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World Poetry Day Celebrations

and Announcement of Local Word Poetry Prize Shortlist

Join us for a panel discussion on the future of poetry and the announcement of the second Local Word Poetry Prize short list and overall winner. Featuring poetry readings from poets and presenters.

Poetry, like music, is an ancient and universal art form. For World Poetry Day 2025, it is worth wondering about the future of poetry.

Print poetry and poetry books are clearly not going away, but poetry ecologies are changing, thanks to technology and cultural practices. How will poetry respond to the rise of GenAI? Will the continued dominance of social media see new forms of poetry? Does spoken-word poetry promise a new form of poetic communality? Does digital technology mean that multimedia forms such as video poetry and audio poetry will proliferate? And what effect does the increasing politicisation of public discourse have on poetic discourse? 

Join us for an exploration of these questions and more in a panel discussion led by Professor David McCooey, Personal Chair, Writing & Literature, School of Communication & Creative Arts at Deakin University. Joining David on the panel will be:

• Alex Creece – writer, editor, poet, collage artist, and average kook living on Wadawurrung land. Alex published Potty Mouth, Potty Mouth with Cordite Books last year.
• Joshua Maxwell de Hoog – Poet and co-convenor of lowercase poetry.  Joshua's work has been published in various anthologies, and has shared their own works in spoken word events across Australia and internationally.
• Heather Cameron - Poet, short story and creative nonfiction writer. Heather has published A Random Caller: Cancer Poetry with Ginninderra Press and other titles.
• Cameron Lowe - the author of two book-length collections of poetry: Porch Music (Whitmore Press, 2010) and Circle Work (Puncher & Wattmann, 2013), with a forthcoming poetry collection, bliNk (Puncher & Wattmann: February 2025)

Tickets $20 including refreshments, $10 for Geelong Regional Library Corporation Members.

If you need any assistance in order to participate in this event, please contact events@grlc.vic.gov.au at least two weeks prior to the event date.

{pictured Professor David McCooey at World Poetry Day 2024}

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