We are delighted to announce the finalists for the Poetry d’Amour 2025 Love Poetry Contest.
This year’s competition drew entries from across Australia and around the world, offering a rich and varied celebration of love in all its forms.
Our heartfelt thanks go to every poet who entered, and to our judge for their careful reading and thoughtful selections.
Introducing This Year’s Judge – Indrani Perera
Indrani Perera is a Sri Lankan/German/Australian poet, Pocketry Almanack editor, Circus of Similes creator and 3CR Spoken Word host who lives and works on Wurrundjeri Country.
Indrani’s poems have appeared on borrowing receipts for Yarra Libraries and on the big screen at Northbridge Piazza for the Perth Poetry Festival. Her poetry has also been included in anthologies and journals in Australia and overseas. She has been shortlisted for major Australian and US poetry awards and is the author of Defenestration and pas de deux. Indrani performs on the open mic and was a National Guest Poet at the 2023 Perth Poetry Festival.
Shortlist – Poetry d’Amour 2025
- A rock could be thrown — Hannah McCann (VIC)
- By moonlight — Sashi Tandon (WA)
- Dandelions — Deanne Leber (WA)
- Fleur bleue — Ash Dowling (VIC)
- From X to x — Duc Dau (WA)
- Harbour — Rory Kelly (VIC)
- Herringbone — Rhian Healy (WA)
- How an Archway Holds the sky — Damen O’Brien (QLD)
- Husband and Oranges — Elizabeth Lewis (WA)
- It usually looks at me like a pigeon — Sashi Tandon (WA)
- Knead — Gaye McPhie (WA)
- On her Shoulders — Catherine Morris (WA)
- Paper Days — Willo Drummond (NSW)
- Passing — Kirwan Henry (VIC)
- Scuttle Sparkle — GJ Kelly (QLD)
- Sign to Me — Tayla Richardson (VIC)
- Singing Sands — Roger Vickery (NSW)
- Sleeping Together — Loe Stanford (QLD)
- Snapshots — Melinda Hughes (WA)
- The Sense of Skin — Jenny Magann (WA)
- This Spring Night — Elizabeth Lewis (WA)
- To reach you — Jane Frank (QLD)
- Who Wants to Love Like the Great Poets anyway? — David Terelinck (QLD)
Longlist – Poetry d’Amour 2025
| Poem Title | Poet | State/Country |
|---|---|---|
| A Concert in the Park | John Bowen | Kent UK |
| A friend | Ellen Shelley | NSW |
| A Love Letter to my Mum | Catherine Morris | WA |
| A Love Like Victoria’s | Matthew Platakos | NSW |
| A rock could be thrown | Hannah McCann | VIC |
| Abcission | Ellie Creedy | WA |
| After All This Time | Irina Frolova | NSW |
| After the Wedding | Kyle Vaughan | WA |
| Afterwards | Michael Leach | VIC |
| All the ways we talk of love | Tim Loveday | VIC |
| Allowing | Amanda Anastasi | VIC |
| Amoresque | Catherine Swan | WA |
| Anniversary | G.R. Kramer | Virginia USA |
| Anniversary | Mardi May | WA |
| Auroas, Cinemas, Flickering Fairy Lights | Johnte Boughton | NSW |
| Autumn Reflections on the love of KSP | Lorraine Horsley | WA |
| Beltane | M. R. Christoffersen | WA |
| Betcherrygah/Budgerigar | B. R. Dionysius | QLD |
| Black-Spotted Sweetness | Aditi Kelvekar | NSW |
| Blush | David Terelinck | QLD |
| Boat Dream | Leni Shilton | VIC |
| Bonded Love | Rosalind Franklin | WA |
| By moonlight | Sashi Tandon | WA |
| Celestial Bodies | Magdalena Ball | NSW |
| Celestial Love Bursts | Rebecca Heath | WA |
| Changes to the Menu | Melinda Hughes | WA |
| Dandelions | Deanne Leber | WA |
| Dappling Light | Margaret A Whitton | NSW |
| Dearest Friend | Candy Gordon | WA |
| Delicacy of Words | Sarah Whiley | ACT |
| Did you dream of me? | I. M. | WA |
| Discarded | Tom Dauven | WA |
| Echo | Virginia Blackney | WA |
| Epithalamion | Amy Lin | WA |
| Favourite Indonesian Words | Lidya Ayuningtyas | WA |
| Fire in Amber | Brian Purcell | NSW |
| First Seasons | Irina Frolova | NSW |
| Fishing For Amber | Cameron Semmens | VIC |
| Fleur bleue | Ash Dowling | VIC |
| From X to x | Duc Dau | WA |
| Girls for God | Blair Quynh | SA |
| Glass Frog Love | Dorit d’Scarlett | QLD |
| Harbour | Rory Kelly | VIC |
| Herringbone | Rhian Healy | WA |
| Hieronymus Poet | Cliff Gillam | WA |
| His Story | Melissa Domiati | WA |
| Hold | Sarah Whiley | ACT |
| How an Archway Holds the sky | Damen O’Brien | QLD |
| How can I Write Poetry? | Kerry Lamblin | VIC |
| Husband and Oranges | Elizabeth Lewis | WA |
