joan as Police Woman and 'The Embrace' by Mark Doty.
Bec: 'Lullaby' by Auden.
Nicole: One written for me by someone I hold dear.
Annie: Probably Frank O’Hara’s ‘Having a Coke With You’. That something as mundane, near trivial, as sharing company (or a coke) with a loved one is more intimate and more lovely than art or travel... or even poetry. That’s what I love about O’Hara’s poem. That the everyday thrill of being in love is greater than any other thing you could possibly imagine.
What is your favourite love poem in The Red Room archive?
Rani: Red Room’s archive is a vast, magical place where one can get lost for days. Recently I read 'Silk', by Mohammad Awad, and it stayed with me a while.
Izzy: 'so too the sunrise' by Jazz Money and 'A Kind of Paradise' by Mindy Gill.
Luke: 'Our Responsibility' by Kerry Bulloojeeno Archibald Moran.
Jonty: 'I fell' by Heather Mitchell.
Claire: I've still got so much reading to do in there, but I am very drawn to 'love song & maroochy river' by Sam Quyên Huỳnh.
David: There are many, including commissions I've closely worked with, but it's hard to go past 'Things to do (Heart)' by the late/great Jordie Albiston. It's a love poem to life and its possibilities.
Bec: 'An Evening Melody', Tenzin Choegyal. It captures that time of day when our family is back home together.
Nicole: 'Baladjarang' by Ado Webster. A love poem to Country, ancestry, language and our connectedness.
Annie: ‘Reading Between My Lines’ by the late Dorothy Porter.
We hope you enjoy our full curated love poem list below — made with love, for you. Explore even more love poems from our archives by clicking here. Happy Valentine's Day!
Meet the Team
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Rani Ghazzaoui
Marketing & Communications ManagerRani Ghazzaoui is a writer, communicator, actor, and poet.
A notorious internet writer in the 2000s, Ghazzaoui writes poetry, prose, fiction and auto-fiction in Portuguese and English. Her essays and poems have been published in the Brazilian anthology Posfácios (Hecatombe Publishing House) and numerous literary digital publications, such as Ruído Manifesto, Diversos Afins and Red Room Poetry. Selected poems also integrate the literature high school curriculum of several Brazilian schools. Her debut book, an anthology of essays and poems entitled Aorta, was published in Brazil by Lyra das Artes in 2022 and in English, as an e-book, in 2023.
With a Bachelor of Arts in Communications from Casper Libero University, a Diploma in Business and Management from Australian Pacific College, and a Certificate in Acting Techniques from NIDA, Rani has a twenty-year-long career in the Communications field — she has worked in Advertising, Broadcast, Digital Media, AI-based Ad-Tech, Design and Innovation.
In 2024, Rani joined Red Room Poetry delighted to combine her passion for poems with her desire to promote social inclusion through the art of words.
(Image: Kathy Luu)
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Izzy Roberts-Orr
Creative ProducerIzzy Roberts-Orr is a poet, writer, broadcaster and arts worker based on Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Country. Izzy is Creative Producer for Red Room Poetry and a 2020-2022 recipient of the Australia Council Marten Bequest Scholarship for Poetry.
Her debut poetry collection Raw Salt (2024) is published by Vagabond Press, and was the recipient of a Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellowship, and longlisted for the Colorado Prize for Poetry.
Formerly Artistic Director and Co-CEO of the Emerging and Digital Writers’ Festivals, and a Co-Director of the National Young Writers’ Festival, Izzy has also worked with local artists in the Western suburbs of Narrm Melbourne advocated for artists on the Collingwood Yard Board and Moreland Arts Advisory Committee and as a Co-Director of Broadwave podcasting network. She regularly consults on advisory and funding panels as an industry expert.
(Headshot credit: Leah Jing)
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Luke Patterson
Program Support Officer - First NationsLuke Patterson is a Gamilaroi poet, educator and musician living on Gadigal lands. His poetry has appeared in Cordite, Plumwood Mountain, Rabbit, Running Dog and The Suburban Review. You will also find his work in anthologies including NANGAMAY dream MANA gather DJURALI grow as well as Best of Australian Poems 2023. Luke’s research and creative pursuits are grounded in extensive work with First Nations and other community-based organisations across Australia.
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Jonty Claypole MBE
CEOJonty Claypole MBE is a writer, documentary producer and arts administrator living and working on Gadigal land. Born in Sydney, and raised in London, he worked for twenty years in media and the arts in the UK. He produced and directed dozens of arts documentaries, before becoming Director of Arts at the BBC (from 2014-21), where he commissioned landmark series like Civilisations, many films about and by poets, and started the Contains Strong Language poetry festival. He was Chair of HOME, Manchester, one of the UK’s best-loved arts centres and sat on the advisory committees of the Booker Prizeand Art UK.
