Queensland celebrates poetry festival

Arts Minister Ros Bates today congratulated the winners of two major poetry prizes, at the opening of the 16^th annual Queensland Poetry Festival.

Ms Bates said local, national and international poets were all involved in the event.

“I congratulate Chloe Wilson from Victoria, winner of the Arts Queensland Val Vallis Award for Unpublished Poetry for her poetry suite The Heads of Holofernes,” said Ms Bates.

“Brisbane-based Rachael Briggs, winner of last year’s Val Vallis Award, continues her success by taking out the Arts Queensland Thomas Shapcott Poetry prize for her manuscript Cryptids of the Interior.”

The Val Vallis Award is a national prize for an unpublished poem (or suite of poems) with total prizes valued at $4000, while the $3000 Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize, open to Queenslanders, offered a publishing contract with University of Queensland Press.

Ms Bates said the Queensland Poetry Festival had a strong community focus.

“The festival is part of a network of grass roots organisations and publications created by a team of volunteers and the majority of festival events are free,” she said.

This year for the first time, the Queensland Poetry Festival will extend beyond Brisbane when the festival visits Bundaberg, Gladstone and Rockhampton next week from 27 August to 1 September.

“Three of the festival’s featured poets – Zenobia Frost (QLD), Steve Smart (Vic) and Scott Sneddon, also known as Darkwing Dubs (QLD) – will lead free workshops in libraries and schools, as well as performing alongside local poets.

Ms Bates said the Queensland Government supported the Queensland Poetry Festival with annual funding of $65,000 from Arts Queensland’s small to medium funding program, with additional support of $50,000 for the Arts Queensland Poet in Residence, and further support for the poetry awards.

“This comprehensive poetry program delivers on the Newman Government’s Arts for All Queenslanders commitment to ensure access to the arts across the state,” she said.

Visit queenslandpoetryfestival.com more information on festival events.

[ENDS] 24 August 2012

Media contact: Ken Vernon: 0431 027 017