Today I received the below information from Chris Mansell at PressPress:

PressPress Chapbook Award 2009

The news is that after a successful Award in 2008 the PressPress Chapbook Award will run again in 2009!

Last year’s Award had entries from all Australian states, as well as China, Turkey, Poland and New Zealand with one bilingual manuscript. There was a great standard overall which is good for the state of poetry and judges are happy to see innovation and risks taken with the entries. Carolyn Fisher’s manuscript, The Unsuspecting Sky, was the winner and was published in October 2008. It was Carolyn’s first chapbook and has been well received – especially in her home state of Tasmania.

Here’s where you go for the entry form and the conditions of entry are here

I received an email this week from the folks at the Mines Advisory Group:

With landmines still threatening the lives and security of thousands around the world, a UK-based poetry group is looking to use creative writing as a way of raising funds for life-saving humanitarian work.

Peter Hartey, who pioneered the Manchester poetry forum ‘Poetic Republic’, has launched an ambitious online poetry competition with proceeds going to the aid of the UK landmine charity, MAG (Mines Advisory Group)

The competition will enable aspiring and established poets from across the globe to submit their on-line entries for the MAG Poetry Prize with proceeds going towards clearance and development work in countries affected by landmines and unexploded ordnance. The prize fund accumulates at the rate of £2 per entry up to a maximum of £10,000.

This knockout competition will be run in a unique way with poets themselves judging the entries of their fellow participants rather than a panel of judges. “The winning poems will not reflect the taste of one or two individuals but rather the wider group” said competition organizer Peter Hartey.

“This is truly an online poetry contest that harnesses the huge judging potential that the pool of entrants represents,” says Peter. “Whilst it is a “competition”, more importantly, it’s a fun and creative way for people to learn from their fellow poets.”

“Landmines still kill and maim thousands of people across the globe,” said MAG Chief Executive Lou McGrath. “We are extremely impressed with the efforts of Peter and Poetic Republic and grateful for these much needed funds for our clearance work.”

For more details and to submit an entry, visit www.poeticrepublic.com
The closing date for the competition is 30th April 2009.

MAG is a neutral and impartial humanitarian organisation clearing the remnants of conflict for the benefit of communities worldwide. MAG is co-laureate of the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize, awarded for its work with the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (ICBL), which culminated in the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty – the international agreement that bans antipersonnel landmines.

Poetic Republic is a Manchester based not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of the poetic arts and humanitarian causes.

It’s a big competition with a very reasonable entry fee for a damn good cause, so do think about entering!

A recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald sees Jack Thompson examining the influence of Banjo Paterson. He also makes a small understatement:

In this day and age, I feel that poetry is often an underappreciated art form in Australia. These days it is sometimes seen as too “arty” and perhaps not a suitable interest for real “blokes”.

Indeed.