Poetry Consultations

Thoughtful, personalised feedback to help you develop and polish your poems-in-progress.

Jump to:
What You’ll Receive • How You’ll Receive Feedback • Investment • Next Steps • About Me • Testimonials

What You’ll Receive

Detailed, tailored feedback on up to three poems (maximum six pages total in a Word document — each poem to start on a new page).

Feedback will focus on:

Craft and language — including poetic voice, tone, rhythm, and word choice
How your poem reads and resonates — what’s working well, and what could be developed further
(Optional) Guidance on suitable journals for submission

How You’ll Receive Feedback

You’ll receive your feedback in two ways:

A 45-minute Zoom consultation at a time that suits you
Your Word document, returned with tracked comments, in-text suggestions, and summary notes for each poem

Investment

A sliding scale is available to support poets with different circumstances:

$70 – for students / concession card holders
$100 – Standard rate
$130 – Pay-it-forward
1 x scholarship spot – offered each month to support a poet with low or no income

*Work on your poems, including scheduling your Zoom consultation, begins only once payment has been received.

Next Steps

Ready to begin?

Book a Poetry Consultation

Have questions first?

Get in touch

About Me

I’m a writer and poet who finds real joy in holding space for other people’s creative work. My approach to feedback is grounded in close reading — offering detailed, personalised insight that helps you see your poems with fresh eyes. I have extensive experience giving constructive, editorial-style feedback through workshopping with peers who have been published in major Australian literary journals, as well as through my Masters qualification in Creative Writing, Publishing and Editing from the University of Melbourne, where I graduated with High Distinction and made the Dean’s Honours List (2024).

My poetry has been published in leading Australian journals and publications including Best of Australian Poems (2022 and 2023), Australian Poetry Journal, Cordite, Mascara, Meanjin, Overland, Island, Rabbit, Meniscus and Griffith Review; and has been both shortlisted for and awarded poetry prizes in Australia, including the Liquid Amber Poetry Prize and the Judith Wright Poetry Prize.

Alongside my creative work, my background in technical writing and editing has strengthened my attention to clarity, precision, and nuance — all qualities I bring to my feedback process.

Testimonials

Lesh is a remarkably insightful poetry reader. Her feedback is thorough, focussed and she always has concrete suggestions for tightening and refining poems. She has a real gift for ascertaining what a poem is trying to do and incredibly helpful tips on how to get it there. She is generous, open and delightful to work with. I’d recommend Lesh to anyone keen for a close, constructive and compassionate eye on their work.

— Emilie Collyer, poet, playwright and dramaturg

Working with Lesh has been an incredibly rewarding experience for my writing life. She reads with precision and care, noticing the smallest turns of language, rhythm and image, while also keeping sight of the poem’s larger architecture and emotional truth. Her feedback has sharpened my craft and deepened my awareness of grammar, syntax, sound and much more, but also of the subtler currents that make a poem live. Her generosity and warmth make the process collaborative and an invitation to see the poem more clearly, and to trust it into its next shape.

— Gurmeet Kaur, poet, critic and essayist

I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to workshop poems with Lesh. Lesh offers very generous and considered feedback that reveals her own deep understanding of poetic craft and poetics. She devotes time and careful thought to considering the felt truth of each poem, and suggests edits that will support the poem, but is also mindful to encourage and protect other poets’ unique voices. Every poem I have workshopped with Lesh has become stronger and our conversations about my poems and poetry generally have supported me to develop a deeper and more nuanced understanding of my own craft and creative practice.

— Simone King, poet, editor and PhD student

Lesh Karan is a poet of rare precision, profound sensitivity, and remarkable talent. She has excellent command of free verse, as well as poetic forms, from the Ghazal and Sonnet, to the Pantoum and the Duplex–she is a poet of astonishing linguistic and formal agility. As an editor Lesh is equally exceptional. As a published Australian poet, who teaches poetry at The University of Melbourne, I have had the pleasure and privilege of workshopping with Lesh extensively, and can attest to her warmth, professionalism, and insight. She provides incisive, generous feedback with remarkable clarity and empathy. Working with Lesh is a gift–she listens, responds, and illuminates with care and exactitude. I could not recommend her highly enough.

— Natalie Rose Dyer, poet, writer, creative writing teacher

Book a Poetry Consultation