Daily poetry commissions
Every day across Poetry Month, 30in30 delivers new original poetry, reflections and writing prompts from some of the country’s leading poets, authors, and spoken word artists.
30in30 provides a snapshot of some of the best of contemporary Australian poetry, with commissioned work by writers of all stripes from across the continent.
Featuring original commissions by our 2025 Poetry Ambassadors, Red Room Poetry Fellows and contemporary poets working at the finest. Stay tuned for new commissions from poets including award-winning poet Evelyn Araluen, winner of the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry 2024 Amy Crutchfield, award-winning poet David Brooks, author and poet Winnie Dunn, Yuwaalaraay storyteller and one half of Stiff Gins Nardi Simpson, poet and teacher Claire Gaskin, Aboriginal scholar Tyson Yunkaporta, for Baraya Barray, prize-winning writer and critic Beejay Silcox, winner of the 2024 Victorian Prize for Literature Grace Yee, award-winning poet, weaver and artist Tais Rose Wae, memoirist, poet and street photographer David Ishaya Osu, poet, academic and critic Mindy Gill, award-winning poet and educator Eunice Andrada, comedian and actor Justin Heazlewood, award-winning first nations musician Eric Avery, for Baraya Barray, current APS Slam Champion Jo Giles.
Supported by
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Underwater in the Taxi Club
By Julia BairdUnderwater the sun lines wobble,
fence wire between night and day,
shifting columns of light.
Clouds of yellowtail moving -
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Makinti, Me
By Nardi SimpsonI went to see you, eager to sit amongst your hair string tassels swaying pink and soft, orange waving at me from bones waiting to spread into hips.
I hoped you’d remember, I readied for the warmth glowing from your ochre powered glow, igniting knowledge in danced steps, flicking up the dust.
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Climatology
By Luke Davies“… cell by cell the coral reef
Builds an eternity of grief.”
Alun Lewis, “Song (on seeing dead bodies floating off the Cape)”
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Silhouettes of a Revolution
By Nyaluak LethThey’re here to hijack the Revolution;
their god as their witness.
They can’t help but mistake our evolution
as a sign of resistance. -
Counting Sheep
By David BrooksI count to try to get myself to sleep
the numbers backward from one hundred
as someone told me was the way, with sheep
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Snow
By Grace Yeein this charming quarter, someone always loses a shoe (a sneaker, a
croc, a gladiator sandal)
on the last day of summer you waited for me by the green -
13 Ways To Drink Chocolate Milk
By Justin Heazlewood1
The word Lisa is etched into a tree
and I feel ill.
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Grind
By DOBBYThey’re bout to set me off, you better not get involved
Trynna keep me silent, it’s high time that I talk
Hide behind smiles while thunder storms in my thoughts
The images of evil I never seen it before
Featured Poets
#30in30 Writing Competition
30 chances to win a daily book prize with 3 lines!
Running 1-31 August, we'll be releasing a new daily writing prompt created by one of our 30in30 commissioned artists. To view the daily prompt, follow us on Instagram or Facebook.
Winners will be announced daily and each will receive a poetry collection from this year's #30in30 project partner, Dymocks, plus three lucky poets from across the month will be selected for paid publication.
