We are delighted to once again to present the Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize, proudly supported by The Hobart Bookshop. 

First awarded in 1996, the 2026 Prize celebrates 30 years of recognising distinctive voices in Australian poetry and continues to honour the spirit of Gwen Harwood.

This year's Prize will be judged by Island's poetry editor Kate Middleton, along with incoming poetry editor, Tim Loveday and Graeme Miles (see bios below).

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR? 

New poems up to 100 lines, in any form.

THE PRIZE

The winning poet will receive $2000 + four-issue subscription to Island*
      Two runners-up will each receive $500 + four-issue subscription to Island*
      All three poems will be published in Island issue 177, due for publication in March 2026.

All other poems will be considered for publication at our normal contributor rates

ELIGIBILITY

Entry is open to Australian citizens and residents only.

No age limit applies.

Current Island magazine staff, interns and board members are not eligible.

TIMELINES 

Entries are now open. Closing 5pm AEDT, Thursday 27 November 2025.

Winning poems will be published in Island 177, due for publication in March 2025. 

TERMS & CONDITIONS

Entry fee of $18.00 per poem applies. You can enter as many times as you wish but each poem must be entered separately.

All entries are via Submittable only and your poem must be attached as a text document (acceptable file types: doc, docx, txt, rtf).

Entries will be judged ‘blind’, therefore please do not include your name on your poem.

Poems previously published are not eligible.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please withdraw your work if it is accepted elsewhere.

Judges’ decision is final, and no individual feedback will be provided.

Writers must guarantee that their work is original, does not plagiarise or infringe the copyright of any other party, and does not breach any other law or ethical principle of publication (e.g. defamation, libel, obscenity).

Copyright remains with the authors; however, writers must give Island exclusive publication rights for the work for three months from publication. Any further reproduction must publicly acknowledge Island as the original publisher.

The three winners agree to participate in any reasonable media events relating to their work, including radio and television interviews and online discussions.

*Subscription can start with either 176 (due to be published in Dec 2025), or 177 (due to be published in Mar 2026). If you are a current subscriber this can either be added to your existing subscription, or you may gift the subscription.

MEET THE JUDGES

Kate Middleton 

Kate is Island's Poetry Editor. She is also author of the poetry collections Fire Season (Giramondo, 2009), awarded the Western Australian Premier's Award for Poetry in 2009; Ephemeral Waters (Giramondo, 2013), shortlisted for the NSW Premier's award in 2014; Passage (Giramondo, 2017) and Television (2024). She was the inaugural Sydney City Poet from September 2011 to September 2012.

Tim Loveday

Tim is a poet, writer and baby academic living on Wurundjeri country. He won the 2022 & 2024 Dorothy Porter Poetry Awards, the 2025 Calanthe Poetry Prize and the 2023 Venie Holmgren Environmental Poetry Award, and was a finalist in the 2025 DHA, 2024 Montreal Poetry Prize, 2024 Big Australian Yarn, and 2023 David Harold Tribe Prize. 

Graeme Miles

Graeme has published three collections of poems: Infernal Topographies (University of Western Australia Press, 2020), Recurrence (John Leonard Press, 2012) and Phosphorescence (Fremantle Press, 2006), as well as many pieces in journals and anthologies. His most recent book was shortlisted in the Tasmanian Literary Awards and his first for the West Australian Premier’s Prize. He has lived in Hobart since 2008 and teaches Latin and ancient Greek literatures at the University of Tasmania.

Further information
       For more information about Island please visit islandmag.com or follow us for news updates on social media @islandmagtas.

We are currently seeking fiction submissions for Island 177 and 178.

ELIGIBILITY
Island will only consider submissions from residents of Australia, New Zealand and Australians living abroad.    

There is no fee to submit, and you do not need to be a subscriber. However, if your work is selected and you are not already a subscriber, your total payment will be less the cost of a 4-issue print subscription. For background information on our fee policy see here.

WHAT ARE WE LOOKING FOR? 

While we will certainly consider more traditional forms, we have a strong interest in experimental and literary approaches to form and content. There is no limit on theme.

Although we are not strict about the length of works, we tend not to publish flash fiction or microfiction in print very often. This doesn’t mean you can’t submit very short works - just be aware that this is not our staple. In terms of upper limits, we are less likely to publish works longer than 4000 words. Again, this is a general guideline, we do not have a formal cut-off. 

GUIDELINES

We do not accept work previously published in print or online, including on blogs.

Simultaneous submissions are welcome, but please withdraw your work if it is accepted elsewhere.

Please submit only one story per round. If you submit more than one, only your first submission will be considered.

Submissions are via Submittable only. Your work must be attached as a text document (acceptable file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf). Please format using a minimum of 1.5 line spacing to make reading easier for our editors. 

TIMELINES
 Submissions are open. 

Closing at 5pm AEDT on Friday 12 December 2025.

