Newcastle Poetry Prize 2023 shortlist announced

The Hunter Writers’ Centre has announced the 2023 shortlist for the $15,000 Newcastle Poetry Prize, with several poets reaching the shortlist with more than one entry.

Shortlisted poets include:

• Eileen Chong for ‘Inheritance’
• Joe Dolce for ‘8mm’
• S J Finn for ‘Habitat for Humans’
• Jo Gardiner for ‘A Country Childhood’, ‘Illustrated Odes to the Forty Scenes of the Garden of Perfect Brightness’, and ‘Library of Leaves’
• Susan Garman for ‘Unfinished’
• Jake Goetz for ‘Internal Climates’
• Kerry Greer for ‘Fragments’
• Andrew Heath for ‘A Country Postman’
• Paul Hetherington for ‘Inside the Image’
• Christopher (Kit) Kelen for ‘Bukovina’
• Jean Kent for ‘A Garden of the World’
• Jennifer Kornberger for ‘Report from Sarajevo’
• Roberta Lowing for ‘Bird, Grieving’
• Greg McLaren for ‘Newcastle Impermanent’
• Rachael Mead for ‘Social distance’
• Audrey Molloy for ‘The Weight of a Marriage’
• Mark O’Flynn for ‘D.I.Y. Eulogy’
• Vuong Pham for ‘Displaced’
• Bronwyn Rodden for ‘Jumpers’
• Robyn Rowland for ‘To Ilumine’ and ‘The Quiet Patience of The Street’
• Craig Smith for ‘Autoincorrect’
• Kevin Smith for ‘The Crossing’ and ‘After’
• Mark Tredinnick for ‘Lines for Late Winter; Or, the Reef Heron’ and ‘Fall’
• Todd Turner for ‘On the Vale of Soul-Making’
• Dženana Vucic for ‘my father sits in a room alone’
• Jo Ward for ‘Convergence’.

The prize, which has been offered since 1981, allows poets to submit works of up to 200 lines. ‘This distinctive aspect presents a challenge for poets to skilfully sustain their work, carefully balancing tone, pace, and rhythm to captivate readers throughout the journey,’ said the Hunter Writers’ Centre.

Judith Nangala Crispin and John Foulcher are the judges for this year’s prize. They said: ‘The shortlisted poems are impressively crafted demonstrating clear evidence of forensic drafting; they are obviously a result of a process which has been seriously undertaken.’ The judges also noted the mix of ‘strong works from familiar names in Australian poetry’ as well as ‘names we’ve not come across before’.

The winner announcement will take place at the University of Newcastle on 18 November. An accompanying anthology results from the prize. Last year’s winner was Claire Albrecht for ‘The Anabranch’.

Category: Awards