Indrani Perera

poet, publisher & mentor

Tag: published poems

  • Dystopian Dreams

    Eye To the Telescope Banner

    Eye to the Telescope is an online journal form the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association that has been publishing speculative poetry since 2011. They publish science fiction, fantasy and horror and even pay their authors for their poems! Each issue has a different editor which keeps things fresh and interesting.

    I can't remember how I came across this journal but I decided to have a crack at writing a poem for Issue 46.  I had a great time attempting to combine my twin loves of sci-fi/fantasy and poetry. The theme for the issue was quest, which felt apt given writing speculative poetry proved to be quite an adventure. 

    Luckily for me, the editor Wendy Van Camp liked my poem, Dystopian Dreams. A lot of the poems I write in response to themes end up being in some way a negation or a rejection of that theme. Like the time the prompt was to write about a movie I'd watched and instead I wrote a poem about how I was too tired and sleep deprived from breast feeding to watch movies!

     

    In this case, my poem was about how 

     

    It’s always thrusters and jetpacks

    cargo bays and airlocks

     

    but

     

    It’s never washing diapers

    and cleaning toilets.

     

    If you want to check out the rest of my poem and read all the great poetry of Issue 46 of Eye to the Telescope, head on over and check it out.

     

  • The Poisoned Path

    The Crow

    The environment has been on my mind of late. From day to day I don't give it much thought but when I have a moment to be still or quiet, a sense of unease creeps into my thoughts. At times it feels overwhelming, this tide of humanity that has over taken this fragile and precious planet. And then it comes out in my poetry.

    I wrote A Poisoned Path a couple of years ago after a morning walk down to the local creek. It runs between houses and a golf course until the houses turn into an industrial estate. I was standing at the water's edge looking through the trees to the sun shining on the green when I saw a rabbit bounding down the path. She seemed so out of place, here in the suburbs at the edge of a sprawling city.

    I've been sending this poem out the various publications since then and I am so pleased that Brenda Eldridge of Ginninderra Press has decided to publish it in the September edition of The Crow. You can subscribe to The Crow or grab a copy for only $5 – it's the best value poetry journal in the country!

     

  • Gems Zine

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    I'm not sure what is about certain poems. You know the ones – they've got something about them that you feel says something important. So you keep dusting them off and sending them in to journals and competitions hoping that they will find the reader they're looking for.

    Way back in August 2020 I did my very first online poetry workshop with the award-winning Australian poet, Dr Mark Tredinnick. What The Light Tells was a six week masterclass on the art of writing poetry. At the time I had only been writing poetry again for a couple of years and it pushed and stretched me in so many ways.

    As part of that class I wrote fifteen poems. An astonishing number and in the workshops I've done since then I haven't even been able to come close to that effort. Not all of the poems were good. Not all of them I liked. But there are a handful that I still have faith in after all these years. And so I keep sending them off.

    Happily for me, two of those poems - paper garden and Life Support - have just been picked up by Gems Zine, the publishing collective based in Naarm (Melbourne, Australia). I am beyond thrilled that they saw something in these pieces and that they are now out in the world and able to be read!

    Thanks Gems for publishing them!

     

  • Mantissa Poetry Review

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    Sometimes a poetry journal comes along and it blows you away. Mantissa Poetry Review is one such journal. I fell completely in love with Issue One. The gorgeous cover and its design. The typography and coloured endpapers. 

    I love everything about it from the lush feel of the velvety matt cover under my fingertips to the gorgeous matching endpapers. The layout, design and typography are stunning. And it incorporates verse, text, colour and illustrations to make a visual feast. If all that isn't enough to convince you to go out and buy a copy now, it's printed in Australia on recycled paper.

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    And the poems. Oh my. The poems. These are poems that take what you think a poem is and twist it, turn it on its head and turn you inside out. The poets play with white space and mess with your mind. There is colour and illustrations. And fabulous experiments. This is most definitely a journal to savour and one to own.

    The poetry that Mantissa publishes is ‘other’. It is what floats behind and around the literature that aims to erupt. We hope this gives voice to, perhaps, ideas less spoken.


    ‘Mantissa’ by definition, is the fractional part of a floating point. It is the addition of comparatively small importance.

    Imagine my joy when I found out that not one, but two of my poems (Attention: Ferntree Gully (December 2020) and Uncanny Valley) were going to appear in Issue Two of the Journal. I was over the moon! 

    Not only that, the editor Erin Lyon, asked me to write a statement of poetics to be published in the journal along with my poems. You know me, I love thinking and writing about the creative process so to be asked to do exactly that and then have those words included in the journal was an honour.

    Thank you Mantissa Poetry Review for publishing my poems and a statement about my creative process!

     

  • Poems

    You’ll find below a list of Indrani Perera’s poems that were published in print anthologies, literary journals (digital and analogue), as chapbooks and those that have placed in competitions or been awarded prizes. 

    You can buy Indrani’s poetry collections, pas de deux and Defenestration, here.