Island 177 is scheduled to be published mid March 2026. Island 178 is scheduled to be published in late May 2026.

CONTRIBUTOR FEES
Island currently pays 40 cents per word for print fiction, with a minimum of $600 and a maximum of $1500.

If you are not already a subscriber, your total payment will be less the cost of a 4-issue print subscription. For background information on our fee policy see here.

*In addition to core funding from Arts Tasmania, fees have been supplemented by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, and the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.

We continually strive to increase author payment rates through grants and fundraising. 

PROCESS
You will receive an automated acknowledgement of receipt of your submission.

All submissions (expected when multiple submissions have been made) will be read by at least one member of the editorial team. The final decision will rest with the Fiction Editor and the Editorial Manager. 

Once decisions are made, you will be contacted (either via Submittable or direct email) regarding the outcome. We endeavour to provide a response to all submissions within three months of submissions closing. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to provide individualised feedback on submissions that are not selected.

The expectation is that the selected works will require little editing. However, any editing involved will be undertaken by Island’s Editorial Team, in discussion with the author. The author will have final approval of the work.

A licensing agreement with be sent to the author prior to publication (see t&c below for further details) .

TERMS & CONDITIONS
A licensing agreement outlining the contributor fee and full terms and conditions will be sent to the author prior to publication; however, please be aware of the following:

• Writers must guarantee that their work is original, does not plagiarise or infringe the copyright of any other party, and does not breach any other law or ethical principle of publication (e.g. defamation, libel, obscenity).
• Copyright remains with the authors, but writers must give Island exclusive publication rights for the work for three months from publication. Any further reproduction must publicly acknowledge Island as the original publisher.

A draft of the full agreement is available on request from admin@islandmag.com.

Thank you for your interest in publishing with Island!

We are currently seeking nonfiction submissions for Island 177 and 178.

ELIGIBILITY
Island will only consider submissions from residents of Australia, New Zealand and Australians living abroad.

There is no fee to submit, and you do not need to be a subscriber. However, if your work is selected and you are not already a subscriber, your total payment will be less the cost of a 4-issue print subscription. For background information on this policy see here.

TIMELINES  

Submissions are open. 

Closing 5pm AEDT on Friday 12 December 2025.

Island 177 is scheduled to be published mid March 2026. Island 178 is scheduled to be published late May 2026

GUIDELINES

We want to read about what fascinates, excites or enrages you. Your entry doesn’t have to be zeitgeisty – there are so many ways to be curious and about so many things. We encourage you to investigate, experiment, wax lyrical and manifest. Introduce us to new ideas, new worlds and new forms of expression.  

We are not strict about word limits, and prefer to consider all works on their merits. However, while we do not have a formal cutoff, we are less likely to publish works longer than 4000 words. 

We do not accept work previously published in print or online, including on blogs.

Simultaneous submissions are acceptable, but please withdraw your work if it is accepted elsewhere.

Submissions are via Submittable only. Your work must be attached as a text document (acceptable file types: pdf, doc, docx, txt, rtf). Please format using a minimum of 1.5 line spacing to make reading easier for our editors.

Please only submit one piece - your best!

CONTRIBUTOR FEES                                                                                                                                                            

Island currently pays  40 cents per word for print nonfiction, with a minimum of $600 and a maximum of $1500

Fees for print are less the cost of a 4-issue print subscription if you are not a current subscriber. For background information on this policy see here.

In addition to core funding from Arts Tasmania, fees have been supplemented by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, and the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.

We continually strive to increase author payment rates through grants and fundraising.   

PROCESS

You will receive an automated acknowledgement of receipt of your submission.

All submissions will be read by at least one member of the editorial team. The final decision will rest with the Nonfiction Editor and the Editorial Manager. 

Once decisions are made, you will be contacted (either via Submittable or direct email) regarding the outcome. We endeavour to provide a response to all submissions within three months of submissions closing. Unfortunately, we do not have the resources to provide individualised feedback on submissions that are not selected.

The expectation is that the selected works will require little editing. However, any editing involved will be undertaken by Island’s Editorial Team, in discussion with the author. The author will have final approval of the work.

A licensing agreement with be sent to the author prior to publication (see t&c below for further details) .

TERMS & CONDITIONS
A licencing agreement outlining the contributor fee and full terms and conditions will be sent to the author prior to publication, however, please be aware of the following:

• Contributors must warrant to the Publisher that their work is an original work, that their work does not infringe any copyright and that they are the sole owner of the copyright in the work. They must also warrant that the work contains nothing obscene, indecent or libellous.
• Copyright remains with the author; but Island requires an exclusive licence for three months from publication. Following the exclusivity period, authors must continue to license the work to Island on a  non-exclusive basis. Any further reproduction should publicly acknowledge Island as the original publisher.

A draft of the full licencing agreement is available on request from admin@islandmag.com

Thank you for your interest in publishing with Island!