Mattara Poetry Prize
Subcategory of Awards — Australian Awards
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History

Now known as the Newcastle Poetry Prize. 

In September 1980, Peter Goldman stood in the middle of Civic Park, Newcastle, during the Mattara Festival and handed out an A4 photocopied anthology of poetry to passers-by. The collection featured poems from local Hunter writers, with contributors ranging in age from six to eighty one. This humble anthology paved the way for the first official Mattara Poetry Prize in 1981.

(https://hunterwriterscentre.org/2018/03/20/about-newcastle-poetry-2018/)

Notes

  • Mattara Poetry Prize began in 1981 and each year until 1991 a $10,000.00 prize was awarded for a single unpublished poem. Then there was a three year break and in 1995 the competition emerged in its present incarnation as the Newcastle Poetry Prize.

Latest Winners / Recipients

Year: 1991

joint winner (Under Twenty-Five Section) National Geographic Photos i "Almost invisible, the screen", Judith Bishop , 1991 single work poetry
— Appears in: The Sea's White Edge 1991; (p. 22-23) Shared with Deborah Staines, Venus Port : Blood and Soil Myth : Part 1 (Anna) and Part II (Anna)
winner (Open Section) The Upside-Down Sonnets i "2 days with you", Dorothy Hewett , 1991 single work poetry
— Appears in: The Sea's White Edge 1991; (p. 51-64) Peninsula 1994; (p. 95-103) Collected Poems : 1940-1995 1995; (p. 364-370) Western Australian Writing : An Online Anthology 2003; Australian Poetry Library 2004-; Completely Surrounded : Thirty Years of the Newcastle Poetry Prize 1981-2011 2011; (p. 124-131)

Year: 1989

winner (Under Twenty-Five Section) In Between the Going - I Came i "In reach now, that piece of river always with new waters", Gabrielle Daviau , 1989 single work poetry
— Appears in: Pictures from an Exhibition 1989; (p. 34-35)

Year: 1988

winner Kristopher Saknussemm Bicentennial award
winner (Under Twenty-Five Section) Feasting with Solipsists Robert Carver , 1988 single work poetry
— Appears in: The International Terminal and Other Poems 1988; (p. 15-19)

Year: 1987

joint winner Imitations of Han-Shan i "I should cry but I laugh-", Dane Thwaites , 1987 single work poetry
— Appears in: Properties of the Poet and Other Poems 1987; (p. 134-143) Completely Surrounded : Thirty Years of the Newcastle Poetry Prize 1981-2011 2011; (p. 97-102)
joint winner I : Through the Doors i "A ball thrown into this court unawares", Tracy Ryan , 1987 single work poetry
— Appears in: Properties of the Poet and Other Poems 1987; (p. 105) Kiwi and Emu : An Anthology of Contemporary Poetry by Australian and New Zealand Women 1989; (p. 205-206)

Year: 1986

winner Poland i "I look at my feet", Lily Brett , 1986 single work poetry
— Appears in: An Inflection of Silence and Other Poems 1986; (p. 11-26) Poland and Other Poems 1987; (p. 5,7-8,9,11,12-13,14,15,25-26,35-37,44-45,55,57-58,60,61,63 and 67) Completely Surrounded : Thirty Years of the Newcastle Poetry Prize 1981-2011 2011; (p. 75-95)
VIEW ALL LISTED RECIPIENTS (24)

Works About this Award

Mattara Poetry Prize Paul Kavanagh , 1992 single work criticism
— Appears in: Refrain : Poetry Review 1992; (p. 23)
Author Takes to the Road on Sales Tour Robert Hefner , 1991 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 28 April 1991; (p. 27)
Talent in Poetry Earns Reward T. H. Naisby , 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Newcastle Herald , 11 February 1989; (p. 9)
Bennett Wins Mattara Prize 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 7 October 1989; (p. B5)
Poetry Prize Winners Named 1989 single work criticism
— Appears in: The Newcastle Herald , 30 September 1989; (p. 4)
VIEW ALL WORKS ABOUT (12)
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