     

    Anthologies

    Dec 2024    pathika, (Heroines: An Anthology of Poetry Volume 5, editor Sarah Nicholson)

    Jun 2024    Notes From the Diaspora on Returning ‘Home’ (Being, Centre for Creative and Cultural Research)

    Jun 2024    Landline (Being, Centre for Creative and Cultural Research)

    Feb 2024     no good at sport (Finding My Feet, Melbourne Poets Union)

    Feb 2024     Seagrass Meadow (Finding My Feet, Melbourne Poets Union)

    Dec 2023     Settler’s Debt (Telling Australia’s Truth, Ginninderra Press)

    Sep 2023     Liquefy (Poetry D’Amour 2023, WA Poets Inc)

    Sep 2023     The Ocean of You (Poetry D’Amour 2023, WA Poets Inc)

    Dec 2022      dried apricots  (Shoot the Breeze, Girls on Key)

    Nov 2021      The Scientific Astrologer  (Eclectic Words, Geelong Writers Inc)

    May 2021      too late  (Milestones, Ginninderra Press)

    May 2020     Apis  (From the Inside Looking Out, Geelong Writers Inc)

    May 2020     We Ride the Night  (From the Inside Looking Out, Geelong Writers Inc)

    May 2020     Intergalactic Tourism  (I Protest, Ginninderra Press)

    Sep 2019       Gunnug Batur  (Mountain Secrets, Ginninderra Press)

    Aug 2019       Recipe For A Poem  (Brushstrokes: Ros Spencer Poetry Contest 2016-19, WA Poets Inc)

     

    Chapbooks

    Aug 2024   Anthropocene (Queensland Writers Centre)

     

    Journals

    Dec 2024     Notes to a Magpie Sitting on a Fence, Carolling to the Trees (Australian Poetry Journal, Issue 13.2: Desire)

    Dec 2023      Places You’ll Never Go and Things You Won’t See (Kalliope X, Issue 5: Spring)

    Nov 2023     Light Years (Science Write Now, Issue 9: Migration)

    Nov 2023     Yesterday is Today: the Migration of Memory (Science Write Now, Issue 9: Migration)

    Jul 2023        At the Foothills of the Dandenong Ranges (Jacaranda Journal)

    Jul 2023        Complicit: A Visual History of ‘Australia’ Since Invasion (Axon)

    Mar 2023      Uncanny Valley (Mantissa Poetry Review, Issue 2: Re)

    Mar 2023      Attention: Ferntree Gully (December 2020) (Mantissa Poetry Review, Issue 2: Re)

    Dec 2022       $7.86 (hākārā, Issue 17: Repetition)

    Dec 2022       Iteration (October 2022) (hākārā, Issue 17: Repetition)

    Oct 2022        Dystopian Dreams  (Eye to the Telescope, Issue 46: Quest)

    Sep 2022       The Poisoned Path  (The Crow, September 2022)

    Aug 2022       Life Support  (Gems Zine, Issue 22: Nature)

    Aug 2022       paper garden  (Gems Zine, Issue 22: Nature)

    Feb 2022        a different brew  (Burrow, February 2022: Gifting)

    Feb 2022        binding threads  (Burrow, February 2022: Gifting)

    Feb 2022        Catching Some Zeds  (Burrow, February 2022: Gifting)

    Feb 2022        The Toddy Tappers  (Cordite, Issue 104: Kin)

    Dec 2021        A Good Listener  (The Crow)

    Dec 2021        going viral  (The Victorian Writer, Summer 2021: Transformation)

    Aug 2021       all she left unsaid (Rochford Street Review, Issue 32)

    Aug 2021        Come Out and Play  (Rochford Street Review, Issue 32)

    Aug 2021        on the ferny creek trail  (Rochford Street Review, Issue 32)

    Aug 2021        Shimmer  (Rochford Street Review, Issue 32)

    Aug 2021        Summer Alive  (Rochford Street Review, Issue 32)

    Aug 2021        Two Girls and a Swing  (Rochford Street Review, Issue 32)

    Aug 2021        A Lexicon  (Pocketry, Issue 2)

    Jul 2021          Shelter  (More than Melanin, Issue 2: Intimacy in Solitude)

    Jun 2021         Nana’s Kitchen  (The Crow)

    May 2021        Vanishing Point  (Teesta Review Journal, Volume 4)

    May 2021        Kama Kunna Ena  (Teesta Review Journal, Volume 4)

    Mar 2021        White Fragility  (Not Very Quiet, Issue 8: Mask)

    Feb 2021         Never Seen  (Cordite, Issue 100: Brownface)

     

    Zines

    May 2025  Love vs Autumn (Slamtidote)

    Dec 2024   Haiku in the Hills (editor AJ D’Costa)

     

    Other

    Mar 2025     Far Flung Seeds (Phone-a-Poem, Red Room poetry)

    Sep 2024       by the book haiku (Poetry on the Big Screen at Northbridge Piazza, 2024 Perth Poetry Festival)  

    Sep 2024       introduced species (Poetry on the Big Screen at Northbridge Piazza, 2024 Perth Poetry Festival)

    Dec 2019       Edifice (Receipt Poetry, Yarra Libraries)

     

