Best of Australian Poems 2026
Publisher: Australian Poetry / Imprint, Puncher & Wattmann
Call-out: opens 23 June 2026. Closes: 14 July 2026, 11:59PM (AEST).
Best of Australian Poems is an annual anthology collecting previously published and unpublished poems to create a poetic snapshot and barometer of the year that was. Capturing the richness and diversity of Australian poetry across a timeframe of 1 July 2025–30 June 2026, the series (now in its sixth year) explores how poetic responses to the contemporary moment develop with each passing year. The Best of Australian Poems (BoAP) series is published by Australia’s national poetry organisation, Australian Poetry, with new guest editors each year.
Previous editors of this prestigious series have been Ellen van Neerven and Toby Fitch (2021); Jeanine Leane and Judith Beveridge (2022); Panda Wong and Gig Ryan (2023); and Kate Lilley and Shastra Deo (2024), Nam Le and Jill Jones (2025).
This year’s Guest Editor is Michael Farrell; highly respected poet, author, editor and scholar, within Australia and internationally. AP is thrilled to be working with Michael on this volume. The Guest Editor will also independently read as widely as possible work published in this time period by Australia’s broad field of poetry, including journals, magazines, individual collections and anthologies. The Guest Editor may also independently solicit work for consideration at their discretion.
Michael Farrell is a queer poet from Bombala, NSW, living in Melbourne since 1990. Previous book publications include: Googlecholia (poems), The Victoria Principle (stories), A Lyrebird (U.S. selected poems), Writing Australian Unsettlement (literary scholarship), and has edited an Australian tribute to John Ashbery, Ashbery Mode and coedited (with Jill Jones) Out of the Box: Contemporary Australian Gay and Lesbian Poets. I Love Poetry won the Queensland Literary Award in 2018. Cocky’s Joy was shortlisted for the Prime Minster’s Awards. Michael’s poems have won the Australian Book Review‘s Peter Porter Poetry Prize and the Venie Holmgren environmental poetry award. Recent scholarly writing includes chapters on 19th century poetry in The Cambridge Companion to Australian Poetry, and in The Cambridge History of Australian Poetry. Michael has edited the zines i hear sprinklers, Elves, Flash Cove, and The Chalamet Review, as well as features for Literatura (Slovenia), Blackbox Manifold (U.K.), slope (U.S.), Guncult (U.S.), cordite and rabbit, and is poetry editor of Westerly. As well as national and international publications and performances, Michael has had a number of creative residencies, including Perth, Canberra, Rome (Italy), Canterbury (UK), Nagoya (Japan), Jilin (China) and Ljubljana (Slovenia). Michael’s artwork has featured in Australian Poetry Journal, rabbit and Westerly.
SUBMISSIONS ARE NOW OPEN
Poems submitted for this anthology may be previously published or unpublished, but must have been written and/or first published or performed (performance being a form of publication) between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026. BoAP 2026 has a publication date of 1 November. You do not need to be an AP subscriber to submit to BoAP.
Submissions Open: Tuesday June 23 2026 – Tuesday 14 July 2026, 11:59PM (AEST).
Submission Form: >>Submissions via online Wufoo form here<<
OR LINK TO SUBMISSION FORM: https://apsubs.wufoo.com/forms/best-of-australian-poems-2026-callout/
Note: Some users may encounter an error message during submission. If this happens, try refreshing the page or switching browsers. Submissions are coming through successfully, but if you continue to experience issues, please contact associate@australianpoetry.org for assistance.
Information and enquiries
Submission/Wufoo Enquiries:
Jennifer Nguyen
Editorial Associate
Email: associate@australianpoetry.org
Other/Editorial Enquiries:
Melinda Bufton
CEO/Publisher
Email: ceo@australianpoetry.org
Formal Guidelines
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Australian poets, whether based in Australia or overseas, are invited to submit up to four poems of no more than ten pages.
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Poems will be submitted via an online Wufoo form found here. Please contact Editorial Associate Jennifer (associate@australianpoetry.org) if you are having trouble with this form.
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Poems can be both previously published or unpublished, but need to have been written and/or first published or performed between 1 July 2025 and 30 June 2026. If a work has been previously published or performed, the poet must include the publication details in their submission.
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Poems should be uploaded in both Word and PDF format.
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AP requires that submissions clearly acknowledge and cite the use/quotation of any work by another author.
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AP requires that submissions acknowledge the use of generativeAI in the production of the submitted work where applicable.
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Poets must also include a bio (third person, 50–100 words) and previously published publication details (month, year, link (if applicable) and contact details (email, phone, mailing address) in their submission.
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Poets are able to simultaneously submit to BoAP and other publications.
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Submissions sent outside the set reading date will not be read or considered.
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Each poem selected for publication will be paid $80.
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Successful submissions will be notified in September 2026.
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Guest Editor will also independently read as widely as possible work published in this time period by Australia’s poetry sector, including journals, magazines, individual collections and anthologies. They may also independently solicit work for consideration at their discretion.
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Subscribers do not receive a copy of BoAP as part of their subscription but will be offered a discount rate to purchase at the time of publication.
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Best of Australian Poems 2026 will be published on 1 November 2026.
Wufoo form, submission file naming convention:
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In a word document, submit up to four poems of no more than ten pages, titled ‘firstname_lastname_BOAP26′
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In a PDF document, submit up to four poems of no more than ten pages, titled ‘firstname_lastname_BOAP26’
To support the work of Australian Poetry, please consider subscribing or donating here: australianpoetry.org/subscribe