Photo by Matt Palmer on Unsplash

Holmgren Design is thrilled to announce the launch of

The 2026 Venie Holmgren Environmental Poetry Prize

Major Prize: AUD$1000

Submissions are now closed

About the judges

Peter O’Mara

Peter O’Mara is a Hepburn based writer/artist published in literary magazines, journals, anthologies in Australia and overseas. Including Meanjin, Overland, Cordite, Island, e-poetics and Angelaki. He was chosen in Best Australian Poetry 2025 (AP). Peter has published art/TEXT manuscript, How to do Words with Things with Patrick Jones. See works – @peteromara2872

Photo of a light skinned man with a long grey beard and moustache. He is carrying a basket of book on his head, held in place by one raised arm. He is in the bush.

Dr Patrick Jones

Dr Patrick Jones is a Djaara Country based multi-disciplinary researcher, poet, artist and educator. His research develops the framework for permapoesis—a living synthesis of creative-biophysical action and subsistence culture-economy making. His work focuses on how societies can reclaim earth-honouring cosmologies, transition into energy descent, and establish resilient and earth-bonded ‘societies-of-place’ via a ceremonial species approach. www.artistasfamily.is

About Venie

In her late 50’s Venie Holmgren began to write poetry and her first published anthology, The Sun Collection for the Planet in 1989, became a poetry ‘best seller’. At the same time, she applied her environmental activist skills and commitment to the campaign to save native forests near her home on the far south coast of NSW, where she was arrested twice for obstructing log trucks.

After 16 years of solo self-reliant living she moved to the local town of Pambula where she penned her travel memoir, several more books of poetry and travelled widely as a performance poet.

In 2010 Venie moved to Hepburn where she wrote her last poetry collection, The Tea-house Poems. In January 2016, Venie ‘caught the bus’ at the age of 93 .

You can read more of Venie’s life here.

Entry terms and conditions

Major prize: AUD$1000

All entries must be received by 11.59 pm EST, Monday August 3, 2026. The winner will be announced at the Words in Winter festival in Daylesford on Sunday August 30 2026. The judges for the 2026 competition are Peter O’Mara and Patrick Jones.

  1. Entrants must be citizens of Australia or have permanent resident status in Australia.
  2. Poems must be unpublished (including online) and not under consideration by other publishers.
  3. Poems that have won or are under consideration in other competitions are not eligible.
  4. Poems must have an environmental theme.
  5. All poems must be written in English. No images, videos or audio files.
  6. The winning poem will be published on www.holmgren.com.au
  7. An entry fee of $10 will be charged and is payable via credit card. An email will be sent as confirmation once the money has been received.
  8. The name of the poet must not appear on the manuscript (including the header, footer or file name) since all poems will be considered anonymously.
  9. Poems must be no more than 80 lines of text.
  10. Multiple entries are permitted, though a $10 fee applies to each poem.
  11. Please ensure you are satisfied with your poem before submitting. Poems that are resubmitted will incur a second fee.
  12. The competition closes 11.59 pm EST, Monday August 3, 2026.
  13. Selection will be made by the judges. The judges’ decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.

Submissions closed

The 2026 Venie Prize has now closed.

The winner will be announced at the Daylesford Words in Winter festival on Sunday August 30 at 3.15pm, and on holmgren.com.au on Tuesday September 1.

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