By Tyler Wright
With poets of all backgrounds and styles able to enter their work into the international competition, entries for the Woorilla Poetry Prize are open once again.
Now in its 31st year, submissions opened on 1 June, with founder Maria Millers expecting “hundreds” of submissions.
“Poetry tackles all the problems and worries and joys of our very turbulent world,” Ms Millers said.
“When we first started we got a lot of entries from the area, from the Dandenongs and Melbourne, but as the years went by, we started to get more and more entries and winners from all over Australia.”
The Woorilla Poetry Prize began in 1989 as the Woorilla literary journal before Managing Editor Ms Millers proposed to hold a poetry prize after an influx of submissions.
Joined by the late Louise Rockne – then publisher of Poetry chapbook – the first Woorilla Poetry Prize was held at the Pirianda Gardens in Olinda and supported by Parks Victoria.
The first judge was acclaimed poet and academic Judith Rodriguez, who remained as the main judge until her death in 2018.
The prize is now held in Emerald, with Melbourne University professor Kevin Brophy and Alicia Sometimes returning as judges in 2023 after a stint in 2022.
“It’s an interesting thing that a small group of people can find themselves running an international poetry prize,” Ms Millers said.
In 2022, New South Whales’s Tug Dumbly won the Judith Rodriguez Open Section for his poem ‘Pod’.
Jacob Laba from California, USA, was named the winner in the poetry prize’s Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Section for his poem ‘I don’t know how to listen,’ with Jenny Gu taking home the top prize in the Louise Rockne Youth Section for her poem ‘verisimilitude’.
The winner of the Judith Rodriguez Open Section takes home $3,000, with $300 available for the winners in the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse and Louise Rockne Youth sections in 2023.
Ms Millers said there is a misconception that poetry subject matter is limited to “poetic subjects”.
“That’s not true. You can write about anything in poetry,” she said.
“The environment is a very strong theme… and also women’s issues; women trying to find their place in a different world.”
Entries for this year’s competition close on 30 September 2023, with the awards ceremony held on 19 November.
Entrants in the Open section will need to pay $20 per poem entry.
Those entering into the Youth section (12 to 18 years) are able to enter four poems at no cost, with additional entries costing $5 per poem.
CALD youth aged 12 to 18 years old, who have spoken english for five years or less, will also be able to submit four poems for free with any additional entries costing $5 each.
Those interested in volunteering for the event can email woorilla@y7mail.com.
For more information, visit https://www.woorilla.org.au/
