2024 Newcastle Poetry Prize Winners Announced

Hunter Writers’ Centre is delighted to announce poet Christopher (Kit) Kelen has taken home the first prize of the 2024 Newcastle Poetry Prize, valued at $15,000.

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The winners were announced at a gathering of poets and poetry lovers on Saturday 21st September at the University of Newcastle’s state-of-the-art Q Building.

The winners of the 2024 Newcastle Prize are:

First Prize: Christopher (Kit) Kelen, ‘Dombóvár’

Second Prize: Verity Laughton, ‘Welcome Swallow'

Third prize: Jenny Pollak, ‘Tornados, and other disasters’

Highly Commended Prizes: Verity Oswin, ‘Glass Creek’ Jo Gardiner, ‘The Grasscutters’

Harri Jones Memorial Prize: Andrew Menken, ‘Lake Days’

HWC Member Award: Mark Tredinnick, ‘A Godwit Sonnet Cycle’

2024 Judges, Caitlin Maling and Peter Boyle said about the winning poem, “One of the difficult aspects of choosing winners was the comparison of very different kinds of poems. We wanted to judge each poem on its own terms and not apply any singular aesthetic too rigorously. The winning poem, ‘Dombóvár’ [...] skilfully integrates thoughtful reflection on important issues, humour, inventiveness and an engaging partly colloquial tone.”

University of Newcastle Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) and Vice-President, Professor Mark Hoffman said, “Congratulations to Christopher, and all candidates who made it to the final shortlist — an impressive achievement and a significant acknowledgment of their craft. The University of Newcastle is proud to champion Australian poets through our support of the Newcastle Poetry Prize — an important platform for established and emerging voices to be heard and appreciated.”

Hailing from Markwell, New South Wales, Mr Kelen, when told he'd won the 2024 Newcastle Poetry Prize, said, "It's my work today to be annoyingly joyous. I feel like I'm living in a time I could only have imagined until now. All these years, I've been circling this thing like a hawk. And now this, friends, is the victory of persistence over complacence, of faith in one's own judgment over faith in some Platonist perfectionist nonsense about an idea in the in the head of some ideal judge."

The competition results have also been published on our website at: https://hunterwriterscentre.org/2024-newcastle-poetry-prize/

The accompanying 2024 Newcastle Poetry Prize Anthology, Dombóvár, showcases the best of Australian poetry. The anthology presents the shortlisted poems from the 2024 competitions, as well as the Award-winning title piece, “Dombóvár” by Kit Kelen. The 2024 Anthology is available for purchase from the Hunter Writers’ Centre website. 

More about Kit Kelen here: Kit Kelen (website)