WA Poets Inc - Perth Poetry Festival

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WA Poets Inc - Perth Poetry Festival

Supporting, developing & promoting poets & poetry in Western Australia. Follow on Twitter Follow this page for WAPI related news and events.

See our group page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/79619185770/) for news and discussions with our members. Selected posts will be shared on the WAPI page, with preference given to financial members.

28/05/2026

Grow your poetry practice and prepare your poems for publication in our new monthly workshop supported by the City of Fremantle 🖋️

Join Jaya Penelope at Fremantle Library on the fourth Wednesday of the month to workshop your latest poem in a small and supportive group of poets. Jaya is a poet, oral storyteller and educator who lives and writes in Walyalup/Fremantle. She has facilitated classes, workshops and retreats in schools, libraries, refuges and retreat centres throughout Western Australia, and her practice brings together poetry, attentive listening and community-grounded creative development, with a strong focus on creating safe, welcoming spaces for writers to grow.

All are welcome!

📅Next date: June 24, 2026
🕰️Time: 10am - 12:30pm
🎟️Tickets: link in bio

To learn more and get involved, visit the Humanitix event page through our profile link. See you next time!

26/05/2026

You are cordially invited to the launch of 'Behind the Mirror', a poetry collection by Mardi May, launched by Jan Napier! 🪞

Mardi May inherited ‘a gene for curiosity’.

In Behind the Mirror, her autobiography in poems, her habit of ‘always asking Why?’ is matched with a delight in the power of words. Whether she is searching for insights into the troubled years of childhood and family tensions, remembering with beautiful tenderness happier times of a second marriage and farm life, or confronting the sad ending of aged care and dementia for her husband, her experiences feel very real and poignantly recognizable.

We look forward to you joining us in celebrating the launch of May's 'fearlessly honest' new work on June 12, 2026 - PRE-ORDER NOW!🎉

🕰️ 6.00 pm to 7.30 pm
📍 Midland Sports Complex, Function Room
🗺️ Address: 45 Patterson Drive, Middle Swan WA 6056
📚 Copies will be available for sale on the day, and pre-orders are open:

PRE-ORDER: wapoets.com/behind-the-mirror-by-mardi-may/

RSVP: https://www.facebook.com/share/14XiCZT1mVR/

22/05/2026

💘CLOSING SOON💘 Let love be your muse 💘
Submit your love-themed poems to Poetry d’Amour 2026 for a chance to win generous prizes and be published in the 2026 Poetry d'Amour anthology. All kinds of love are welcome!
🗓️ Deadline: Midnight, 31 May 2026
🏆 Prizes: First Prize $500, Runner-up $300
🆚 Places: 1 winner, 1 runner-up, 2 highly commended, 2 commended
🔗 Submit: wapoets.submittable.com

16/05/2026

Peter Jeffery OAM
Celebration of Life

On behalf of Peter’s wife, Julie, and Peter’s family, we are sharing details of Peter Jeffery’s Celebration of Life.

Thursday 2 July 2026, 1:30pm to 4:30pm
Mount Lawley Bowling Club
Cnr Storthes and Rookwood Street, Mount Lawley
RSVP: https://events.humanitix.com/wake-peter-jeffery-celebration-of-life

All are welcome: family, friends, colleagues, neighbours, past students, and all whose lives Peter touched. There will be a short reflection during the afternoon, with an opportunity to share memories. Please RSVP via the Humanitix link above so the family can plan for catering.

Seen in the first pic is Peter at Perth Poetry Club, one of his favourite gigs, in The Moon Café during a special edition for Perth Poetry Festival 2022 listening, as so many of us remember him, with quiet attentiveness, generosity, and care.

03/05/2026

Hey hey hey! SAVE THE DATE!
PERTH POETRY FESTIVAL is back this August.
Big voices. Big moments. In the big state.
From down under, the poetry is rising.
We have our EAR TO THE GROUND!
📍 27–30 August
🔥 Program in the works!
🧐 Keep a tab on our socials and at
🌐perthpoetryfestival.com

🫶Help make it happen.
Donate to your festival on ACF: https://artists.australianculturalfund.org.au/s/project/a2EMn00000drRN0/perth-poetry-festival-2026

24/04/2026

🌿 ANZAC Day — 25 April 2026 🌿
Today we share a poem by our beloved Peter Jeffery, one of Western Australia's finest poets, who passed away recently. In his last book, A General Much Tired of War, Peter gave voice to quiet human truth inside the grand machinery of war: the aching longing to come home.

