This week on The ABR Podcast we feature the 2025 Peter Porter Prize shortlisted poems, as read by the five poets. Now in its twenty-first year, the Porter Prize is one of Australia’s most lucrative and respected poetry awards. It honours the life and work of the great Australian poet Peter Porter, a contributor to ABR for many years. All poets writing in English are eligible to enter.

This year ABR received 1,171 entries from twenty-nine countries. We thank our three judges: Sarah Holland-Batt, Paul Kane and Peter Rose. Together they longlisted ten poems. From this longlist, a shortlist of five was selected by the judges. The winner of the 2025 Porter Prize will be announced at a ceremony in Melbourne in early February. Details of the event, the longlist, and the judges’ reports are all available on the ABR website.

In this episode of The ABR Podcast, the five shortlisted poems will be presented in alphabetical order and read by the poets. We thank the shortlisted poets for taking the time to record their poems.