The SCWC Poetry Award 2023 responded to the theme ‘in colour’, in association with Wollongong Art Gallery’s exhibition Thinking Through Pink
$1000 First Prize
$100 Second Prize
$100 SCWC Member Award
$100 Voucher Wollongong Art Gallery Special Award
All of the winning entries will be published in the South Coast Writers Centre’s 2023 Anthology.
It is a complex and, at times, difficult process to determine a limited long-list from an entry field that includes an abundance of riches. For this reason, the judges would like to offer their sincere thanks to the 150 poets who shared their work with the SCWC+WAG 2023 Poetry Award.
Read the judges remarks by guest judge Peter Ramm.
SHORT LIST:
In the shape of a Black Swan - Lakshmi Kanchi
And My Pink Ashes - Meredith Wattison
Mottled State - Suzi Mezei
Outside The Cyanometer - Scott-Patrick Mitchell
Grubs in the Broccoli - Glenn McPherson
Crab Nest - Kathleen Bleakley
Pigment - Carolyn Leach-Paholski
LONG LIST:
La Isla Azul - Mike Cavanagh
From the Banks - Alisha Brown
Orange Imposter - Rosa O'Kane
China Landscape - Brid Morahan
In the shape of a Black Swan - Lakshmi Kanchi
Heraclitus sung, axis mundi - Gideon McDonad
Dinnertime - Isabella G. Mead
Pompadour - Magdalena Ball
Colours of Fortune - Linda Mcquarrie-Bowerman
And My Pink Ashes - Meredith Wattison
Mottled State - Suzi Mezei
Outside The Cyanometer - Scott-Patrick Mitchell
Grubs in the Broccoli - Glenn McPherson
Crab Nest - Kathleen Bleakley
Pigment - Carolyn Leach-Paholski
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
THINKING THROUGH PINK
Curated by Dr Sally Gray
Wollongong Art Gallery
3 December – 5 March 2023
Pink is probably the most provocative and ideologically freighted of all the colours. Pink resonates across gender, sexuality, race, class, political alignments and notions of good and bad taste. Guest curated by Dr Sally Gray for Wollongong Art Gallery Thinking Through Pink carefully juxtaposes diverse cultural objects inviting pleasure and speculation around the many manifestations of pink – the colour and the idea.
The exhibition aims at an experience of pure visual pleasure, inviting visitors to suspend aesthetic judgements and bask in the visual and conceptual delights of PINK. Thinking Through Pink includes works from invited contemporary artists; works from the Wollongong Art Gallery collection and carefully selected objects from the Powerhouse, Sydney - notably ceramic and glass works from the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries chosen for their visual, conceptual and historical resonances.
Artwork: Joanne Saad, Dancing Queen, 2005, metallic print between plexiglass, 90 x 120cm.WAG collection
SCWC 2023 POETRY AWARD
Readings from the 2023 SCWC + WAG Poetry Award shortlist
In the shape of a Black Swan - Lakshmi Kanchi
Pigment - Carolyn Leach-Paholski
Award Preparation
Poetry Workshops
The SCWC Poetry Award is a partnership with Wollongong Art Gallery, which includes two workshops in 2023 to prepare you for submission and to guide you in responding to the ‘Thinking Through Pink’ exhibition on at WAG.
The workshop on 28 January with Irish-Australian poet Robyn Rowland will include a a guided tour of the exhibition followed by a three-hour workshop that begins with a talk by Robyn on use of the ‘the particular’, in poetry, analysing her poetry and that of others.
On 18 February, SCWC 2022 Poetry Award winner Erin Shiel will take participants on an ekphrastic poetry journey through four different ways to respond to an artwork during her two-hour workshop.
Both workshops will be held at Wollongong Art Gallery; click the images above to book your ticket to one or both.
Readings
Before you submit to the Poetry Award, we strongly suggest that you read the work of our previous Poetry Award winners, published in our 2022 Anthology Mantle and our 2021 Anthology Legacies.
