For our 20th, and final, annual Lest We Forget Poetry Competition, participants were invited to respond to the theme He Ara Whakamua – Pathways Forward.
For 20 years, our Lest We Forget poetry competition has been a way for our community, young and old, to pause, reflect, and mark Anzac Day together. We are deeply grateful to everyone who has shared their words, memories, and creativity over the years.
We have received over two thousand entries from student and adult poets since 2006, from across Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, wider Aotearoa New Zealand, and beyond.
2026 was our final Lest We Forget poetry competition as we look ahead to new forms of remembrance. Next year will bring a fresh opportunity for contributors of all ages to share reflections, memories, or messages of remembrance.
For our 20th and final competition, we invited you to respond to our theme, He Ara Whakamua – Pathways Forward. This theme looks to the future as well as the past. We acknowledge two decades of reflection through poetry while inviting poets of all ages to consider how remembrance can guide us in building more peaceful and united communities.
What have you learned from remembering the past, and how does it inform your future? What does “Lest We Forget” mean to you? What are the important things to remember? What does remembrance look like to you, or how do you think it should look? How do we build hope and peace from our shared histories? In quiet moments of remembrance, what are your thoughts and feelings about the road ahead?
Whether you draw from personal experiences, historical events, or imagined perspectives, we would like to hear your voice. The competition is open to all ages, with three age categories: 18 years and over, 12-17 years and 11 years and under.
Finalists, chosen from each age category, read their entries inside the Museum on Anzac Day morning. New Zealand Poet Laureate, Robert Sullivan joined us to acknowledge the poets from this year and the past 20 years, and read from his own work.
Entries were judged by a panel of Museum writers, curators, and educators. Each finalist received an annual membership to the Museum, including a Friends & Whānau gift pass, and a prize from the Museum Shop.
The Museum would like to acknowledge our sponsor, Eddie Mann, and his late wife, Michele Mann for their generous support of this programme since 2019.
You can view the finalists reading their poems on our Youtube channel here