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Robert Gray Prize 2026: Shortlist Announced
Congratulations to the authors of the shortlisted poems for the Robert Gray Prize for Poetry 2026, selected from well over 400 high-quality entries. All of these poems will appear in our forthcoming anthology, Oystercatcher Three. Native Call Andre Liyanage-Denney On First Hearing Westlake's "Wooden Ships" Barbara Baker Where Song Began Brett R Dionysius Em-dash Brigitte Ross Destination Carmel Macdonald Grahame Seeing Ahead Carmel Macdonald Grahame Autumn Fall Craig Billing
4 days ago
Fasten Your Seatbelt!
We are pleased to announce publication of the latest in our Shorts series, Maree Reedman's Clear-air Turbulence. This short book is a treat for anyone who enjoys poetry that says what it means and says it well. Don't expect gnomic utterances or fancy technical acrobatics. Do expect to laugh, to cry and to be astonished. Maree Reedman's debut collection is truly poetry for everyone--her highly crafted poems do not make a display of her craft, but deploy it quietly and modestly
5 days ago
Call for Submissions Now Open
We are delighted to announce that we are now inviting submissions from poets interested in being part of the 5Islands Press 2027–28 publication program. We will be accepting submissions until 11 October 2026. As always, we’re looking for well-crafted poems that have something insightful to say, and that say it in a way that will move the hearts and minds of intelligent and attentive readers. Please send us a sample of the ten pages from your manuscript that you are happies
Sep 6
A Gray Day Out
By a very happy coincidence, Australian Book Review chose to publish Mark Tredinnick's excellent essay on Robert Gray in the same week as 5 Islands Press opened submissions the 2026 Robert Gray Prize for poetry. Mark, as some of you will know, knew Robert Gray well, and was a great admirer and promoter of his work. Last year, he conceived, coordinated and edited Bright Crockery Days —a festschrift in Gray's honour. Twenty-four literary luminaries each contributed an essay on
The Ease of Eggs: Nourishment for the Soul
This week, we celebrate the arrival of Benjamin Dodd's third poetry collection, The Ease of Eggs . The world Dodds witnesses and recalls in these tidy, playful lyric poems has a dignity and courtesy and unexpected kindness. And what a various, surprising and surprisingly tender world it is. As Carol Jenkins has written: "This book ... is a cabinet of the eclectic: school observations, the universe at large, men and gender, cinematic culture, science at work. But always we a
Definitely A Woman We Should Listen To
A Woman Talks to Her Tongue speaks of a family, its secrets and silences, unacknowledged griefs and inherited traumas. Written from the point of view of the fifth child in a complex family, the early poems catch and release a few moments in a daughter’s life, from her early childhood to parenthood. The second section of the book is a kind and passionate cry for truth-telling, femininity and creativity, and includes a series of remarkable monologues that examine silence and b
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