Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry

Poetry award in New South Wales, Australia

The Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry is awarded annually as part of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for a book of collected poems or for a single poem of substantial length published in book form.[1] It is named after Kenneth Slessor (1901–1971).

The prize currently comes with a A$30,000 cash award.[1]

Winners and shortlists

2024

  • Pooja Mittal Biswas – Hunger and Predation[2]
  • Willo Drummond – Moon Wrasse
  • Libby Hart – Burn
  • Caitlin Maling – Spore or Seed
  • Omar Sakr – Non-Essential Work
  • Tais Rose Wae – Riverbed Sky Songs

2023

  • Winner: Kim Cheng Boey – The Singer and Other Poems[3]
  • Adam Aitken – Revenants
  • Pam Brown – Stasis Shuffle
  • Lisa Gorton – Miribilia
  • Sarah Holland-Batt – The Jaguar
  • Marjon Mossammaparast – And to Ecstacy

2022

  • Winner: Dan Disney – accelerations & inertias[4]
  • Eunice Andrada – TAKE CARE[5]
  • Evelyn Araluen – Dropbear
  • Eileen Chong – A Thousand Crimson Blooms
  • John Kinsella – Supervivid Depastoralism
  • Bella Li – Theory of Colours

2021

  • Winner: Ellen van Neerven – Throat[6][7]
  • Jordie Albiston – Element: The Atomic Weight & Radius of Love [8]
  • Rebecca Jessen – Ask Me About the Future
  • Jill Jones – A History of What I’ll Become
  • Jaya Savige – Change Machine 

2020

  • Winner: Peter Boyle – Enfolded in the Wings of a Great Darkness[9][10]
  • Joanne Burnsapparently
  • Zenobia Frost – After the Demolition
  • Lisa GortonEmpirical
  • Natalie Harkin – Archival-Poetics
  • David MaloufAn Open Book

2019

2018

  • Winner: Bella LiArgosy[13]
  • Adam AitkenArchipelago
  • Jordie AlbistonEuclid's dog: 100 algorithmic poems
  • Rico Craig – Bone Ink
  • Nguyễn Tiên Hoàng – Captive and Temporal
  • Omar Sakr – These Wild Houses

2017

2016

2015

2014

  • Winner: Fiona HileNovelties, Hunter[17]
  • Justin ClemensThe Mundiad, Hunter
  • Diane FaheyThe Stone Garden: poems from Clare, Clouds of Magellan
  • Liam Ferney – Boom, Grand Parade Poets
  • Kate Middleton – Ephemeral Waters, Giramondo Publishing
  • Jessica Wilkinson – Marionette: A biography of Miss Marion Davies, Vagabond Press

2013

  • Winner: Ali Cobby-Eckermann – Ruby Moonlight, Magabala Books[18]
  • Kate Fagan – First Light, Giramondo Publishing
  • Michael Farrell – Open Sesame, Giramondo Publishing
  • Anthony Lawrence – The Welfare of my Enemy, Puncher & Wattman
  • Kate LilleyLadylike, UWA Publishing
  • Vivian Smith – Here, There and Elsewhere, Giramondo Publishing

2012

  • Winner: Gig RyanNew and Selected Poems, Giramondo Publishing[19]
  • Ken BoltonSly Mongoose, Puncher and Wattman
  • Susan HawthorneCow, Spinifex Press
  • John Mateer – Southern Barbarians, Giramondo Publishing
  • Claire PotterSwallow, Five Islands Press
  • Tracy Ryan – The Argument, Fremantle Press

2011

  • Winner: Jennifer MaidenPirate Rain, Giramondo Publishing[citation needed]
  • Susan Bradley Smith – Supermodernprayerbook, Salt Publishing
  • Andy Jackson – Among The Regulars, Papertiger Media Inc
  • Jill Jones – Dark Bright Doors, Wakefield Press Pty
  • Anna Kerdijk Nicholson – Possession, Five Island Press
  • Andy KissaneOut to Lunch, Puncher and Wattmann

2010

2009

  • Winner: LK Holt – Man Wolf Man, John Leonard Press.[citation needed]
  • Michael Brennan – Unanimous Night, Salt Publishing
  • David Brooks – The Balcony, University of Queensland Press
  • Sarah Holland-BattAria, University of Queensland Press
  • Kerry Leves – A Shrine To Lata Mangeshkar, Puncher & Wattman
  • Alan WearneThe Australian Popular Songbook, Giramondo

2008

2007

  • Winner: John TranterUrban Myths, University of Queensland Press[citation needed]
  • Robert Adamson – The Goldfinches of Baghdad, Flood Editions
  • Laurie DugganThe Passenger, University of Queensland Press
  • Les Murray – The Biplane Houses, Black Inc.
  • Simon West – First Names, Puncher and Wattmann
  • Fay ZwickyPicnic, Giramondo Publishing Company

2006

  • Winner: Jaya SavigeLatecomers, University of Queensland Press.[citation needed]
  • Aidan Coleman – Avenues & Runways, Brandl & Schlesinger
  • Susan HamptonThe Kindly Ones, Five Islands Press
  • Jill Jones – Broken/Open, Salt Publishing
  • Penelope Layland – Suburban Anatomy, Pandanus Books
  • David McCooeyBlister Pack, Salt Publishing

