Our Vision

Poetry helps people live better, as art does; it brings meaning and insight to the spectrum of life’s experiences, as art does.

Australian Poetry (AP) is the peak national body for poetry in Australia. AP exists to support the full breadth of poetry produced in this country. Our role is to represent Australian poetry and its poets, nationally and internationally. Australian poetry is diverse and rich – both in its contemporary manifestations and its heritage. Our mission is to showcase and celebrate this. AP undertakes this mission with ethical integrity and a commitment to cultural safety of all kinds. A deep respect for First Nations Cultural Protocols underpins all that we do in our publishing, commissioning and presenting of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander poetry. This has been central to AP’s ongoing engagement with the oldest continuous poetic tradition in the world.

AP undertakes 3 core activities to further this vision:

  • AP showcases the best in Australian Poetry
  • AP showcase the breadth and diversity of stories told by Australian poets
  • AP connects Australians with the stories, places, and feelings embodied in Australian poetry.

 

 

AUSTRALIAN POETRY PUBLISHER NOTE

It is AP’s policy as publisher across all our publications to remain independent from the selection of poems and editorial commentary made by our guest editors, whose autonomy and curatorial independence we fiercely respect. First Nations Cultural Protocols are also strictly followed, as directed by AP’s First Nations Cultural Protocols Director, Yvette Henry Holt. Separately to this, any use of another person’s work by contributors is expected to be acknowledged in notes, and the responsibility for this, along with biographies supplied, remains with the poets. We also respect spelling and grammatical variations of poets.

New guest editors are appointed for each APJ and indeed all publications, and the themes of publications are finalised and commissioned 12-18 months ahead of each, as required by funding timelines. AP takes its responsibilities to provide methods of excellence and support, and assiduous editorial production processes extremely seriously with very high, proven skill-sets among those who work on our projects; this includes offering our duty of care to guest editors, other editors, all contributors, editorial, design and production associates, readers and audiences, and staff. Poetry is a language for life, a trued and compassionate, also exploratory and experimental, language of essence, which has provided meaning for all communities across millennia.