Kissane and Ling win Peter Porter Poetry Prize 2019

The Australian Book Review (ABR) has announced Andy Kissane’s ‘Searching the Dead’ and Belle Ling’s ‘63 Temple Street, Mong Kok’ as the joint winners of the Peter Porter Prize 2019.

Prize judge Judith Bishop said ‘the poems that stayed with me had two things in common’. ‘First, they were very strongly crafted in their language and structure. They showed their awareness of language, and the ways it speaks to us, just as a painter shows awareness of the textures of paint,’ Bishop said. ‘Second, they reveal something about experience that is new; they give us insight into a world we couldn’t see, or feel, if it weren’t for the poem.’

The joint winners will share a prize that combines the usual winner’s prize of $5000 with the second place prize of $2000, as no second place was awarded this year. The other three shortlisted poets receive $500 each, and all shortlisted poems will be published in the March issue of ABR.

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

Category: Local news