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Poetry Editing Group Gippsland (PEGG) is a group of poets based in Gippsland and surrounding regions, who are committed to writing, workshopping and perfecting their poetry.

Our members are currently (2023) Sally-Anne, Seamus, Delia.

Our principles

1. PEGG respectfully acknowledges the First Nations Traditional Owners of all nations in Australia; and we pay our respects to the elders of this land, past, present and emerging.
2. Poets of all abilities, ages, cultural backgrounds and levels of experience in writing poetry are welcome to join PEGG and attend PEGG sessions. PEGG practices fairness, kindness, honesty and open mindedness during all sessions. Anybody who does not do this will be asked to leave.
3. We limit the number of attendees per poetry workshop/editing session to six.
4. PEGG members may live outside Gippsland.
5. PEGG sessions are not ‘poetry readings’ and  not an opportunity for people to receive informal feedback about their poems. Rather, they are workshops where we work as a group to critique and workshop one another’s poems, based on methods presented by Sally-Anne in her poetry editing workshop.
6. PEGG sessions which have been held via Zoom since March 2020 and will continue to be held via Zoom
7. There is not always time to edit everyone’s poem at a PEGG session. If someone misses out having their poem workshopped at one session, they will get their turn next time.
8. PEGG is a not-for-profit group and there is no membership fee to join PEGG.

How and why PEGG was created

Sally-Anne presented her How to edit your own poetry workshop at the Moe Library on 7 September 2019. Attended by: Ash, Seamus, Kristen and Charles. Feedback: the method of editing your own poetry using the read-aloud workshopping method worked well.

In October 2019Sally-Anne, Seamus, Kristen and Ash decided to start a new poetry group for workshopping one another’s poems. Ash came up with the name of Poetry Editing Group Gippsland (PEGG). Seamus suggested we hold a poetry editing session every three months. Sally-Anne came up with a set of principles for the group and offered to be the facilitator. Everyone agreed.

Thus, Poetry Editing Group Gippsland (PEGG) was born.

The first PEGG session was held 12 pm-4.30 pm at the Moe Library on 9 November 2019. Attendees: Sally-Anne, Ash and Seamus. In February 2020, another PEGG workshop was held, with Delia also joining the group.

In May 2020, the next PEGG session was held online, via Zoom, and since then, all or most PEGG sessions and meetings have been held via Zoom.

In early 2023, Seamus, Delia and Sally-Anne published their first poetry book, an anthology of all three poets’ poems: Among the Wildflowers. They launched their book on site in Moe, then Mornington, then Sale.

Nowadays, PEGG continues to meet online, and welcomes new members from Gippsland and surrounding areas.

What you need to do if you wish to attend our next PEGG session

• Let us know you’d like to come and we will send you an email to let you know whether you can attend the next session.
• If you attend a PEGG session, you will need to bring: kindness, honesty, a passion for poetry, and an open mind. Oh, and a poem or two.

For information about poetry and poetry editing in general

• We encourage you to subscribe to: Australian Poetry.
• For information about Sally-Anne’s workshop, go to: How to edit your own poetry workshop.