Red Room Poetry: Line Break

A full house gathered at the Sydney Writers’ Festival for Baraya Barray – Whale Song , a breathtaking evening of story, song, and poetry.  This panel discussion led by First Nations artists and cultural leaders uncovers how poetry can celebrate cultural ways of sharing story and encourages us to listen more deeply to the wisdom of Country.  Musician and composer Eric Avery se...

Shaine Melrose reads their poem ‘Bees of the Antipodes’ commissioned as part of the 2025 Red Room Poetry Fellowship. Find out more and apply for the 2026 Red Room Poetry Fellowship here . Shaine Melrose is a queer writer/poet, retired gardener, living with chronic illness on Kaurna Yerta, in the Adelaide Hills. Shaine's poetry has been widely published and recently her debut collection...

Xiaole Zhan (詹小乐) reads their poem ‘Dragon Fruit’ commissioned as part of the 2025 Red Room Poetry Fellowship.  Find out more and apply for the 2026 Red Room Poetry Fellowship here . Xiaole is a Chinese-Aotearoa writer and composer based in Naarm. They are the 2024 Kat Muscat Fellow, and the winner of the 2023 Kill Your Darlings Non-Fiction Prize. Applications for the 2026 Red...

Dženana Vucic reads her poem ‘There are Rivers Underneath the Sea’ commissioned as part of the 2025 Red Room Poetry Fellowship.  Find out more and apply for the 2026 Red Room Poetry Fellowship here . Dženana is a Bosnian-Australian writer - her essays and poetry have been published widely, and she is working on a poetry collection and an autotheoretical novel. Her poetry collectio...

Kaitlen Wellington reads her poem ‘Born to Fight’ commissioned as part of the 2025 Red Room Poetry Fellowship.  Find out more and apply for the 2026 Red Room Poetry Fellowship here . Kaitlen Wellington is a Yuin woman who is an emerging writer, with poems published in the Australian Poetry Journal and Guwayu-For All Times . Applications for the 2026 Red Room Poetry Fellowship open...

Madison Godfrey reads their poem ‘Vroom Vroom Plays In The Background’ commissioned as part of the 2025 Red Room Poetry Fellowship.  Find out more and apply for the 2026 Red Room Poetry Fellowship here . Madison is a writer, editor, educator and the author of Dress Rehearsals (Allen & Unwin: JOAN, 2023). Applications for the 2026 Red Room Poetry Fellowship open 9am, Tuesday 2...

Nam Le reads his poem ‘Richmond’ commissioned as part of the 2025 Red Room Poetry Fellowship program. Find out more and apply for the 2026 Red Room Poetry Fellowship here . Nam’s work encompasses fiction, non-fiction, poetry and screen and has been translated into over fourteen languages. Receiving major awards in America, Europe and Australia. His work has appeared in modern cla...

Every day across Poetry Month in August, 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 - and in this episode, we’ve pulled together a selection of this year’s commissioned works for your listening pleasure. Find out mo...

What do art and sport have in common, and how do you feed your creativity? Brendan Cowell is an award-winning writer, actor and director for television, theatre and film. He is currently in production on a six-part adaptation of his novel Plum with ABC and Screen Australia, starring Asher Keddie. Red Room Poetry Creative Producer and Line Break host Izzy Roberts-Orr spoke with Brendan about his po...

What does poetry mean to you? And what if you could put a book on shuffle? Nam Le ’s work encompasses fiction, non-fiction, poetry and screen. His debut poetry collection 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem was published in March 2024 in Australia, the U.S. and U.K. Red Room Poetry Creative Producer and Line Break host Izzy Roberts-Orr spoke with Nam about breaking the form of the book apart, poe...

What can poetry do to change the world? Earlier this year, we met up with poet and artist Jazz Money in a half-renovated room at Carriageworks during the Sydney Writers’ Festival. Scooched into the corner sitting cross-legged on the floor, Red Room Poetry Creative Producer Izzy Roberts-Orr spoke with Jazz about the radical potential of poetry, Sara M Saleh’s brilliant poem, ‘ Border control: media...

Yirga is a writer, researcher and poet from Lalibela, Ethiopia. He currently lives in Whadjuk Noongar Boodja (Perth, Western Australia), where he is a Senior Lecturer at the Centre for Human Rights Education, Curtin University. His Amharic poetry was published in a solo collection, የተራሮች ጩኸት (The Cry of Mountains), and has been performed widely on stage and radio in Ethiopia. His English short sto...