2005

  • Winner: Samuel Wagan WatsonSmoke Encrypted Whispers, University of Queensland Press[citation needed]
  • M. T. C. Cronin< More or Less Than> 1–100, Shearsman Books Ltd
  • Lidija CvetkovicWar is Not the Season for Figs, University of Queensland Press
  • John Kinsella – Doppler Effect, Salt Publishing
  • Dipti SaravanamuttuThe Colosseum, Five Islands Press
  • Alan WearneThe Lovemakers Book Two: Money and Nothing, ABC Books

2004

  • Winner: Pam BrownDear Deliria: New & Selected Poems, Salt Publishing[citation needed]
  • Jordie AlbistonThe Fall, White Crane Press
  • M. T. C. Croninbeautiful, unfinished Salt Publishing
  • Brook Emery – Misplaced Heart, Five Islands Press
  • Philip HammialIn the Year of Our Lord Slaughter's Children, Island Press
  • John TranterStudio Moon, Salt Publishing

2003

  • Winner: Jill Jones – Screens Jets Heaven[citation needed]
  • Alison CroggonAttempts at Being
  • Kate LilleyVersary
  • Emma LewAnything the Landlord Touches
  • Sarah DayNew and Selected Poems
  • Robert Gray – Afterimages

2002

  • Winner: Alan WearneThe Lovemakers, Penguin Books Australia[citation needed]
  • Robert Adamson – Mulberry Leaves: New & Selected Poems: 1970–2001, Paper Bark Press
  • Martin Harrison – Summer, Paper Bark Press
  • Dorothy HewettHalfway Up the Mountain, Fremantle Arts Centre Press
  • Bronwyn LeaFlight Animals, University of Queensland Press
  • Gig RyanHeroic Money, Brandl & Schlesinger
  • John TranterUltra, Brandl & Schlesinger

2001

  • Winner: Ken Taylor – Africa, Five Islands Press[citation needed]
  • Jennifer ComptonBlue, Ginninderra Press
  • Brook Emery – and dug my fingers in the sand, Five Islands Press
  • Philip HammialBread, Black Pepper
  • J. S. HarrySun Shadow, Moon Shadow, Vagabond Press
  • Wendy Jenkins – Rogue Equations, Fremantle Arts Centre Press

2000

  • Winner: Jennifer MaidenMines, Paper Bark Press/Australian Humanities Research Foundation[citation needed]
  • Richard James AllenThursday's Fictions, Five Islands Press
  • M. T. C. CroninEverything Holy, Balcones International Press
  • Jennifer HarrisonDear B, Black Pepper
  • Kevin Hart – Wicked Heat, Paper Bark Press
  • John Millett – Iceman, Five Islands Press

1999 and before

Award winners:[20]

  • 1999: Lee CataldiRace Against Time, Penguin Books Australia
  • 1998: no awards were presented
  • 1997: Anthony Lawrence – The Viewfinder, University of Queensland Press
  • 1996: Eric BeachWeeping for Lost Babylon, HarperCollins and J. S. HarrySelected Poems, Penguin Books Australia
  • 1995: Peter Boyle – Coming Home From the World, Five Islands Press
  • 1994: Barry Hill – Ghosting William Buckley, William Heinemann Australia
  • 1993: Les Murray – Translations from the Natural World, Isabella Press
  • 1992: Elizabeth RiddellSelected Poems, Collins Angus & Robertson
  • 1991: Jennifer MaidenThe Winter Baby, Collins Angus & Robertson
  • 1990: Robert Adamson – The Clean Dark, Paper Bark Press
  • 1989: John TranterUnder Berlin, University of Queensland Press
  • 1988: Judith BeveridgeThe Domesticity of Giraffes, Black Lightning Press
  • 1987: Philip HodginsBlood and Bone, Angus & Robertson
  • 1986: Robert Gray – Selected Poems 1963–83, Angus & Robertson
  • 1985: Kevin Hart – Your Shadow, Angus & Robertson
  • 1984: Les Murray – The People's Otherworld, Angus & Robertson[21]
  • 1983: Vivian Smith – Tide Country, Angus & Robertson[22]
  • 1982: Fay ZwickyKaddish and Other Poems, University of Queensland Press[23]
  • 1981: Alan GouldAstral Sea, Angus & Robertson[24]
  • 1980: David Campbell – Man in the Honeysuckle, Angus & Robertson[25]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Web page, accessed 5 November 2006
  2. ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2024 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
  3. ^ "2023 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  4. ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2022 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
  5. ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2022 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  6. ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2021 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  7. ^ "'Eight jobs at once and no sick days': $60,000 prizes a welcome relief for young writer". www.abc.net.au. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
  8. ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  9. ^ Evans, Kate Evans (26 April 2020). "Novel celebrating Wiradjuri language wins Book of the Year at major literary awards". ABC News. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
  10. ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2020 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  11. ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2019 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  12. ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2019 winners announced; Griffiths wins book of the year". Books+Publishing. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  13. ^ "2018 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  14. ^ "2017 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  15. ^ "2016 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
  16. ^ "2015 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  17. ^ "2014 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  18. ^ "2013 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  19. ^ "2012 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
  20. ^ New South Wales Ministry of Culture Web site, official list of past winners
  21. ^ "Austlit — The People's Otherworld by Les Murray". Austlit. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
  22. ^ "Austlit — Tide Country by Vivian Smith". Austlit. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  23. ^ "Austlit — Kaddish and Other Poems by Fay Zwicky". Austlit. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  24. ^ "Austlit — Astral Sea by Alan Gould". Austlit. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  25. ^ "Austlit — The Man in the Honeysuckle by David Campbell". Austlit. Retrieved 3 September 2023.