Category: News

1. Australian Poetry
2. Australian Painters
3. Australian Artists
4. Patrick White
5. Review articles of Australian poetry and poets
6. Literature, Commentary & Cultural Review
7. Academic & University-Affiliated Journals
8. Visual Arts News & Criticism
9. Poetry specific
10. Performing Arts (Theatre, Music, Opera)

Australian Poetry

The past year has celebrated established mastery and urgent new voices, with David Brooks claiming the Prime Minister’s Literary Award. The sector also saw the release of the Best of Australian Poems 2025 anthology and a vibrant Poetry Month program fostering community engagement.

• David Brooks wins the 2025 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry
  The $80,000 prize was awarded for his collection The Other Side of Daylight, praised for its profound literary contribution.
  
• Release of the Best of Australian Poems 2025 Anthology
  Edited by Nam Le and Jill Jones, this annual collection captures the diversity of the nation’s poetic output.
  
• Evelyn Araluen releases new collection The Rot
  The Stella Prize-winning author’s latest work explores the dying days of late-stage capitalism and settler colonial violence.
  
• Red Room Poetry’s 2025 Poetry Month Festival
  The August festival featured events like the Poem Forest Prize and the National Poetry Month Gala in Sydney.
  
• ACT Literary Awards 2025 Winners Announced
  Winners included Alisha Brown for the Finding Beauty Poetry Prize, celebrating emerging talent in the region.
  

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Australian Painters

The 2025 awards season saw Julie Fragar and Jude Rae recognised for their exceptional portraiture and landscape work respectively. Major institutions also celebrated historical figures, with the National Gallery of Australia launching comprehensive retrospectives of modernist painters Ethel Carrick and Anne Dangar.

• Julie Fragar wins the 2025 Archibald Prize
  The Brisbane artist won for Flagship Mother Multiverse (Justene), a portrait of her friend and fellow artist Justene Williams.
  
• Jude Rae wins the 2025 Wynne Prize
  Rae was awarded $50,000 for her landscape painting Pre-dawn sky over Port Botany container terminal.
  
• Ethel Carrick and Anne Dangar Retrospectives at NGA
  The National Gallery of Australia celebrates these two influential modernist painters with a major double exhibition.
  
• Tony Albert named Artistic Director for Indigenous Triennial
  The renowned painter and mixed-media artist led the curation of the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial.
  
• Vincent Namatjira features in After the Rain
  The celebrated portraitist presented a series of intimate works for the Triennial, honouring fellow participating artists.
  
• Arthur Boyd’s Artwork Returns to Bundanon
  A major work by the celebrated painter has been loaned from the National Gallery to his former residence in NSW.
  

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Australian Artists

The visual arts landscape was defined by the opening of the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial and significant prize announcements. First Nations sovereignty and connection to Country were central themes, while contemporary artists like Gene A’Hern and Jonathan Jones received acclaim for their site-specific and abstract works.

• Opening of the 5th National Indigenous Art Triennial: After the Rain
  This major exhibition features 10 immersive installations by First Nations artists, celebrating culture and resilience.
  
• Gene A’Hern wins the 2025 Sulman Prize
  A’Hern was awarded $40,000 for Sky painting, a bold gestural work inspired by the Blue Mountains.
  
• Jonathan Jones featured in Bagan Bariwariganyan at Bundanon
  Jones’s work appears alongside Aunty Julie Freeman in an exhibition exploring stories of the Gweagal and Wandiwandian peoples.
  
• Alair Pambegan’s Flying Fox Installation
  The artist created a suspended installation of over 500 flying foxes using traditional ochre for the Triennial.
  
• Warraba Weatherall’s Mother-Tongue Installation
  Weatherall presented a powerful new work exploring the relationship between body, language, and cultural heritage.
  
• Ocean Photographer of the Year Exhibition
  The Australian National Maritime Museum toured this exhibition to Bundanon, showcasing stunning aquatic photography.
  

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Patrick White

Focus on Patrick White has been renewed through the prestigious literary award named in his honour, won this year by David Brooks. The playwrights’ award also recognised new talent, while fresh critical scholarship continues to examine White’s complex legacy and “dilemmas” in contemporary Australian culture.

• David Brooks wins the 2025 Patrick White Literary Award
  The author received the $20,000 prize recognising his profound lifelong contribution to Australian literature and poetry.
  
• Karolina Ristevski wins the 25th Patrick White Playwrights Award
  Ristevski won for her play River Was Here, described as an accomplished and devastating portrait of human trauma.
  
• New Book: On Patrick White’s Dilemmas by Vrasidas Karalis
  A new critical work explores White’s “vernacular orality” and his status as a singular, uncompromising literary figure.
  
• Nicholas Jose Essay: “Can we not live with Patrick White any longer?”
  Jose reviews Karalis’s book and discusses the fading public memory of White’s image versus his enduring literary power.
  
• Sydney Theatre Company celebrates 25 years of Playwrights Award
  The 2025 ceremony honoured the award’s history of fostering new Australian drama in White’s name.
  
• Patrick White’s Legacy in Environmental Thought
  Judges cited White’s influence when awarding David Brooks, noting the shared thematic depth regarding nature and animals.
  

