Cirrus@Austlit

'Now in its fifth edition, Award Winning Australian Writing (AWAW) continues its commitment to showcasing the best short stories and poems that have won competitions around the country. This year, Melbourne Books is again expanding the project, increasing the number of featured pieces to over fifty. AWAW 2012 will also proudly include a foreword by Mark Tredinnick, winner of the 2011 Montreal Poetry Prize and the 2012 Cardiff International Poetry Prize, and author of The Blue Plateau, Fire Diary and nine other acclaimed works of poetry and prose.AWAW's four editions have been received very favourably, with support from Lisa Dempster (Emerging Writers' Festival director), Philip Rainford (Fellowship of Australian Writers president), and authors Arnold Zable and Delia Falconer, all of whom have written forewords for the book. The critic Matthew Lamb, in The Australian, commended the "invaluable service" AWAW offers to the literary community, while, in The Age, reviewer Lorien Kaye celebrates that AWAW gives readers a chance "to value these winners". Similar sentiments are expressed by author Irma Gold, who wrote in Overland that AWAW is "a must read"; The Age critic Cameron Woodhead, who noted that "some of the contributions possess startling power"; and critic Patrick Allington, who praised the "impressive new voices" and "energy and inventiveness" collected in the book.The 2012 edition will feature the work of both emerging and established authors, including Ron Pretty, Susan McCreery, Lisa Jacobson, Kevin Gillam, Laura Jean McKay and A. S. Patric. Competitions appearing in the 2012 edition include:* Lord Mayor's Creative Writing Awards* Sydney Poetry Prize* The Age Short Story Competition* Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize* Katharine Susannah Prichard Awards* Overland Judith Wright Poetry Prize* ANU Short Story Competition' (Publication summary)
 

' In The Times Literary Supplement, David Wheatley calls Robert Adamson "one of the finest Australian poets at work today." NET NEEDLE brings together the presiding influences of his life, early and late. He casts an affectionate eye on the Hawkesbury fishermen who "stitched their lives into my days," childhood escapades, lost literary comrades, the light and tides of the river, and the ambiance of his youth. Throughout, he is characteristically attuned to the natural world, sketching encounters both intimate and strange. These are poems of clear-eyed vision and mastery, borne of long experience, alert and at ease. As Michael Palmer observes, "Eye and ear, none better." ' (Publication summary)