Poetry Sydney is an independent literary organisation committed to a presence for poetry in our culture.

Sydney Poetry Picnic 2022

Public Poetry Picnic at the Sydney Observatory Hill Rotunda in Millers Point on Sunday, 11 September 2022.

The Sydney Poetry Picnic is a celebration of poetry.

The annual event acknowledges the efforts undertaken throughout the year by the conveners of poetry in forging poetry communities and developing support of the art form in Sydney and New South Wales. Representatives are invited to attend, speak of their event and read. There is also an opportunity for poets to register to read, or perform in the open reading section.

Now in its seventh year, the reading will feature three-time winner of the Nimbin World Cup of Poetry, Tug Dumbly, as Emcee.

From the more established poetry events through to the emerging, performative and the competitive Sydney and NSW poetry that feature, local, regional, national and international poets and collaborators across a range of different venues, from libraries, galleries, museums to pubs and clubs will have an opportunity to share with us their public programs in 2022.

The family event is free, dog friendly and located at the Rotunda at Observatory Hill.

Representative poets will be reading from some of the poetry events that feature in Sydney and NSW: Australian PoetryAvant GagaBankstown PoetryLive Poets SocietyNorth Shore Poetry ProjectPoetry at the Petersham BowloPoetry at the Rudolph Steiner HousePoetry SalonPoetry SydneyPoetry at the Sydney Mechanics’ School of ArtsRed Room PoetrySydney Poetry Lounge and Word Travels.

The event is subject to weather conditions. Notification of cancellation will be provided at 11.30am through the Facebook event page and members will receive notification by email.

Tug Dumbly bio:

Tug Dumbly is a Nowra-born poet and performer who has lived in Sydney since the last Ice Age. He has worked extensively in radio, venues and schools, and founded a couple of seminal live poetry nights in Sydney. He has performed his work as resident-poet on ABC radio (Triple J, ABC 702), and released two spoken-word CDs through the ABC. His awards include the Banjo Paterson Prize for Comic Verse (twice), and Nimbin Performance Poetry World Cup (thrice). His poems have appeared in many journals and newspapers and he has been shortlisted several times for major awards, including the Newcastle Poetry Prize (3 times), the Vice Chancellor’s Poetry Prize (twice) and the ACU Poetry Prize (2021). In 2020 he won the Booranga Poetry Prize. His first poetry collection, Son Songs, came out in 2018 through Flying Islands Books. He likes photography and nature, especially cicadas.

This event is presented by Poetry Sydney, supported by Australian Poetry and City of Sydney.  Media partners the Surry Hills Business Partnership and Eastside Radio.

FREE | Sydney Poetry Picnic 2022
3-6pm Sunday 11 September 2022
The Rotunda at Observatory Hill, Millers Point, NSW

Poets interested in reading, please register by email: mail@poetrysydney.org