Robbie Coburn

2026 YOUNG ADULT SHORTLIST - Robbie Coburn for The Foal in the Wire (Lothian/Hachette)

Poet Robbie Coburn grew up on a farm in regional Victoria and now lives in Melbourne. His YA verse novel, The Foal in the Wire, (Lothian/Hachette Australia, 2025) is an astonishingly raw and beautiful poetic story about survival, love and the bonds between human and animals.

Sam, a teenager, lives on a farm with his mother, and his emotionally distant horse trainer father. Haunted by trauma and depression, struggling with school and disillusioned with his home life following the death of his older brother, Sam's life changes when he finds a wounded foal tangled in barbed wire in one of the paddocks at the edge of their property. In the course of rescuing and caring for the foal he becomes close with Julia, a troubled girl from the next property. The Foal in the Wire is the moving and inspiring story of Sam’s love for a girl and the horse that brings them together, from an important and talented young Australian poet.

Robbie’s poetry collections include Ghost Poetry (Upswell Publishing, 2024), And I Could Not Have Hurt You (Kiddiepunk, 2023), The Other Flesh (UWAP, 2019) and Rain Season (Picaro Press, 2013). He has also published a number of chapbooks and zines. His poems have been published widely in Australian and overseas journals including Poetry, Poetry Salzburg Review, Expat, Apocalypse Confidential, Feral Dove, Meanjin, Island and Westerly. Robbie’s poetry has been anthologised in books including Oystercatcher One (5 Islands Press, 2024), In Your Hands (Red Room Poetry, 2020), To End All Wars (Puncher and Wattmann, 2018) and Writing to the Wire (UWAP, 2016).

Robbie has appeared at The Wheeler Centre and La Mama Poetica, and has attended various literary festivals including the Sydney Writers’ Festival, Canberra Writers’ Festival and Newcastle Writers’ Festival. He has also run poetry workshops for the youth mental health organisation Headspace.

PRAISE FOR THE FOAL IN THE WIRE

'The Foal in the Wire will stay with you forever' KEVIN BROOKS, Carnegie Medal-winning author of The Bunker Diary

'Reading The Foal in the Wire, I knew I was in the hands of a trustworthy storyteller whose lyricism and brave honesty seized me from the first page and lasted until the very last words of the final chapter' RON KOERTGE

'The real deal' SONYA HARTNETT

'A tender novel of hope and healing' STEVEN HERRICK

'A heartbreaking novel in verse that explores the redeeming qualities of love and friendship amid a backdrop of family violence and despair. Robbie Coburn's poetry smoulders with pain and grief, love and loss, redemption and hope. An unforgettable story of beauty' SHARON KERNOT

'This is a captivating and moving story, told in a unique way, of a misfit boy and girl who find hope because of their love for a foal' LOUIS NOWRA

'Heartfelt and tender . . . You will read this in a single, sincere and studious sitting' WEEKEND AUSTRALIAN

'Coburn's words transport you to another world . . . While the verse novel is short in length, it shouldn't be rushed. Allow it to seep in and the words will remain with you for a long time. Coburn's work offers hope and solace, reminding you the dark phases of life occur will inevitably pass' ARTSHUB

'A haunting tribute to the bonds between humans and animals . . . In The Foal in the Wire, Sam finds that to rescue is to be rescued. Long may his story live' SYDNEY MORNING HERALD