{"id":989,"date":"2011-10-25T17:18:50","date_gmt":"2011-10-25T06:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/?p=989"},"modified":"2011-10-25T18:56:18","modified_gmt":"2011-10-25T07:56:18","slug":"1st-place-julie-lewis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/?p=989","title":{"rendered":"1st place @ Julie Lewis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>(Peter Cowan)<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Congratulations to Roland Leach<\/a>, this year’s winner of the Julie Lewis awards. (It’s good to be beaten by a poet I’ve heard of!)<\/p>\n

I just received this summary from Peter Cowan Writers Centre:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Under the gaze of magpies high in the pine trees, eleven poems took flight at the Julie Lewis Biennial Literary Award Ceremony for Poetry at the Peter Cowan Writers\u2019 Centre at Joondalup. Last Sunday afternoon this gala day celebrated a diversity of poetry and built on the growing interest in poetry readings and performance events.<\/span><\/h5>\n
\u2018It was really special to hear all these fine poems read aloud,\u2019\u00a0<\/em>said Vivienne Glance, the 2011 Writer in Residence for the Peter Cowan Writers\u2019 Centre. \u2018There was a wide range of poetic styles and subject matter expertly read by the short-listed local poets and other poets like Scott-Patrick Mitchell, Penny Wood and Susan Stevens who read the interstate works. Along with hearing about the poets\u2019\u00a0 inspiration for their writing and the judge\u2019s comments, it was a delightful way to present prize-winning poetry.\u2019<\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n
The judge for this year\u2019s competition was one of Australia\u2019s most successful competition poets, Kevin Gillam. \u2018The stronger of the 212 poems entered into the competition\u2019 said Kevin ,\u2019 exhibited avoidance of clich\u00e9, employment of fresh and invigorating language, careful editing, effective enjambment, attention to form and structure and inventive choice of subject matter.\u2019.<\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n
First prize was awarded to Roland Leach from Cottesloe, Perth, for \u2018My Great Aunt\u2019\u00a0<\/em>which is loosely based on his grandmother who cruised the world when it was unfashionable for women to be so free. The reference to Alfred Wallace, the great naturalist, is a result of Roland\u2019s interest in him and Charles Darwin, but is fictitious. He thinks.\u00a0Kevin observed that, \u2018This is a relatively small poem (15 lines), but a wonderfully succinct, evocative and well edited piece of writing. The choice of diction, repetition and surprising turns of phrase give this poem its edge. I was particularly attracted to the poem\u2019s economy of language yet it\u2019s beautiful and elegant affirmation of life and living. To quote:\u2019<\/em><\/span>
\n \u2026 My great aunt was always looking.<\/span><\/h5>\n
She was a good looker. Took a steamer out of<\/span><\/h5>\n
Liverpool for the islands of the East, imagining<\/span><\/h5>\n
them still as spice islands. Took men of all creed and colour.<\/span><\/h5>\n
Second place was awarded to Rob Walker from Cherry Gardens in \u00a0Adelaide, for\u00a0\u2018Clearing the Caravan\u00a0<\/em>Park\u2019.\u00a0 A few years back one of the caravan parks in a beautiful creek setting near where he worked was sold for development. Over many months Rob watched the residents move out, the site fenced and bulldozed in preparation for its new life as an up-market lifestyle village. The new developers retained the biggest River Red gums and the redeveloped site is still quite beautiful. But it still left a kind of melancholy in him at the way some things are lost whenever there\u2019s change. It\u2019s this feeling of sadness he hoped to capture, beyond a description of the physical. Kevin commented\u00a0\u2018<\/em>This is a poem that displays photo-like images and imaginative lining, coupled with a real clarity of language and concise use of form. The poetic voice is both honest and direct. And the choice of subject matter is particularly engaging.<\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n
A quote from the middle section:\u2019<\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n
small squares of concrete aprons<\/span><\/h5>\n
pads for a cabin or footsteps<\/span><\/h5>\n
to keep mud out of the van.<\/span><\/h5>\n
every small concrete square<\/span><\/h5>\n
a demarcation\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 of one<\/span><\/wbr><\/h5>\n
life.<\/span><\/h5>\n
Third place was awarded to Oliver Driscoll from Abbotsford, Melbourne, for\u00a0\u2018Villefranche de Conflent\u2019.\u00a0<\/em>The quoted material threaded throughout the poem, discussing among other things the dangers of flying across the Pyrenees in a time of primitive aeroplanes, is intended to suggest danger in the protagonist\u2019s own story of walking through the snow. Thus, two vastly different dangerous experiences are brought together\u2014one elaborate, flying between France and Spain in the 1930s, and one very simple, walking, ill-prepared for the weather, in the Pyrenees in more contemporary times. Kevin says that, \u2018this is an elegantly worked poem with succinct use of form. The use of language, the flow, the lining, all work impeccably. This is a poem with clear purpose and narrative structure. A quote\u2026\u2019<\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n
\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018<\/em>We took ships on trial spins, made meek with little hops<\/span><\/h5>\n
between Toulouse and Perpignan<\/span><\/h5>\n
and had dreary lessons in meteorology in a freezing hangar.\u2019<\/span><\/h5>\n
His boyish limbs, no newer than snow, crunched then patted.<\/span><\/h5>\n
Highly Commended awards went to Roland Leach for \u2018Perth\u2019,\u00a0<\/em>Mikaela Castledine, of Kalamunda, Perth,\u00a0 for \u2018Custody\u2019,\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Chris Konrad\u00a0<\/em>of Glen Forest, Perth, for \u2018Keep the Candle Burning\u2019,\u00a0<\/em>and\u00a0Amanda Anastasi from Derrimut, Melbourne, for \u2018First Boats\u2019.<\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n
\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/h5>\n
Commended Awards went to Karen Atkinson of Denmark for\u00a0\u2018The Same old Song\u2019,\u00a0<\/em>Kate Case from Victoria Point, South of Brisbane for\u00a0\u2018<\/em>Hospital Sojourn \u2013 Odious Room 1024\u2019,\u00a0<\/em>Jan Price of Ballarat, Victoria, for \u2018Train\u2019 and\u00a0<\/em>Edward Reilly of Geelong, Victoria for \u2018Blossoms\u2019.<\/span><\/h5>\n
Kind Regards<\/span><\/h5>\n
Peter Cowan Writers Centre<\/span><\/h5>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Rob talking again now) Congrats to all place-getters too!<\/p>\n

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(Peter Cowan)   Congratulations to Roland Leach, this year’s winner of the Julie Lewis awards. (It’s good to be beaten by a poet I’ve heard of!) I just received this summary from Peter Cowan Writers Centre: Under the gaze of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=989"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":998,"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/989\/revisions\/998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.robwalkerpoet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}