A thriving forest of poetry

A record number of poetic entries in this year's POEM FOREST competition will result in over 6400 seedlings planted.
Poetry POEM FOREST. image is three children with adult

From over 6400 entries, a shortlist of 84 poems by students and teachers from across Australia has just been announced in the POEM FOREST competition, a Red Room Poetry initiative in collaboration with Wollongong City Council, which plants a tree for every nature poem entered. Since its inception three years ago, more than 17,000 seedlings have been gingerly placed in the ground for the purview of future generations. A record number of poetic entries were in submitted in 2023, ensuring the planting of more than 6400 seedlings.

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Thuy On is the Reviews and Literary Editor of ArtsHub and an arts journalist, critic and poet who’s written for a range of publications including The Guardian, The Saturday Paper, Sydney Review of Books, The Australian, The Age/SMH and Australian Book Review. She was the Books Editor of The Big Issue for 8 years and a former Melbourne theatre critic correspondent for The Australian. She has three collections of poetry published by the University of Western Australian Press (UWAP): Turbulence (2020), Decadence (2022) and Essence (2025). Threads: @thuy_on123 Instagram: poemsbythuy