    Prizes

    Jul 2025        Longlisted                       Liquid Amber Poetry Prize

    Jun 2025      Longlisted                        Kathryn Purnell Poetry Prize

    Oct 2024       Longlisted                        2024 Frontier OPEN Poetry Prize   

    Apr 2024       Shortlisted                       Heroines’ Anthology (Volume 5, Global Poetry Edition)

    Oct 2023       Highly Commended       University of Canberra Vice Chancellor’s International Poetry Prize

    Oct 2023       Longlisted                         University of Canberra Vice Chancellor’s International Poetry Prize

    Oct 2022       Shortlisted                        Jean Stone Award   

    Aug 2022      Winner                              Red Room 30 in 30 Daily Winner, Day Four

    May 2022      Shortlisted                       Nillumbik Prize for Contemporary Writing: Open Poetry Section

    Oct 2017        Winner                              Elyne Mitchell Prize: Non-Fiction Bonus Prize

     

    Residencies

    Sep 2024       Highly Commended       Terra, Varuna Residential Fellowship

     

     

  • Burrow

    Burrow -Gifting IssueBurrow is an online literary journal that is dedicated to mental health. It is published by Old Water Rat Publishing which is a family affair consisting of Phillip Hall (poetry editor) and daughter Rhiannon Hall (managing editor). They publish poetry and other micro forms on what it means to live with good or poor mental health. They feature poets at every stage but their main focus is on new and emerging poets of any age. 

    Having a literary journal dedicated to mental health is vital given the current challenges facing humanity and the planet. After two years of a pandemic, lockdowns and isolation we need the solace that self care can bring more than ever. And this is a journal that is '…especially interested in where self-care intersects with such priorities as: ecopoetics, postcolonialism, ekphrasis, progressive religion & secularism.'

    I am excited to announce that three of my poems are featured in the most recent issue of Burrow - Gifting (February 2022). It's humbling to be rubbing virtual shoulders with such Australian poetry luminaries as Anne Elvey and Owen Bullock.

    My suite of poems is called Gifts that Bind and the poems are a different brew, binding threads and Catching Some Zeds. The first two poems are about the eco-dyed notebooks I made and you can see pictures of them in Burrow. The third poem is about giving yourself a break and taking a nap instead of ticking off more things on the never ending list of things to do.

    The handmade poems bring together my twin passions of writing and making. Both creative endeavours – one featuring hands, the other head – are filled with heart. And of course, the poems speak to the joy of making things for someone you love.  I am so excited to have poems that are about my experiences of creating things with my hands published in a literary journal!

    If you are in need of some self care, I would highly recommend checking out the most recent issue of Burrow.

     

  • Going Viral

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    If you live in Victoria and you're not already a member of Writers Victoria, go join it right now! Don't worry, I'll wait here till you're done.

    Oh good, you're back! Now why did I want you to join Writers Victoria? Well they run a great bunch of courses throughout the year on all things writing from poetry through to fiction and non-fiction. The courses range from free lunchtime seminars for members to full day workshops either online or in person.

    And if that's not enough to convince you, they also publish the excellent The Victorian Writer magazine four times a year. That's a gorgeous print magazine featuring the best writing right now. And I am super flattered to be included in the December 2021 issue, Transformation, with my poem going viral.

    If you don't have the funds for a membership at the moment I would highly recommend singing up for their newsletter which will keep you up to date with current writing opportunities.

     

  • too late

    Milestones Cover

    Another fine anthology from independent Australian publisher, Stephen Matthews of Ginninderra Press. Filled with poetry from some of the finest Australian poets. Including yours truly with the poem, too late.

    When I read my very first Ginninderra Press anthology, way back in 2018, I had a go at writing a poem to fit the theme. It was too late to be included in the anthology but I was interested in writing the poem as an exercise and a challenge. Reading the poems in the book had inspired me. The poets had such a diverse and broad reaction to the theme of wild. However, I really struggled to write something as original or as compelling.

    Fast forward to four years later and a poem of mine is in a Ginninderra Press anthology. I am becoming better at writing poems for themes. At looking at them from the corner of my eye and taking a journey to somewhere new. Or as was the case with this poem, realising that it would it the theme. I love it when I've already written something that would be perfect for a journal or anthology!

     

  • Brushstrokes

    Brushstrokes Cover

    Earlier this year I entered the Ros Spencer Poetry contest with my poem, Recipe for a Poem. It didn't win any awards but it was selected to be published in the anthology for the competition featuring poems from 2016-2019.

    It's been a long time since I've had any poetry published (twenty-two years in fact *ahem*) and I'm so happy to have a poem published after such a long break. It feels like a sign from the muse that I am on the right track and that writing poetry is worthwhile.

    Of course writing for it's own sake is always worthwhile and I will keep writing no matter what. Like writing this blog which I do mainly to express my thoughts and record my adventures in living a creative life. Not because I have to but because I want to and it brings me joy to create something with words and pictures. That said, it's nice to receive some external validation every once in a while. Keeps you going, you know?

    WA Poets Inc have done a fabulous job with this anthology and I am super excited to have one of my very own poems featured in its pages.