SYDNEY LAUNCH @ THE GASOLINE PONY
Saturday 25 May 3:30-6pm
Join us to celebrate our first release of 2024: Biswas, Boyle, Farrugia, Haywood, Holt, Roberts-Orr.
The Gasoline Pony
115 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville
RSVP: https://fb.me/e/5sWdtrotK
SVETLANA STERLIN WINS Helen Anne Bell Poetry Bequest Award
Presented by the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Sydney, the 2023 Helen Anne Bell Poetry Bequest Award valued at $40,000 has been won by Brisbane poet Svetlana Sterlin for her book-length manuscript, If Movement were a Language. As part of the prize, her manuscript will be published by Vagabond Press. This is the fifth biennial award made under the bequest for a collection of poems by a female poet reflecting Australian culture.Svetlana Sterlin said:“This is an incredible honour. To be among such esteemed company and to have even made the shortlist is such a proud achievement of mine. Now, the opportunity for my debut collection to be published with Vagabond is a dream come true. I cannot wait for the ripples of my poems to reach the shores I've been swimming towards for so long".
“... captivating in its evocations of swimming in literal and metaphorical terms, and in its characterisation of the complexities of a family life at once supportive and salutary. Each of the poems is striking as its own self-contained sigh and collectively they develop a powerful narrative arc mapped out in language that is fresh, lyrical, stylish and brave. The collection confronts ideas of displacement, mortality, human intimacy and self-knowledge in challenging and engaging terms.” Helen Anne Bell Poetry Bequest Judges
New Releases
Claire Miranda Roberts shortlisted in the 2024 Victorian Premier's Literary Awards
'Kangaroo Paw is tightly focused on observing indigenous and introduced flora; it is a collection reminiscent of a series of miniaturist artworks. The writing is characterised by controlled intensity and formal play – renewing a sense of how words work to sort and label – while its visual patterning typifies mathematical precision. The poems in its opening sequence adopt an unusual formal approach: they create gaps within poems which characterise and embody the growth patterns of open bushland. In contrast, other poems mirror non-indigenous flora through the use of more enclosed traditional forms. We were struck by the collection’s insistence on poetic form (inflected by Roberts’ training as a visual artist), in this era of often looser poetics. This is a subtle and enigmatic work that invites re-reading.' 2024 VPLA Judges' report
WILLIAMSON & ISEMONGER SHORTLISTED
Congratulations to Caroline Williamson and Holly Isemonger for being shortlisted for the 2023 FIVE ISLAND POETRY PRIZE FOR A FIRST BOOK.
Award-winning Australian Poetry
Shortlisted and award-winning collections
Poetry
'This book is the business! Smart-mouthed, pussy-bowed. Pitch perfect filthy snippets of office lore and career advice.'
'The collection bursts with jokes, wordplay, curious facts, and striking thoughts expressed with the evident delight of an unexpected discovery. Its vibrant and brilliantly angular poems are full of surprising rhythmic effects, their tone by turns playful, arch, knowing and amused.'
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