About

Toby Fitch

(he/they) is a poet, editor, essayist and teacher. He is a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Sydney and former poetry editor of Overland. His eight books of poetry include Where Only the Sky had Hung Before (Vagabond Press, 2019), Sydney Spleen (Giramondo Publishing, 2021), and the forthcoming Or, An Autobiography (Upswell Publishing, 2026). His first full-length book of poetry Rawshock won the Grace Leven Prize for Poetry 2012. His doctoral thesis, ‘Themparks: Alternative Play in Contemporary Australian Poetry’, which included his book of poems The Bloomin’ Notions of Other & Beau, won The Dame Leonie Kramer Prize in Poetry 2017 at the University of Sydney. A scholarly book, Aussi/Or: Un Coup de dés Down Under, is forthcoming with Erratum Press in the UK. Born in London, he has lived in Sydney on unceded Gadigal land since the age of 3.

Awards
The Charles Rischbieth Jury Poetry Prize 2020
The Dame Leonie Kramer Prize in Poetry 2017
The Grace Leven Prize for Poetry 2012

Editing
Toby Fitch worked as poetry editor of Overland from 2015 to 2025 and before that was reviews editor for Southerly from 2011 to 2015. He is co-editor of the inaugural Best of Australian Poems series, in 2021, with Ellen van Neerven. He is the editor of the anthologies Transforming My Country (2021), Groundswell: The Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize for New and Emerging Poets 2007-2020 (2022) and, with Lisa Gorton, Australian Poetry Anthology Volume 5 2016. He has also worked as an editor at Power Publications, where he was managing editor of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Art. As a freelance editor, Toby has edited numerous poetry manuscripts, scholarly essays and public sector documents.

Teaching
Toby Fitch has taught in creative writing at the University of Sydney since 2015 — tutoring, lecturing, course coordinating and supervising at undergraduate and postgraduate levels — firstly on casual contracts and now full-time in a continuing position. He holds a Doctor of Arts (a “creative PhD”) from the University of Sydney. He has taught literature, English, and professional and technical writing at various other universities, including UNSW Art and Design, Wollongong University and Western Sydney University. He has also taught creative writing workshops for Red Room Poetry, The Writing Workshop, and Mirrabooka.

Contact
Toby Fitch is currently available for poetry readings and literary festival appearances. If you would like to get in touch, please email: toby.fitch@sydney.edu.au