About

Toby Fitch

Toby Fitch is an Australian poet, editor, essayist and teacher. He is the current poetry editor of Overland and a lecturer in creative writing at the University of Sydney. His seven books of poetry include Where Only the Sky had Hung Before and, most recently, Sydney Spleen (Giramondo Publishing 2021). His next book will be an expanded full-colour edition of Object Permanence: Calligrammes, to be published by Puncher & Wattmann and Thorny Devil Press, alongside an exhibition of his visual poetry at WordXImage in December 2022. 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 has worked as poetry editor of Overland since 2016 and before that was reviews editor for Southerly from 2011-15. He is co-editor of Best of Australian Poems 2021 with Ellen van Neerven. He is the editor of the anthologies Groundswell: The Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize for New and Emerging Poets 2007-2020 (forthcoming 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 on creative writing at the University of Sydney since 2016 — tutoring, lecturing, course coordinating and supervising at undergraduate and postgraduate levels — firstly on casual contracts and now 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 available for poetry readings and literary festival appearances. He also offers freelance editing, including assessing book manuscripts (fiction, non-fiction, poetry). If you would like to get in touch, please email: tpbfitch@yahoo.com