Newcastle Poetry Prize
Encyclopedia
The Newcastle Poetry Prize is an annual Australian award for poetry
. It was established in 1981
as the Mattara Poetry Prize.
The Prize began from humble beginnings in September 1980, when Peter Goldman stood in the middle of Civic Park during the Mattara Festival and handed out an anthology of poetry to passers-by. The A4 photocopied collection featured poems from local Hunter writers, with contributors ranging in age from six to eighty-one.
This anthology prompted two lecturers at the University of Newcastle, Christopher Pollnitz and Paul Kavanagh, to seek funding for a poetry competition which paved the way for the first official Mattara Poetry Prize in 1981. This prize gone on to become one of the richest and most prestigious poetry competitions in the country, and is now known as the Newcastle Poetry Prize.
Today the Prize is one of the major events of the literary calendar in Australia, bringing entries from across the nation. More recently the Newcastle Poetry Prize has included a New Media prize, creating a forum for the new technology poets in the country.
Initially sponsored by the Hunter Water Board, Newcastle
City Council has provided funding via its Community Assistance Program since 1995, and the University of Newcastle has partnered with Council since 2004 to provide additional sponsorship.
Poetry
Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...
. It was established in 1981
1981 in poetry
Nationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Jane Greer launched Plains Poetry Journal, an advance guard of the New Formalism movement....
as the Mattara Poetry Prize.
The Prize began from humble beginnings in September 1980, when Peter Goldman stood in the middle of Civic Park during the Mattara Festival and handed out an anthology of poetry to passers-by. The A4 photocopied collection featured poems from local Hunter writers, with contributors ranging in age from six to eighty-one.
This anthology prompted two lecturers at the University of Newcastle, Christopher Pollnitz and Paul Kavanagh, to seek funding for a poetry competition which paved the way for the first official Mattara Poetry Prize in 1981. This prize gone on to become one of the richest and most prestigious poetry competitions in the country, and is now known as the Newcastle Poetry Prize.
Today the Prize is one of the major events of the literary calendar in Australia, bringing entries from across the nation. More recently the Newcastle Poetry Prize has included a New Media prize, creating a forum for the new technology poets in the country.
Initially sponsored by the Hunter Water Board, Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
City Council has provided funding via its Community Assistance Program since 1995, and the University of Newcastle has partnered with Council since 2004 to provide additional sponsorship.
Winners
- 20102010 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 19 - For the first time since 1949, an anonymous black-clad man, known as the Poe Toaster, failed to show up at the tomb of Edgar Allan Poe at the Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, early...
: Duncan Hose (An Allegory of Edward Trouble) - 20092009 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 5 – The Turkish government announces it will posthumously restore the citizenship it had stripped from influential poet Nazim Hikmet, a Marxist who died in 1963 as an exile in the Soviet...
: Patricia Sykes (Cassandra Vegas) - 20082008 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* June — the release in the United Kingdom of a new film, The Edge of Love, Dylan Thomas' relationship with two women, starring Keira Knightley, Sienna Miller, Cillian Murphy and Matthew Rhys *...
: David MusgraveDavid MusgraveDavid Musgrave is an Australian poet, novelist, publisher and critic. He is currently the publisher of Puncher & Wattmann, an independent press which publishes Australian poetry and literary fiction...
(The Baby Boomers) - 20072007 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* March 5: a car bomb was exploded on Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. More than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. This locale is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a winding...
: Mark Tredinnick (Eclogues) - 20062006 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* French public notary Patrick Huet unveils Pieces of Hope to the Echo of the World in Lyon...
: Nathan Shepherdson (Eve 1528) - 20052005 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* October 7 — Celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of the first reading of Allen Ginsberg's poem Howl were staged in San Francisco, New York City, and in Leeds in the UK...
: Emma JonesEmma Jones (poet)Emma Jones is an Australian poet. Her first poetry collection, The Striped World, was published by Faber & Faber in 2009.Jones was raised in Concord, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney. Her father was Australian; her British mother had emigrated to Australia...
(Zoos for the Dead) - 20042004 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* April 1 — Foetry.com Web site is launched for the announced purpose of "Exposing fraudulent contests. Tracking the sycophants...
