Sydney Poetry

A social site for poets in Sydney.

2010 Blake Poetry Prize open for entries

The Blake Prize, now in its third year, is open for entries.

This national award, presented by the Blake Society and the NSW Writers Centre, offers a cash prize of $5,000 for a new poem of up to 100 lines displaying a critical awareness of issues relating to the religious or spiritual. The prize is non-sectarian and poems sympathetic to those concepts are also equally welcome.

It's therefore possible, one imagines, for an atheist to carry off the gong.

Judges for 2010 are

Anna Kerdijk Nicholson
Ron Pretty
Les Wicks

The inaugural Blake Poetry Prize was awarded to Mark Tredennick for “Have You Seen” in 2008 (SMH story), and in 2009 John Watson won for his poem “Four Ways to Approach the Numinous”.

Entries must be received by 5.00pm, Friday 11 June 2010 and the winner will be announced on Thursday 2 September 2010.

Entry forms are available on the Blake Society site. The NSW Writers Centre also has a page with some droll FAQs.