Lulu Houdini is a proud Gamilaraay/Gomeroi woman, writer, artsworker, nurse and birth worker. She creates and explores around connections with poetry of land, sea, sky, story. The main themes she explores are texture, Country, identity, traditional language, kweer nature, sensuality, love and finding our way back home to the guniimara, the mother's hands. She currently lives on and cares for Kabi...

Today's #30in30 poet is freelance writer and author of Martu descent Karen Wyld! Karen has recently authored the books Where the Fruit Falls (UWA Publishing) and Heroes, Rebels and Innovators: Inspiring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from history (Hachette Australia Books ). She lives by the sea on Kaurna Yarta in South Australia. Poetry Month (1–31 August) is an initiative presented...

Poetry Month (1–31 August) is an initiative presented by Red Room Poetry to increase the profile of Australian poetry in all of its forms. Every day across Poetry Month, 30in30 delivers new original poetry, reflections and writing prompts from some of the country’s leading poets, public figures, and spoken word artists. https://redroompoetry.org/projects/poetry-month/ Read the full poem here: http...

“Poetry is about freedom and it's survival. Poetry for me was lifesaving.” ~ Mohammad Awad MAD Poetry Producer, and Poetry Month Senior Producer David Stavanger draws out selected poems from the MAD Poetry archives in this episode, plus a range of selected poems previously commissioned as part of Poetry Month #30in30. If a poem was a room you could walk into, whose voices might you hear? Red Room...

Poetry Month (1–31 August) is an initiative presented by Red Room Poetry to increase the profile of Australian poetry in all of its forms. Every day across Poetry Month, 30in30 delivers new original poetry, reflections and writing prompts from some of the country’s leading poets, public figures, and spoken word artists. https://redroompoetry.org/projects/poetry-month/ Read the full poem here: http...

Poetry Month (1–31 August) is an initiative presented by Red Room Poetry to increase the profile of Australian poetry in all of its forms. Every day across Poetry Month, 30in30 delivers new original poetry, reflections and writing prompts from some of the country’s leading poets, public figures, and spoken word artists. https://redroompoetry.org/projects/poetry-month/ Read the full poem here: http...

Poetry Month (1–31 August) is an initiative presented by Red Room Poetry to increase the profile of Australian poetry in all of its forms. Every day across Poetry Month, 30in30 delivers new original poetry, reflections and writing prompts from some of the country’s leading poets, public figures, and spoken word artists. https://redroompoetry.org/projects/poetry-month/ Read the full poem here: http...

Poetry Month (1–31 August) is an initiative presented by Red Room Poetry to increase the profile of Australian poetry in all of its forms. Every day across Poetry Month, 30in30 delivers new original poetry, reflections and writing prompts from some of the country’s leading poets, public figures, and spoken word artists. https://redroompoetry.org/projects/poetry-month/ Read the full poem here: http...

Poetry Month (1–31 August) is an initiative presented by Red Room Poetry to increase the profile of Australian poetry in all of its forms. Every day across Poetry Month, 30in30 delivers new original poetry, reflections and writing prompts from some of the country’s leading poets, public figures, and spoken word artists. https://redroompoetry.org/projects/poetry-month/ Read the full poem here: http...

Poetry Month (1–31 August) is an initiative presented by Red Room Poetry to increase the profile of Australian poetry in all of its forms. Every day across Poetry Month, 30in30 delivers new original poetry, reflections and writing prompts from some of the country’s leading poets, public figures, and spoken word artists. https://redroompoetry.org/projects/poetry-month/ Read the full poem here: http...

Poetry Month (1–31 August) is an initiative presented by Red Room Poetry to increase the profile of Australian poetry in all of its forms. Every day across Poetry Month, 30in30 delivers new original poetry, reflections and writing prompts from some of the country’s leading poets, public figures, and spoken word artists. https://redroompoetry.org/projects/poetry-month/ Read the full poem here: http...

Poetry Month (1–31 August) is an initiative presented by Red Room Poetry to increase the profile of Australian poetry in all of its forms. Every day across Poetry Month, 30in30 delivers new original poetry, reflections and writing prompts from some of the country’s leading poets, public figures, and spoken word artists. https://redroompoetry.org/projects/poetry-month/ Read the full poem here: http...

Poetry Month (1–31 August) is an initiative presented by Red Room Poetry to increase the profile of Australian poetry in all of its forms. Every day across Poetry Month, 30in30 delivers new original poetry, reflections and writing prompts from some of the country’s leading poets, public figures, and spoken word artists. https://redroompoetry.org/projects/poetry-month/ Read the full poem here: http...