: Peter Kirkpatrick (Bucolic Plague or This Eco-Lodge My Prison) - 2001/2002: Emma Jones (Fugue, or a Possible Poem) John WatsonJohn WatsonJohn Watson may refer to:In politics:* John Christian Watson , known as Chris Watson, Australia's third Prime Minister* John Bertrand Watson , British Member of Parliament for Stockton-on-Tees, 1917–1923* John S...
(A Jetty Completely Surrounded) Jo Gardiner (Song to the Moon) Judy JohnsonJudy JohnsonWilliam Julius "Judy" Johnson was an American third baseman in Negro league baseball.Johnson was born in Snow Hill, Maryland. Although his father wanted him to be a boxer, Johnson, who was 5 ft 11 in and only 150 lb , was far better suited for a career in baseball...
(Three Faces of Shiva) - 20002000 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Griffin Poetry Prize is established, with one award given each year for the best work by a Canadian poet and one award given for best work in the English language internationally.* February —...
: Philip SalomPhilip SalomPhilip Salom is a contemporary Australian poet and novelist.-Biography:Growing up on a farm in Brunswick Junction in the South West region of Western Australia. Salom had an isolated childhood before boarding at Bunbury during his high school years...
(Preservation: Things in Glass) - 19991999 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* July 1 — Scotland's Parliament opened with the singing of Robert Burns' "A Man's a Man For A'That", instead of "God Save The Queen"...
: Brook Emery - 19971997 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*January 20 — Miller Williams of Arkansas reads his poem, "Of History and Hope," at President Clinton's inauguration....
: Anthony LawrenceAnthony Lawrence-Biography:Born in Tamworth, New South Wales, Anthony Lawrence left school at 16, and has worked variously as a jackeroo, fisherman, teacher and writer. Lawrence has received a number of Australia Council for the Arts Literature Board Grants and has won numerous awards for his poetry, including the...
(Skinned By Light & Thanatos) - 19961996 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* National Poetry Month was established by the Academy of American Poets in April 1996 as way to increase awareness and appreciation of poetry in the United States.* The movie Dead Man, written and...
: Philip SalomPhilip SalomPhilip Salom is a contemporary Australian poet and novelist.-Biography:Growing up on a farm in Brunswick Junction in the South West region of Western Australia. Salom had an isolated childhood before boarding at Bunbury during his high school years...
(Elegy for my Father) Roland Leach (East Timor) David BrooksDavid BrooksDavid Brooks may refer to:* David Brooks , American actor and stage director and producer* David Brooks , Australian author of short stories and co-editor for Southerly...
(Back After Eight Months Away) - 19951995 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* February 16 — Announcement that 300 poems by S.T...
: Roland Leach (drowning Ophelia: the madness poems) - 19911991 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Forward Poetry Prize created...
: Dorothy HewettDorothy HewettDorothy Coade Hewett was an Australian feminist poet, novelist, librettist and playwright. She was also a member of the Communist Party of Australia, though she clashed on many occasions with the party's leadership.-Early life:Hewett was born in Perth and was brought up on a sheep and wheat farm...
(Upside Down Sonnets) - 19891989 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Dead Poets Society, a film incorporating excerpts from many traditional poets, ending with the title and opening line of Walt Whitman's lament on the death of Abraham Lincoln, "O Captain! My...
: John BennettJohn Bennett-Arts & entertainment:* John Bennett , British actor from the film The Fifth Element* John Bennett , British composer and organist* John Bennett , drummer of the UK doom metal band The Prophecy...
(Blackwattle) - 19881988 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The first annual The Best American Poetry volume is published this year....
: Kristopher Saknussemm (Group of eight poems) - 19871987 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Charles Bukowski, fictionalised as alter ego Henry Chinaski, becomes the subject of the film Barfly starring Mickey Rourke....
: Dane Thwaites (Imitations of Han Shan) Tracy RyanTracy RyanTracy Ryan is an Australian poet and novelist. She has also worked as an editor, publisher, translator, and academic.-Life:Tracy Ryan was born in Western Australia, where she grew up as part of a large family...
(Streams in the Desert) - 19861986 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* New American Writing, an annual literary magazine concentrating on poetry, is founded in Chicago, Illinois....
: Lily BrettLily BrettLily Brett is an award-winning Australian novelist, essayist and poet who now lives in New York City. Much of her writing deals with her Jewish family semi-biographically and with her feelings about the Holocaust....
