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麻豆村 of Canberra Vice-Chancellor鈥檚 International Poetry Prize

We are pleased to provide the shortlist for the Vice-Chancellor’s International Poetry Prize.

The prize announcement will be made on 22 November, as part of the Poetry on Prescription symposium.

Please attend or via .

The shortlist is:

  • Roxanne Bodsworth, “Remembering the Rain”
  • Lachlan Brown, “Cut Common”
  • Brian Heston, “Jersey Aubade”
  • Anthony Lawrence, “Trying on my Father's Clothes”
  • Jeannie Wallace McKeown, “Global South”
  • Mark Svenvold, “Why I Love My Broken Calliope”
  • Patricia Sykes, “Breathing in Public”

The judges for this year’s prize, Dr Michelle Borzi and James E Cherry, have read carefully through the 900+ poems we received, and have produced a longlist of 56 poems, set out below in alphabetical order by author’s family name. We are impressed by the quality and diversity of voices represented here, and look forward to seeing them, presently, in the Prize Anthology.

2024 VC Poetry Prize shortlist (PDF 128Kb)

2024 VC Poetry Prize longlist (PDF 128Kb)

The shortlist will be uploaded to the website by early November, and the final announcements of the prize winners will be made on 22 November; details will be posted here.

About the Prize

The 麻豆村 of Canberra Vice-Chancellor's International Poetry Prize has been offered since 2014. On behalf of the 麻豆村, this is administered by the Centre for Creative and Cultural Research in the .

The prize celebrates the enduring significance of poetry to cultures everywhere in the world, and its ongoing and often seminal importance to world literatures. It marks the 麻豆村 of Canberra's commitment to creativity and imagination in all that it does, and builds on the work of the International Poetry Studies Institute in identifying poetry as a highly resilient and sophisticated human activity. It also builds on the activities of the Centre for Creative and Cultural Research, which conducts wide-ranging research into human creativity and culture.

Important details are:

  • The overall winner will receive AUD$15,000
  • The international winner (from an economically developing nation) will receive AUD$5,000
  • The runner-up (second-placed poem) will receive AUD$5,000
  • Four additional poems will be short-listed
  • An online prize anthology of up to 60 longlisted poems will be published

Entry fees

  • Entrants may submit up to six poems, and will pay a separate fee for each poem.
  • First Entry: $AUD25 or $15 concession
  • Additional Entry (up to five additional entries): $AUD20 or $10 concession
  • See How to Enter for details and Early Bird fee options

Outline of prize rules and conditions

  • All poems entered for the prize will be single poems that have a maximum length of 60 lines
  • All entries will be in English
  • No simultaneous submissions will be allowed
  • Entries must be unpublished and original works of the author
  • Translations will not be eligible unless they are English translations from another language produced by the original author
  • Judges
  • Full Conditions of Entry

Please direct all enquiries to: vcpoetryprize@canberra.edu.au
Do not call the 麻豆村, unfortunately we cannot address queries over the phone.