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Review articles of Australian poetry and poets

• Guardian Review of Evelyn Araluen’s The Rot
  Critics described the collection as a “fever dream” with an icily cold vision of injustice and capitalist decay.
  
• The Guardian’s “Best Poetry Books of 2025”
  The list highlights notable collections that pushed the boundaries of the form, including works by diverse Australian voices.
  
• Review of The Other Side of Daylight by David Brooks
  Praised for its “extraordinary care,” the book was celebrated for traversing histories of gender and nature with lyrical depth.
  
• UWA Experts Share Best Books of 2025
  Academic critics selected Evelyn Araluen’s The Rot as a standout text for its “unbearable complex tensions.”
  
• Review of Best of Australian Poems 2025
  The anthology is described as a “poetic snapshot” and barometer of the year, amplifying a diverse range of voices.
  

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Literature, Commentary & Cultural Review

Australian Book Review (ABR)
Australia’s premier critical magazine, offering reviews, essays, commentaries, and new creative writing.
Editor: Peter Rose
https://www.australianbookreview.com.au/

Sydney Review of Books (SRB)
A dedicated online literary journal focusing on long-form criticism and essays.
Editor: James Ley
https://sydneyreviewofbooks.com/

Meanjin
Now defunct.
https://meanjin.com.au/

The Monthly
A national magazine covering politics, society, and the arts, featuring long-form journalism and reviews.
Editor: Michael Williams
https://www.themonthly.com.au/

Inside Story
An independent news and current affairs site featuring strong arts and culture analysis.
Editor: Peter Clarke
https://insidestory.org.au/

Island Magazine
A premium literary magazine from Tasmania that publishes high-quality fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.
Editorial Manager: Jane Rawson
https://islandmag.com/

Mascara Literary Review
A bi-annual journal focusing on contemporary writing by First Nations, culturally diverse, and neurodivergent artists.
Artistic Director: Michelle Cahill
https://www.mascarareview.com/

Rochford Street Review
An independent online journal reviewing Australian literature, poetry, and small-press publications.
Editors: Mark Roberts and Linda Adair
https://rochfordstreetreview.com/

Peril Magazine
An Asian-Australian arts and culture magazine publishing poetry, prose, and visual arts with a focus on diverse perspectives.
Chairperson: Lian Low
https://peril.com.au/

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Academic & University-Affiliated Journals

Griffith Review
Operating out of Griffith University, this quarterly features public intellectual essays, reportage, and creative writing.
Editor: Carina Garland
https://www.griffithreview.com/

Westerly Magazine
Based at the University of Western Australia, this journal publishes fiction, poetry, and essays with a focus on WA and Asia.
General Editor: Daniel Juckes
https://westerlymag.com.au/

Southerly
One of Australia’s oldest literary journals, published by the English Association (Sydney).
Editor: Elizabeth McMahon
https://southerlyjournal.com.au/

Axon: Creative Explorations
Published by the University of Canberra, this open-access journal focuses on poetry and creative practice-led research.
Editors: Jen Webb and Paul Hetherington
https://axonjournal.com.au/

TEXT: Journal of Writing and Writing Courses
The journal of the Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP), publishing scholarly articles on creative writing.
Managing Editors: Julienne van Loon and Ross Watkins
https://textjournal.scholasticahq.com/

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Visual Arts News & Criticism

Art Monthly Australasia
The region’s flagship visual arts publication, providing critical discourse and exhibition reviews.
Editor: Michael Fitzgerald
https://www.artmonthly.org.au/

Art Almanac
A monthly guide to galleries, news, and awards, serving as the essential “gallery guide” for the industry.
Editor: Melissa Pesa
https://www.art-almanac.com.au/

ArtsHub
The primary trade publication for the Australian arts industry, covering news, jobs, and policy.
Content Director: George Dunford
https://www.artshub.com.au/

Artist Profile
Focuses on the artists themselves, featuring in-depth studio interviews and photographic profiles.
Editor: Kon Gouriotis
https://artistprofile.com.au/

Memo Review
Australia’s only weekly online review dedicated strictly to visual art exhibitions (primarily Melbourne/Sydney).
Editorial Team: Rotating academic and critic collective
https://memoreview.net/

Runway Journal
An open-access digital platform for experimental art and criticism, managed by a rotating board of artists.
Co-Chairs (2025): Ena Grozdanic and Athanasios Lazarou
https://runway.org.au/

un Projects (un Magazine)
An independent platform for contemporary art criticism, focusing on local dialogue and artist-led discourse.
Editor: Rotating guest editors per issue
https://unprojects.org.au/

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Poetry specific

Cordite Poetry Review
A comprehensive online journal for Australian and international poetry and criticism.
Editor: Kent MacCarter
http://cordite.org.au/

Australian Poetry Journal
The flagship publication of the national poetry body, publishing contemporary poems and critical essays.
Editor: Jacinta Le Plastrier (Publisher)
https://www.australianpoetry.org/

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Performing Arts (Theatre, Music, Opera)

Limelight
Australia’s leading independent magazine for classical music, opera, and the performing arts.
Editor: Jo Litson
https://limelightmagazine.com.au/

Australian Stage
Provides reviews and news covering theatre, opera, dance, and musicals across major capital cities.
Editor: Review team based
https://www.australianstage.com.au/

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