We are full of worlds that can't be contained by a pill
MAD Poetry is an initiative that originated in the Illawarra, evolving in 2019 into workshop pilots in Port Kembla and Wollongong supported by the Mental Health Commission of NSW. 2020 and 2021 saw MAD Poetry find a home at The Poetry Company coordinated by David Stavanger, including a workshop program and commissions of established and emerging lived experience poets.
The key focus of the project is on creating a safe writing space for emerging voices with a lived/living experience of mental health issues to express how they see the world, where these poets can define themselves through their creativity not their diagnosis, and explore by pen and page their experience of illness, institutions, recovery, self-care, and beyond.
MAD Poetry 2026 will see the return of our national free online workshop series (in partnership with Wellways) and the online publication of four new poetry commissions across October as part of Mental Health Month.
MAD Poetry Workshops
Our national online MAD Poetry Zoom workshop series returns on Tuesdays 6, 13, 20, 27 Oct 630-8pm (AEDT) with 4 x lived experience facilitators: Gabrielle Journey Jones, Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Rania Omar, and Holly Isemonger.
2026 MAD Poetry Workshops booked out.
Workshop Poets
Commissions
-
Let the monster rest (after Jane Kenyon’s Let Evening Come)
By Mran-Maree LaingLet the taut strings of the nerves lengthen
and slacken in the arms and legs,
draw in the strummer’s claws.
-
Sonnet for a Mid-life Diagnosis
By Jake DennisTreatment delayed by a waitlist, deposit paid
for therapy with a psychiatrist who says, Hmm,
I can usually do this in sessions one or two
but for you… This is your chance to transfer -
Epistles
By Holly IsemongerDear Chris, I am in rehab, but you know this, having dropped me off this morning. It’s cold and the light is part glue. Where is my God moment? No rush. I’m told metanarratives are of no use here. I said the teeth I have are healthy— hell, I put them on my gratitude list. I’ve been collecting all the love down below, if you follow, but when will I… -
What do I do when I don’t want to do it anymore?
By Rania OmarI panic
feel my body crackle and pop
with dissatisfaction
like coco puffs in warm milk
The aim of this project is to share lived experiences of mental health via poetry. Therefore, some of the workshop content may potentially trigger some readers. If you require mental health support or assistance, you can call the Wellways Helpline plus a list of free confidential 24/7 support lines can be found here. You are not alone in your journey.
MAD Poetry artwork by Rachel Wenona Guy.
