About

Toby Fitch

(he/they) is a poet, editor, essayist and teacher. They are a senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Sydney and former poetry editor of Overland. Their nine books of poetry include Where Only the Sky had Hung Before (Vagabond Press, 2019), Sydney Spleen (Giramondo Publishing, 2021), and, most recently, Or: An Autobiography (Upswell Publishing, 2026). Toby’s first full-length book of poetry Rawshock won the Grace Leven Prize for Poetry 2012. Their doctoral thesis, ‘Themparks: Alternative Play in Contemporary Australian Poetry’, which included a book of poems The Bloomin’ Notions of Other & Beau, won The Dame Leonie Kramer Prize in Poetry 2017 at the University of Sydney. Their scholarly book, Aussi/Or: Un Coup de dés Down Under, was published with Erratum Press in the UK (2025). Their collage and visual poetry artworks have been hung in SNO, Intelligent Animal and other galleries. Born in London, they have 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. They co-edited the inaugural edition of Best of Australian Poems, in 2021, with Ellen van Neerven. Toby 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. 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. They hold a Doctor of Arts (a “creative PhD”) from the University of Sydney. Toby has taught literature, English, and professional and technical writing at various other universities, including UNSW Art and Design, Wollongong University and Western Sydney University. They have 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