ACU winner
Congratulations to Canberra poet Geoff Page, the 2020 winner of the ACU Prize for Poetry for his entry Jericho. His winning poem was selected ahead of Footprints by Fiona Lynch from Elwood in Victoria ($5000 second prize) and Atlas Carried the World by Damen O'Brien from Wynnum in Queensland ($3000 third prize). Page took out second prize in 2019 and first prize in 2017.
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Blake winner
The Blake Poetry Prize 2020 has been awarded to Judith Nangala Crispin's On Finding Charlotte in the Anthropological Record. Judith Nangala Crispin is a poet and visual artist of Bpangerang descent, and is poetry editor of The Canberra Times. She is also the author of two additional published collections of poems, The Myrrh-Bearers (Puncher & Wattmann, 2015), and The Lumen Seed (Daylight Books, 2017). The judges said, "Charlotte, a prose poem about identity. stood out with its form, imagery, importance and its truth. It is a poem about a meeting across boundaries of space and time, weighted with the erasure of identity and song lines, of a legacy of broken families, racism and discovery. It is an important Australian poem, tender, real, conversational, she is telling us a story and we enter every word, every vivid image. A poem that all Australians should take the time to read."
Meet the author
September 28: From 6 to 7pm, Andrew Leigh and Nick Terrell will be in conversation on their new book, Reconnected. A Community Builder's Handbook, about why Australians need social connection and community and how to create it.
October 1: From 5.30 to 6.30pm, Emma Dawson, Janet McCalman and Andrew Leigh will be in conversation on What Happens Next, essays with a framework aimed at improving Australian lives and global sustainability.
October 7: From 6 to 7pm, Jane Harper will be in conversation with Anna Creer on Harper's new crime novel, The Survivors, set in a small Tasmanian coastal community.
October 21: From 6 to 7 pm Robert Dessaix will be in conversation with Caroline Baum on Dessaix's new book, The Time of Our Lives, on the art of growing old well
Registrations at anu.edu.au/events.
Other events
September 25: At 6.30pm join award-winning YA author Christie Nieman in conversation with fellow author Miriam Sved about her new fiction, Where We Begin. Readings: readings.com.au/event/christie-nieman-in-conversation.
That Poetry Thing
September 28: Robert Verdon's collection a spiral life (Resurgam Press) will be launched by Paul Hetherington at Smith's. Anna Forsyth will Zoom in from New Zealand as the second featured poet. Entry in person (limited numbers) and by Zoom. Open mic.
October 5: The third of Geoff Page's series at Smith's will feature Lisa Brockwell from northern NSW, Moya Pacey from Canberra and Adrian Caesar from the South Coast. Introduced by John Foulcher standing in for Page who'll be away from his computer. Entry in person (limited numbers) and by Zoom. No open mic.
October 12: Triple launch: Wild Curious Air by Jill Jones, Night by Penelope Layland and Doggerland by Moya Pacey.
Physical admission: $10 waged, $5 unwaged (20 people only, paid online in advance via Smith's Alternative Calendar). 7pm at Smiths Alternative Bookshop, 76 Alinga Street, Civic (Melbourne Building). Zoom readings will also start at 7pm and will finish by 9pm at the latest. Log-on information will be sent shortly beforehand. No open mic. Technical inquiries: SmithsPoetryThing@gmail.com.
A Brush With Poetry
September 27: A Brush with Poetry, usually in Binalong, is now online. Hear contemporary and traditional voices at the free open mic soirée. 1.30 for 2pm. Link to event on Binalong Arts Group Inc Facebook page or via email. Contact: robynsykespoet@gmail.com / 0401 289 178. All welcome.
Harry Hartog events
September 30: Invisible & Unseen: A Conversation with Kylie Maslen (Show Me Where It Hurts) and Jacinta Parsons (Unseen) will be live streamed at 6.30pm via Zoom. Spaces are limited. harryhartog.com.au/events.
October 7: No Matter Our Wreckage: A Conversation with Gemma Carey & Ginger Gorman will be live streamed via Zoom at 6.30. More information and tickets: harryhartog.com.au/events.
Muse
October 25: Reading on the Margins - Book Club is on at 3pm. Join co-hosts of the podcast Margin Notes, Yen Eriksen and Zoya Patel, for their bi-monthly book club. musecanberra.com.au.
Poetry Prize
Australian Book Review is calling for entries in the 17th Peter Porter Poetry Prize, one of Australia's most lucrative and respected awards for poetry. First prize is $6000 and four other shortlisted poets will receive $1000 each. Entry is open to all poets writing in English, until midnight on October 1, 2020. Entries must be an original single-authored poem of not more than 70 lines written in English. The five shortlisted poems will be published in the January-February 2021 issue and the winner will be announced at a ceremony in January. australianbookreview.com.au.
- Submissions for Lit Bits should be sent by Monday COB in the week of publication, with date in the subject line. Publication is not guaranteed. litbits@canberratimes.com.au.