2025 Winners

Announcing the winning poems

After reading thousands of nature poems spanning a cosy fireplace, frolicking in the wind, and the unseen world of a lone ant, we feel honoured to announce the 2025 Poem Forest Prize Winners.

Selected from almost 4,000 nature poems written by students and teachers across the continent, these 20 winning and highly commended works burst with creativity and care, from the finest detail in the present to imaginings of deep time.

Congratulations to our winning poets and all who entered the prize. Every poem has helped to plant native seedlings in schoolyards, parks, along local streets and in Tiny Forests on Dharawal and Wodi Wodi Country in the Wollongong LGA, which has some of the lowest canopy cover in all of NSW. These trees will improve climate resilience, provide habitats for native flora and fauna, and create a better future for all.

Judges' Report

The 2025 Poem Forest prize winners were carefully selected by our wonderful judges:

• Aboriginal scholar and Author Tyson Yunkaporta
• Arrente, Jamaican, Irish and Scottish songstress, poet and producer Aurora Liddle-Christie (aka SOLCHLD)
• Children’s author and 2024 Poem Forest Accredited Teacher Prize Winner Blake Nuto

Judge Blake Nuto reflects, “Rich truths, bleak vistas, innocence, guilt, memory and tenderness. This collection of poems is powerful and showcases the bright future of Australia’s young poets.”

Winning Poems

Lower Primary (F/K-Y3)

Winner
The Patient Thread by Charlie G, year 3 at Wollongong Public School, NSW

Highly Commended
Way Under by Savannah T, year 3 at Mentone Grammar School, VIC

Upper Primary (Y4-Y6)

Winner
What the eye forgot by Shenzin B, year 6 at Casula Public School, NSW

Highly Commended
Coveted Country by Zoe M, year 6 at St John's Primary School, NSW

Primary First Nations

Winner
Biliirr by Adon P, year 5 at Stanwell Park Public School, NSW

Highly Commended
Creek by Layla R, year 6, Calrossy Anglican College - William Cowper Campus, NSW

Primary CALD

Winner
Lutruwita Dreaming by Charlotte T, Year 5 at Abbotsleigh Junior School, NSW

Highly Commended
The Patient Thread by Charlie G, year 3 at Wollongong Public School, NSW

Lower Secondary (Y7-Y9)

Winner
If a Tree Falls by Chelsie Y, year 8, Abottsleigh, NSW

Highly Commended

Ard by Zahra L, year 8, Danebank School, NSW

Upper Secondary (Y10-Y12)

Winner
There's a bump in the road by Artemis N, year 10, Burwood Girls, NSW

Highly Commended

There's a body in the woods (a likely place for one to be) by Dhaksha H, year 10, Girraween High School, NSW

Secondary First Nations

Winner
Where the Urdlu Burns by Duke B, year 7, St Catherine's Catholic College, NSW

Highly Commended

Sunlit Shores by Scarlett M, year 7, St Columba Anglican School, NSW

Secondary CALD

Winner
There's a body in the woods (a likely place for one to be) by Dhaksha H, year 10 at Girraween High School, NSW

Highly Commended
If a Tree Falls by Chelsie Y, year 8 at Abbotsleigh School, NSW

Accredited Teacher

Winner
Wisdom by Siân L, teacher at St Scholastica's College, NSW

Highly Commended
Touchstone by Anita L, teacher at Mckinnon Primary School, VIC

Wollongong Community Greening Local Prize (F–12)

Winner
The Patient Thread by Charlie G, year 3 at Wollongong Public School, NSW

Highly Commended
Torment in Grief by Isabella C, year 6 at Mount Ousley Public School, NSW

Poem Forest would not have been possible without the support of our generous donors and partners.