Ross Donlon's poems have been published widely in Australia and also in New Zealand and the USA. His work has been broadcast on Radio National’s Poetica and community radio. He appears on the CD of a live reading, You Have Been Chosen. Tightrope Horizon (Five Islands Press) was published in 2003. Shh and other love poems and My Ship were published by Mark Time Books in 2009. Shh has been anthologized in Poems for All Occasions and elsewhere.

Ross was awarded the Varuna 2009 Dorothy Hewett Flagship Fellowship for Poetry.

Poetry Readings

Since 2005 Ross has convened a popular monthly reading in Castlemaine which has hosted some of the most highly-regarded poets in Australia, including Dorothy Porter, Sarah Day, Michael Sharkey, Kevin Brophy, Jennifer Harrison, Ian McBryde, Robyn Rowland, Cate Kennedy, Louise Oxley, Myron Lysenko, Alex Skovron and many others, including a wide selection of regional Victorian poets. A vibrant open section competes for the Castlemaine Cup, as judged by the two poets who feature each month. Readings take place at the Guildford Hotel at 3 o'clock on the 4th Sunday of the month from February to December — mid week in December.

Festival Consultant

Ross is a regular consultant for the biennial Castlemaine State Festival. He compiled the literary program and acted as convenor, MC and performer in 2009. The next Festival runs from 1 to 9 April 2011.

NEWS! Ross is writer-in-residence at the Writer's Cottage in Hobart right now, and on 21 July he will be reading at The Lark (14 Davey Street, Hobart). See Readings, Festivals, etc for details. In August Ross will be reading at the Queensland Poetry Festival.

… don't forget the monthly Castlemaine Cup held at the Guildford Hotel on the 3rd Sunday of each month (details above).