Johnson wins 2020 Peter Porter Poetry Prize

The Australian Book Review (ABR) has announced A Frances Johnson as the winner of the 2020 Peter Porter Poetry Prize, for her poem ‘My Father’s Thesaurus’.

Johnson receives $7000. The judges said ‘My Father’s Thesaurus’ is ‘an unsentimental yet emotive portrayal of the situation of the elderly and their carers’. Johnson said she hopes her poem honours her late father and ‘offers a small bridge to others who have suffered or who are experiencing the terrible affliction of Alzheimer’s’.

The four other shortlisted poets—Lachlan Brown, Claire G Coleman, Ross Gillett and Julie Manning—each receive $500.

For more information about the prize, visit the ABR website.

Category: Awards Local news