On this ANZAC Day, we remember all who served and all who were lost. We grieve the wars that should have ended and the ones that never should have begun.
——
"I ride no more in the chalk white dust,
I ride in stars and meteors shower my way."

— Peter Jeffery OAM, A General Much Tired of War

23/04/2026

💘 Let love be your muse 💘
Submit your love-themed poems to Poetry d’Amour 2026 for a chance to win generous prizes and be published in the official anthology. All kinds of love are welcome!
🗓️ Deadline: Midnight, 31 May 2026
🏆 Prizes: First Prize $500, Runner-up $300
🆚 Places: 1 winner, 1 runner-up, 2 highly commended, 2 commended
🔗 Submit: wapoets.submittable.com/submit

19/04/2026

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Perth poetry stalwart Peter Jeffery last Tuesday.

Peter was a much-loved and deeply respected presence in the Western Australian poetry community for many years. He was a dedicated WA Poets Inc committee member, a familiar and valued fixture at Perth Poetry Festival, and a generous mentor to so many poets. His contribution to poetry and the wider arts was immense, through his writing, editing, broadcasting, community work, and his unwavering support of others.

Peter gave a great deal to this community, and his warmth, intelligence, encouragement and presence will be deeply missed. As will his unforgettable voice full of poetry, which seemed to arrive ahead of him, filled the room with poetry, and lingered in the air long after the poem was over.

We hold Julie, Peter’s family, and all who loved him in our thoughts at this time.

A Celebration of Life will be held in June, with details to be shared closer to the time.

Vale Peter Jeffery. With affection, gratitude and respect.
Image: Peter Jeffery at Perth Poetry Club, part of at Perth Poetry Festival 2022. We acknowledge Deanne Leber for sharing this news.

29/03/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for Woman Scream 2026!! ❤️‍🔥

What a powerful afternoon of poetry, performance, and community. Many thanks to our incredible host, Manveen Kaur Kohli .poet for guiding us through an unforgettable event. Thank you for providing a space for this event, and to all the sponsors and donators 🫶

To our phenomenal poets—Miriam Wei Wei Lo , Abigail Sherratt , Sari Bennett , Jane Hammond , Jo Giles , Joni Boyd , and Ana Brawls —your words resonated deeply, and your courage moved us all.

Most importantly, thank you for supporting the Starick Foundation and their vital work helping women and children escaping family and domestic violence. 💜

You can still donate to this incredible cause!🔗shorturl.at/ULDg0 (Link in bio)

Let’s keep the momentum going—keep speaking, keep supporting, and keep making noise for change. 🗣️💥

05/12/2025

Dear WA Poetry Community,

🖨️

WA Poets are thrilled to launch Brushstrokes VI, the fresh-off-the-press anthology from the 2025 Ros Spencer Poetry Contest tomorrow at Perth Poetry Club.

📚📖

The anthology features prize-winning and selected works handpicked by this year’s judge, Kevin Gillam.

📍🗺️

Come join us at The Moon Café, 323 William Street, Northbridge from 2pm-4pm, on Saturday, December 6, 2025

🌸

Supported by our Award Patron, Geoff Spencer and his family, the Ros Spencer Poetry Contest honours Ros’s courage, character, and passion for poetry.

❤️

Her spirit lives on in these beautiful words:

“Like a leaf falling from a tree, She just let go …
And the Sun and the Moon shone forever”
— Rev. Safire Rose

🍃

We hope you can make it! To raise a toast to poetry, share a verse, and celebrate Ros’s legacy together.

🍷

See you there!

❤️

Address

WAPI Office, Level 2, Room 33, Bon Marche Arcade, 8O Barrack Street
Perth, WA
6000

Website

http://wapoets.com/

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