The 2022 Liquid Amber Poetry Prize asked poets to respond to textual and visual prompts on the theme of encounter. What indeed might it mean to encounter 'the strange skin of the unexpected'? When are we taken out of our comfort zones to meet the challenge of the different? The fifty-four poems in this anthology are the Prize long list, including the winners. These high-quality, widely varied poems are evidence of the malleability of the form and the vibrant state of poetry in Australia today, despite or perhaps because of, the complex issues currently facing the world.