The 2027 Peter Porter Poetry Prize is now open, offering poets an exciting opportunity to share their work with one of Australia’s leading poetry awards. Run by Australian Book Review, the prize celebrates outstanding contemporary poetry and invites writers to submit a single poem for the chance to win a share of a $10,000 prize pool and gain recognition through one of Australia’s most respected literary publications.
From the ABR website:
Australian Book Review (ABR) is delighted to announce that entries to the 2027 Peter Porter Poetry Prize are now open. The prize will be judged by Mindy Gill, Nam Le, and Felicity Plunkett. The shortlisted poems will appear in the January-February 2027 issue. Now in its twenty-third year, the Porter Prize is one of Australia’s most lucrative and respected poetry awards. It honours the life and work of the great Australian poet Peter Porter (1929–2010), a contributor to ABR for many years.
Entries must be an original and unpublished single-authored poem of not more than 60 lines. The five shortlisted poems will be published in the January-February 2027 issue of ABR and the winner will be announced at a ceremony later that month.
Theme: Open
Word limit: Entries must be a single poem of no more than 60 lines
First prize: AU$6,000
Four other shortlisted poets: AU$1,000
Closes: 14 October 2026 (11:55 pm AEDT)
Entry costs AU$20 for current ABR subscribers or AU$30 for non-subscribers. Entrants who are not current ABR subscribers can choose to subscribe when submitting their poem.
Who can enter?
Entries are welcome from living poets anywhere in the world. But all poems must be written in English. There is no age limit.
Who was Peter Porter?
Peter Porter – born in Queensland and based in London for almost all his adult life – was one of Australia’s greatest poets. His vast body of poetry was gathered in two Collected Poems, and his poems appear in any serious anthology of Australian or British verse. They are well represented in Copyright Agency’s Australian Poetry Library. His most famous poetry collection is The Cost of Seriousness (1978). Porter edited several anthologies, including The Oxford Book of Modern Australian Verse (1996). He wrote thousands of reviews, essays, lectures, and introductions. His work appeared in Australian Book Review from 1985 to 2010. His fellow poet–critic Peter Steele, who wrote a monograph on Porter, published this tribute in ABR following Peter Porter’s death on 23 April 2010. ABR’s poetry prize was renamed in his honour following his death.
Ready to submit your work? Visit the ABR website to find out more and enter before the closing date.