(Poland) - 19851985 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The term "New Formalism" was first used in the article "The Yuppie Poet" in the May 1985 issue of the AWP Newsletter in an attack on the poetry movement...
: Diane FaheyDiane FaheyDiane Mary Fahey is an Australian poet. She was born Diane Mary Brotheridge in Melbourne, Australia and currently lives in the Barwon Heads area, near Geelong....
(Poem of Thanksgiving) - 19841984 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*December 19 - Philip Larkin turns down the British Poet Laureateship, and Ted Hughes becomes Poet Laureate....
: John A. ScottJohn A. ScottJohn Alan Scott is an English-Australian poet, novelist and academic....
(St. Clair) - 19831983 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Frogmore Press founded by Andre Evans and Jeremy Page at the Frogmore tea-rooms in Folkestone...
: Craig PowellCraig Powell (poet)Craig Powell in Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia is an Australian poet. For ten years, he lived in Canada before returning to his homeland....
(Five Pieces For a Homecoming) - 19821982 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:*Final edition of This Magazine published....
: Peter KocanPeter KocanPeter Raymond Kocan , Australian author and poet, is remembered in Australia for his attempt to assassinate federal Opposition Leader Arthur Calwell in 1966.-Life and career:...
(From the Private Poems of Governor Caulfield) - 19811981 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Jane Greer launched Plains Poetry Journal, an advance guard of the New Formalism movement....
: Kevin Hart ('The Storm' and others) and Les Murray ('Machine Portraits with Pendant Spaceman')
New Media Winners
- [2006]: [Philip Norton] (Hypnosis)
- [2007]: [Rob Walker and Matt Walker] (Moon Anti-Poem)
- [2008]: [Jason Nelson] (Wittenoom)
- [2009]: [Rob Walker and Ben Walker] (Bibliophobia)
Anthologies
- The Night Road, ed. Philip Salom and Jill Jones, Hunter Writers Centre, Newcastle 2009
- to sculpt the moment, ed. Jan Owen, Hunter Writers Centre, Newcastle, 2008.
- Eclogues, ed. Martin Harrison, John Jenkins and Jan Owen, Hunter Writers Centre, Newcastle, 2007.
- the honey fills the cone, ed. Judith Beveridge, Martin Harrison and Jean Kent, Hunter Writers Centre, Newcastle, 2006.
- sunweight,, ed. Judy Johnson, Judith Beveridge & Brian Joyce, Hunter Writers Centre, Newcastle, 2005.
- The Cool Breath Burn, (CD) ed. John Bennet, Judy Johnson & Lizz Murphy, Hunter Writers Centre, Newcastle, 2004.
- not published 2003.
- Unfamiliar Tides, 2001/2002.
- Time's Collision with the Tongue, ed. Peter Boyle and Jan Owen, 2000.
- The Argument from Desire, ed. Ron K. Pretty, Five Islands Press, Wollongong, 1999.
- 1998?
- The Nightjar, ed. John Hawke, Coal River Press, Newcastle, 1997.
- The New World Tattoo, ed. John Hawke, Coal River Press, Newcastle, 1996.
- Let Dark Memory Bloom, ed. Paul Kavanagh. Newcastle: Coal River Press, 1995.
- 1994?
- 1993?
- 1992?
- The Sea’s White Edge, ed. Paul Kavanagh. Springwood: Butterfly Books, 1991.
- 1990?
- Pictures from an Exhibition, ed. Paul Kavanagh, Mattara Poetry Prize, University of Newcastle, 1989.
- The International Terminal, ed. Christopher Pollnitz. University of Newcastle,1988.
- Properties of the Poet, ed. Paul Kavanagh. University of Newcastle, 1987.
- An Inflection of Silence, ed. Christopher Pollnitz. University of Newcastle, 1986.
- Poem of Thanksgiving, ed. Paul Kavanagh, University of Newcastle, 1985.
- Neither Nuked nor Crucified, ed. Christopher Pollnitz. University of Newcastle, 1984.
- Instructions for Honey Ants, ed. Paul Kavanagh, University of Newcastle, 1983.
- Lines from the Horizon and Other Poems, ed. Christopher Pollnitz. University of Newcastle, 1982.
- The Members of the Orchestra, ed. Paul Kavanagh, University of Newcastle, 1981.