Sue Ellson Commissioned Poems
For inspiration and reflection
The details of my poems are on my main poems page.
Below is a list of the 18 poems that have been commissioned by various people and I welcome requests for further commissions, simply contact me directly if you would like me to write some poetry for you or your publication.
Commissioned Poems By Sue Ellson
21 August 2025 Accumulated Grief Poem
On 5 August 2025, I met Anne Sandler, a Grief Counsellor at a local council networking event. We met again in person on 20 August 2025 so I could interview her about this topic and write and publish this poem a day later.
19 July 2025 Junkyard Beats Poem
On 18 July 2025, I attended the Educate Plus VIC / TAS Chapter Summit 2025 and the first session of the day was with ‘Junkyard Beats‘ and they shared a message of drumming using recycled materials. I wrote this poem as a reflection on the experience but also for possible use as a ‘song’ to accompany percussion in the future.
15 May 2025 Legacy Poem
Commissioned on 8 May 2025 by Maria Ganci, an Eating Disorder Specialist. It took me some time to formulate my ideas and thoughts on this topic and when I was on the train to Bendigo on 15 May 2025, it just flowed from my mind to my notebook.
11 May 2025 After Separation Poem
Commissioned on 10 May 2025 for the book curated by Grace Lee, ‘Still She Writes.‘ It was published in the book along with the Domestic Violence Poem.
10 April 2025 The Composer Poem
On 9 April 2025, I attended the ‘David Hirschfelder Composing and Arranging Webinar‘ hosted by the Music Arrangers’ Guild of Australia Inc. I have tried to capture some of the comments made by David Hirschfelder during the webinar about his approach to composing and arranging music to create this poem. It was later included in Edition 56 of their magazine.
8 April 2025 Suicide Poem
On 22 February 2025, I attended an event at the Victorian Writers’ Centre in Melbourne on the topic of life writing and in particular, writing a memoir. At the end, I started chatting to an experienced academic in the area of public health and was inspired to prepare this piece and have it checked thoroughly before publishing it on 8 April 2025.
1 March 2025 Bad Boss
Commissioned on 18 January 2025 to write this poem by a person in Australia who had read the Domestic Violence poem and requested a poem related to a similar situation in a workplace.
22 February 2025 Teen Dating Violence
Commissioned on 28 December 2024 to write this poem for Teen Dating Violence Month (February) and for a Social Media Post for World Poetry Day (21 March) by WomenShelter Long Beach USA.
13 January 2025 Ode to Death
On 13 January 2025, I attended the memorial service of Michael Leunig at St Paul’s Cathedral in Melbourne and wrote this poem on the train home. It was later published in the Michael Leunig Appreciation Society Facebook Group.
4 November 2024 Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
Commissioned on 3 November 2024 to write this poem for an arts project by Pop In
16 October 2024 Injustice Poem
After interviewing a person on 20 August 2024 that I met at a networking function on 2 August 2024, I wrote this poem as a way to summarise their personal experience of being unfairly dismissed from their work.
9 May 2024 Billabong Retreat Poem
I checked in to Billabong Retreat in Sydney on 8 May and wrote and published this poem on 9 May. It was also published in the Billabong Retreat Blog.
27 December 2023 Conversation
Commissioned on 14 December 2023 to write this poem by John McCann
17 November 2022 Pain Alert
Commissioned on 17 November 2022 to write this poem by John McCann
26 October 2022 Post Traumatic Growth
Commissioned on 26 October 2022 to write this poem by John McCann
26 July 2022 Domestic Violence
Commissioned on 26 July 2022 to write this poem by Meredith Fuller for the eBook Home Truths.
27 March 2019 The Many Benefits Of SPLID
Commissioned on 27 March 2019 to write this poem by Paul Mathis for his SPLID product.
21 March 2019 Where can you find a metric teaspoon and a lid?
Commissioned on 21 March 2019 to write this poem by Paul Mathis for his SPLID product.
Commission Request
If you would like me to write about something in particular, please contact me.