Rate My Professor Anthony Lawrence

Dr Anthony Lawrence serves as a creative writing lecturer in the School of Humanities, Languages and Social Science at Griffith University, where he teaches creative writing and poetry at the Gold Coast campus. One of Australia’s leading poets, he has received numerous prestigious awards for his poetry. In 2022, he won the Peter Porter Poetry Prize for the second time—first in 2010—for his love poem ‘In the Shadows of Our Heads’, which the judging panel described as a stunningly vibrant poem by a masterful technician at the top of his game and a vivid reminder of love’s dance of proximity and distance. This prize, Australia’s most lucrative for poetry, attracted over 1,300 entries from 34 countries. Additionally, Lawrence won the 2017 Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Poetry for his fourteenth collection, Headwaters, published by Pitt Street Poetry. His other honors include the 2015 Philip Hopkins Medal, the inaugural Judith Wright Calanthe Award, the Gwen Harwood Prize, the Blake Prize, the Kenneth Slessor Prize, and the Newcastle Poetry Prize, his third win in that competition.

Lawrence’s work delves into themes of human connection, emotional impact, and contemporary experiences, such as the COVID-19 lockdowns reflected in poems from his forthcoming collection Long Range Forecast. In 2013, he acted as head judge for the Griffith Garrets creative writing competition for secondary students from the Gold Coast and northern New South Wales, commending the entrants for their strong grasp of relationships, setting, place, and deep observation skills. As an educator, he emphasizes the privilege of imparting skills and insights to emerging writers, helping them navigate the formal and informal demands of creative writing while fostering confidence. Lawrence views poetry prizes as vital for promoting poetry within Australia’s literary heritage. His role extends to serving as a creative works editor for TEXT, the journal of the Australasian Association of Writing Programs. Through his teaching, prolific publications, and award-winning poetry, Dr Lawrence contributes significantly to the creative writing discipline.