Available here from the store. Get 10% with the code SUBMIT10
We also recommend Creating Poetry by SCWC Poetry program founder Ron Pretty. Creating Poetry will help you transform that bad poem into something to be proud of. From simple exercises for the beginner, through to the complexities of the sonnet form, the villanelle, or the enjambments of modern verse. This is an essential guide to writing poetry.
Available here from the store. Get 10% with the code SUBMIT10
Guidelines for Entry and Terms & Conditions
By entering the South Coast Writers Centre Poetry Award 2023 you agree to the following terms and conditions:
1. Who Can Enter?
1.1. Entry is open to anyone living in Australia over the age of 18, with the exclusion of:
1.2. Committee of management members and staff of the South Coast Writers Centre.
2. How to Enter?
2.1. The competition commences on December 11th 2022 and close 5th March 2023 11:59pm AEST.
2.2. Entries must be single poems of no more than 50 lines. Only one poem should be submitted per entry form.
2.3. For entries not primarily written in English, an English translation should be provided for the judges.
2.4. The text should be presented with 1.5 line spacing and in 12pt plain font. Pages should be numbered.
2.5. The author’s name must not appear in the document or in the name of the digital file. The file name should include only the title of the poem.
2.6 The name of the poem (entry) should match the name of the digital file.
2.6. Multiple entries are permitted, but each poem must be submitted individually.
2.7. Entries must be original works written by an individual author.
2.8. Entries should not be on offer to other publications or prizes for the duration of the competition.
2.9. Previously published, or prize-winning poems will not be accepted.
2.10 All entries must be submitted via the entry portal on the South Coast Writers Centre website.
2.11. Submission fee of $15 per poem. Reduced submission fee of $10 per poem for SCWC members.
3. Theme
3.1 The SCWC Poetry Award 2023 seeks poems responding to the theme ‘in colour’.
3.2 “Thinking Through Pink” is the title of the major exhibition at Wollongong Art Gallery from December 2022 - March 2023.
3.3 Poems do not need to respond specifically to the exhibition. The Award invites creative interpretations of the theme.
3.4 The Wollongong Art Gallery will award a voucher of $100 to the poem that is the best specific response to the exhibition.
4. Prize and Publication Details
4.1. The first-place winning entry will receive a $1000 cash prize and the second-place entry will receive a $100 cash prize.
4.2 A special $100 award will be given to the best poem submitted by an SCWC member.
4.2 The Wollongong Art Gallery will award a $100 gallery store voucher to the poem that best responds to the “Thinking Through Pink” exhibition.
4.3. The South Coast Writers Centre will publish all the four winning entries in its 2023 anthology. Poets will retain thhe copyright of these poems and agree to licence them to the SCWC for publication.
4.4 The South Coast Writers Centre reserves the right to not publish the winner or any runners up.
5. Judging Process
5.1. The winning entries will be chosen anonymously by a panel of judges.
5.2. The judges will include Peter Ramm, winner of the 2020 SCWC Poetry Award and SCWC Director Sarah Nicholson.
5.3 In the event of unforeseen circumstances, SCWC reserves the right to change the judging panel.
5.4. SCWC reserves the right not to award a prize if the judges so recommend.
5.5. The longlist will be announced by May 12th. Public announcement of shortlist will take place on 30 June at Wollongong Art . Poetry Award Event with announcement of winners will take place at Wollongong Art Gallery on August 20th.
5.6. The judges’ decision is final and no correspondence will be entered into about the judgements or the judging process.
5.7. SCWC reserves the right to select an alternative winner in the event a winner is unable to satisfy these terms and conditions, forfeits, or does not claim the prize.
6. Privacy
6.1. Personal Information provided to SCWC for the purpose of conducting the competition and notifying the winner will be kept strictly confidential and will not be sold, rented, loaned or otherwise disclosed to a third party otherwise than in accordance with these terms and conditions.