ACT NOTABLE AWARDS - POETRY RESULTS

 

ACT Writers announced their first ACT Notable Awards on Friday Night. Celebrating the Canberra Region's writers was a grand way to bring everyone together after the hiatus of the last two years.

I was thrilled to be shortlisted in the 2021 Poetry (Big Press) category with the amazing Omar Musa. I am even happier to tell you that I won that category and Omar went further and won the 2021 Special Book Award which was the pick of that whole year's books across all categories. Hearty congratulations to Omar. His book is Killernova (Penguin Books Australia) and he is currently in London doing the UK launch. If you've been here before you will know my poetry collection is The Wear of my Face (from the not so big Spinifex Press).

I can't access a full list of winners yet (I might get some wrong if I rely on memory) but here is the rest of the poetry — congratulations to all:

2021 Small Press Winner — Sandra Renew It's the Sugar, Sugar (Recent Work Press): Highly Commended — Sarah Rice Text/ure (Recent Work Press) and Sarah St Vincent Welch chalk borders (Flying Island Books).

2020 Small Press Winner — Penelope Layland Nigh (Recent Works Press); Highly Commended — PS Cottier Utterly (Ginninderra Press). No Big Press shortlist.

Back to Special Book Awards — very pleased to tell you Craig Cormick and Harold Ludwick, co-authors of On a Barbarous Coast (Allen and Unwin) took out the big overall 2020 award.

The June Shenfield Poetry Award was also announced and this was won by Rosa O'Kane for her poem If I Put It In A Poem.

I'll provide a link to the full results once it's available.

Photo: Here I am with good friend Sarah St Vincent Welch. 

Thank you Dylan Jones for the photo.