Terms and Conditions

You are an Australian citizen or have a permanent residency visa
Poets must be over 18 years of age to apply for this opportunity.
You must be a poet previously commissioned or programmed by Red Room Poetry to apply for the Red Room Poetry Fellowship, unless you are applying for the Emerging Poets Residency.
Works submitted must be your own original work.
Preparedness to record, publish and speak publicly about your poetry and creative process.
Availability to attend a one-week residency at Varuna in 2025 (Monday 25 August to Monday 1 September 2025), or complete this residency remotely if you are applying for the Anywhere Remote Residency, and understand these dates are non-transferable

For more detailed information about eligibility, please see the FAQs.

Frequently Asked Questions

$1000 stipend each
A one-week residency at Varuna, with all meals and accommodation provided (Monday 25 August to Monday 1 September 2025)
A one-on-one one site mentoring consultation and group workshopping session
A public reading opportunity as part of Poetry Month 2025
Online publication of a poem as part of Poetry Month 2025 (additional fee for this)

Anywhere Remote Residency

One residency is offered to be undertaken remotely, during the same week (Monday 25 August to Monday 1 September 2025). This Fellow will receive:

Applications are open exclusively to poets previously commissioned or programmed in a paid capacity by Red Room Poetry, unless applying for the Emerging Poets Residency. Poets must indicate the project(s) for which they were engaged.
Entries must address entire criteria in the application form (see Selection Criteria below).
Multiple entries are not permitted.
Poems submitted must be original works written by an individual author.
Poems submitted must not infringe upon anyone’s copyright.
Poems that are deemed to be works of plagiarism will be disqualified.
Applications previously entered in past Red Room Poetry Fellowships may not be re-entered.
Visual poems must be accompanied by a 300-word exegesis.
Audio poems (up to 3 minutes) can be submitted as well if the poet’s preferred medium
Entries open 9am, Tuesday 3 December 2024 (AEDT)
Entries close 5pm, 5pm Tuesday 4 February 2025 (AEDT)
Feedback for unsuccessful entries will not be provided.
Copyright of all poem(s) remains with the poet.

Selection criteria

Impact - Show potential for this grant to benefit your creative development and advance the proposed poetic project you intend to work on as part of the residency
Project Merit - The creative concepts, processes and work submitted show a high degree of originality and contribute to the wider culture of contemporary poetry in Australia

Please complete the online application form via Varuna's website here including:

Project description (500 characters)
How will this opportunity benefit your creative development?* (1000 characters)
Three recent poems (3 pages max) or an audio poem/s (3 mins max)
Hi-res Artist Headshot and 50-word Biography (to be used on our digital channels only if you are one of the selected Fellows)

Ready to get started? Complete the online application form here.

Questions about your application? Contact us via fellowship@redroompoetry.org

Apply now