In 2021, Jonty was awarded an MBE for services to UK culture and published his first book – Words Fail Us: In Defence of Dysfluency (Wellcome Collection/Profile) – to critical acclaim. It is a cultural history of speech disorders, and their role in neurodiverse thinking, drawing on his long experience of stuttering.
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Claire Albrecht
Operations ManagerClaire Albrecht is an award-winning poet and editor based on Wiradjuri Country, Australia. She was the 2019 Emerging Writers Festival fellow at the State Library of Victoria, a 2020 Varuna ‘Writing Fire, Writing Drought’ fellow, and a resident at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, New Mexico in 2022. Her work investigates anxiety and the connections between poetry and photography. Claire’s manuscript sediment was shortlisted for the 2018 Subbed In chapbook prize, and her debut chapbook pinky swear launched in 2018. Her most recent book handshake was shortlisted for the Puncher & Wattmann First Poetry Book Prize. Claire is Editor-in-Chief of The Suburban Review and Manager of Australian Literary Studies.
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David Stavanger
Artistic DirectorDavid Stavanger is poet, performer, cultural producer, editor and former psychologist living on Dharawal land. His first full-length poetry collection, The Special (UQP, 2014), was awarded several prizes. David is the co-editor of Solid Air: Collected Australian & New Zealand Spoken Word (UQP, 2019) and Admissions: Voices Within Mental Health (Upswell, 2022.) His latest collection, Case Notes (UWAP, 2020), won the 2021 Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for Poetry.
David was previously the co-director of QLD Poetry Festival and part of the Programming Team at Woodford Folk Festival. He is also known for his work with several community writing projects that amplify marginalised voices and lived experience writers including Brotherhood of the Wordless (writers with autism precluded from speech) and as the producer of MAD Poetry (writers with lived mental health experience.)
Reflection
"Sometimes the poet is not there when you are there" – Youth Unlocked – David Stavanger
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Rebecca Cuschieri
Development DirectorRebecca’s fundraising career began in the early days of Bell Shakespeare, working with the small team to support the company’s first performances around Australia.
Since then she has worked in senior development and marketing roles with many of Australia’s best-loved performing Arts organisations, including Sydney Theatre Company, Opera Australia and Sydney Opera House. She was also Chairman of Australian Theatre of the Deaf.
She comes to Red Room with a reader’s passion for poetry, and a real excitement to be part of the work that Red Room does to make poetry in meaningful ways.
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Nicole Smede
Artistic Director - First NationsNicole Smede is a multidisciplinary artist of Worimi and European descent, living and creating on Dharawal Country. A classically trained Mezzo Soprano, she ran away from classical music early on to pursue wider artistic interests. Her voice can be heard on award winning films and soundtracks, and her poetry can be found in exhibitions, visual and sound pieces, anthologies and journals including Australian Poetry Journal, Mascara Literary Review, Never Heard of Them (2019, Baby Teeth Journal), Guwayu: for all times (2020, Magabala Books), What we Carry (2021, Recent Work Press), 20x20x12 Sensing Place (2021, Manta Publishing), Mantle (2022, SCWC), The Anabranch (2022, HWC), and Shoot the Breeze (2022, Girls on Key).
In 2020, Nicole was the co-recipient of the 2020 Shoalhaven Arts Board Grant for poetry and painting collaboration 20x20x12 Sensing Place (2021, Manta Publishing), a finalist in the Meroogal Women's Art Prize and shortlisted for the 2020 Red Room Poetry Fellowship. In 2022, Nicole was a recipient of the inaugural Space to Create residency through Australia Council, Yil Lull Studio and ANU, a finalist in the Newcastle Poetry Prize and soundtrack composer for play Mt Hopeless (Merrigong Theatre).
Nicole has extensive experience as a cultural producer across multiple artforms including film, music, performance and visual art and is a passionate advocate for arts education and the revitalisation of First Languages. Nicole is a judge for the Reconciliation NSW Schools Reconciliation Challenge (since 2019) and she has worked with and facilitated workshops for The NSW Department of Education, The Song Company, Red Room, Bundanon Trust, Wollongong City Council, South Coast Writers Centre, Reiby Juvenile Justice Centre and schools across the NSW East Coast.
Working closely with Elders and community, Nicole is currently the vocal coach for South Coast Yuin women’s choir Mudjingaal Yangumba, who weave language into original songs and storytelling.
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Annie Yoshida
Marketing and Communications CoordinatorAnnie Yoshida is a writer who lives and works on Nipaluna and Gadigal land. In 2021, she completed an Honours Degree in English Literature Degree at the University of Tasmania. Currently, Annie is undergoing a Master of Media Practice at the University of Sydney. Having worked as an organiser for the Asian Australian Alliance, she is passionate about bringing awareness to issues faced by Asians and Asian Australians in Australia.
