The Blake Poetry Prize is an Australian poetry prize for a new work of 100 lines or less, focused on non-sectarian spiritual and religious topics, connected to the Blake Prize, an art prize. The prize, worth A$5,000, is presented biennially by the Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (CPAC) in conjunction with the bookshop Westwords.
History edit
The prize was established in 2008 by the Blake Society in conjunction with the New South Wales Writers' Centre (now Writing NSW),[1] funded by Leichhardt Council in Sydney. The Blake Prize takes its name from visionary poet and artist William Blake.[2][3]
After the Blake Society had lost sponsorship for its art prizes in 2015, CPAC and Liverpool City Council announced that they would be funding and managing the prizes from 2016, with the exhibition and awards moving to Casula in Western Sydney.[4][5]
From 2017, it was intended that Liverpool City Library in conjunction with CPAC, would deliver the Blake Poetry Prize as a biennial event.[6] However, WestWords (Western Sydney's Literature Development Organisation) took over the partnership from the library.[7][8]
Description edit
A A$5,000 prize is offered every two years for a new poem of 100 lines or less exploring a non-sectarian religious or spiritual theme.[7]
Winners edit
- 2008: Mark Tredinnick – "Have You Seen"[2]
- 2009: John Watson – "Four Ways to Approach the Numinous"[2]
- 2010: Tasha Sudan – "Rahula"[2]
- 2011: Robert Adamson – "Via Negativa, The Divine Dark"[9]
- 2012: Graham Kershaw – "Altar Rock"[2]
- 2013: Anthony Lawrence – "Appellations"[2]
- 2014: Dave Drayton – "Threnodials"[2]
- 2017: Julie Watts – "The Story of Julian who never knew that we loved him"[6][2]
- 2020: Judith Nangala Crispin – "On Finding Charlotte in the Anthropological Record"[10]
References edit
- ^ "The Blake Prize Exhibition". School of Art & Design. 16 November 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f g h "Blake Poetry Prize". AustLit. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ "About the Blake Poetry Prize". Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ Fairley, Gina (23 July 2015). "Blake Prize for religious art resurrected". ArtsHub Australia. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ Taylor, Andrew (8 December 2014). "Blake Prize for religious art under threat". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Blake Poetry Prize 2017". Casula Powerhouse. 2019. Archived from the original on 5 October 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ a b "Blake Poetry Prize 2021". WestWords. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ "The Blake Poetry Prize". Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
- ^ "2011 Blake Poetry Prize winner announced". Books+Publishing. 18 September 2011. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
- ^ "Crispin awarded 2020 Blake Poetry Prize". Books+Publishing. 22 September 2020. Archived from the original on 2 October 2020. Retrieved 22 September 2020.