| I love when you wear lipstick | CS Crowe | FL |
| Imaginary Lover | CS Crowe | FL |
| In Sickness and in Health | Pippa Kay | NSW |
| In the face of certainty | Irina Frolova | NSW |
| India you hold my heart | Melissa Domiati | WA |
| Into the York Night | Andrew Woodman | NSW |
| It usually looks at me like a pigeon | Sashi Tandon | WA |
| Knead | Gaye McPhie | WA |
| leaving | Candy Gordon | WA |
| Lion’s Milk | Vanessa Page | QLD |
| Long distance | Long Distance | VIC |
| Love in the mist | Glen Phillips | WA |
| Love is | Brooke Edwards | VIC |
| Love is an Umbrella Riddled with Holes | Cameron Semmens | VIC |
| Love Without turning | Mike Greenacre | WA |
| Merging/Unmerging – bit average | Brooke Edwards | VIC |
| Moher | J Lee | VIC |
| My Favourite Poem | Elizabeth Lewis | WA |
| My Greatest Love | Jennifer M Nichols | NSW |
| Nest | Gaye McPhie | WA |
| New | Jaya Penelope | WA |
| Notes on Love and Loss | Irina Frolova | NSW |
| Old Photographs | Maria Bonar | WA |
| On her Shoulders | Catherine Morris | WA |
| Paper Days | Willo Drummond | NSW |
| Passing | Kirwan Henry | VIC |
| Postscript | Mardi May | WA |
| Public Holiday | Rhian Healy | WA |
| Quiet is the Snow Falling | Ingrid Holm | WA |
| read not received | Laura Rowan | WA |
| Recurrence | Hannah McCann | VIC |
| red wine on white sheets | Sashi Tandon | WA |
| River | Tuscany May | WA |
| Schism | Marilyn Humbert | NSW |
| Scuttle Sparkle | GJ Kelly | QLD |
| Sea | Kay Cairns | WA |
| Sign to Me | Tayla Richardson | VIC |
| Singing Sands | Roger Vickery | NSW |
| Sixteen Thousand Kilometres | Matthew Platakos | NSW |
| Sleeping Together | Loe Stanford | QLD |
| Slow Drown | Gary Colombo De Piazzi | WA |
| Snapshots | Melinda Hughes | WA |
| Song to Prue | Danny Gunzburg | WA |
| Sonnet for a Chef | Megan Cartwright | ACT |
| Spring Breeze | Andrew Lansdown | WA |
| Steadfast Tin Soldier | Elena Preiato Beltrame | WA |
| That Crossed Out Part | James Higgins | United States |
| The Architecture of Forever | Hannah Barrett | VIC |
| The Bats | Frank Corso | VIC |
| The Gentle Art of Holding | Jill Taylor Neal | WA |
| The Inexact Science of Wanting | Hannah Barrett | VIC |
| The Last O’o of Kauai | john bowen | kent |
| The Nightingale’s Song | Rhian Healy | WA |
| The Prototype Hug | Damen O’Brien | QLD |
| The Quiet Hands | Hannah Barrett | VIC |
| The Sense of Skin | Jenny Magann | WA |
| The Shape of Love | Laura Rowan | WA |
| The Theme Park of Love | Beth Spencer | NSW |
| This Place is You | Natascha Balak | WA |
| This Spring Night | Elizabeth Lewis | WA |
| Time capsule | Karen Louise | WA |
| To reach you | Jane Frank | QLD |
| Tomatoes | Dave Drayton | NSW |
| Torn Love Letters | Catherine Morris | WA |
| Traces | Sidney Blake-Stanbury | WA |
| Tuesday | Ellen Shelley | NSW |
| Untethered | Sarita Slater | WA |
| Valentine’s Day | Elena Preiato Beltrame | WA |
| Venice | Rashida Murphy | WA |
| Villanelle | Linda Anderson | WA |
| We were the light no-one saw | Dorit d’Scarlett | QLD |
| What Strange Language is my Name? | Tom Dauven | WA |
| When You’re Working Away | Amy Lin | WA |
| Who Wants to Love Like the Great Poets anyway? | David Terelinck | QLD |
| Wild garlic at Lissadell | Helen Gladstones | WA |
| You Didn’t even block me | Laura Rowan | WA |
| Yourself | Sashi Tandon | WA |
Closing Note
Congratulations to all poets whose work appears on the longlist and shortlist. Your voices enrich our community, and we look forward to celebrating your contributions in person.
Please join us for the Poetry d’Amour Awards Night, part of the Perth Poetry Festival 2025—a stirring evening of recognition, readings, and connection.
When: Thursday, 28 August 2025, 6:00 pm–8:00 pm
Where: City of Perth Library, 573 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000
This free, accessible event will also feature the Ros Spencer Poetry Award longlist and shortlist, and the launch of our Full Circle Pathways Chapbook.
Reserve your spot now at the WA Poets Presents: WA Poets Awards Night & Pathways Chapbook Launch event page. If you’re attending the Festival’s Gala the next evening, it promises even more powerful performances and communal celebration.
