Final results of the 2017 Nakata Brophy Prize!


The Nakata Brophy Short Fiction and Poetry Prize recognises the talent of young Indigenous writers across Australia. Sponsored by the University of Melbourne’s Trinity College, the prize alternates each year between fiction and poetry; this year’s prize is for the best poem (up to 88 lines) by an Indigenous writer under 30.

First place is $5000, publication in Overland’s print magazine, and a three-month writing residency at Trinity College, the oldest student residence at the University of Melbourne; two runner-up prizes are also awarded.

Overland, Trinity College and the judges for the 2017 competition – Jeanine Leane, Toby Fitch and Gayle Allan – are pleased to announce the three writers who placed in the 2017 competition:

First place:

‘haunted house’ – Raelee Lancaster

Raelee Lancaster‘haunted house’ is a poem about hauntings – in the Land, in homes, and in people.

Raelee Lancaster is a shortlisted poet, research assistant, and creative producer currently based in Brisbane. Raised on Awabakal land, with ties to the Wiradjuri nation. Her work has featured in Rabbit, Westerly: Flux, Voiceworks, and on stages in and around Brisbane.

 

Runner-up:

‘A dance of hands’ – Kirli Saunders

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA‘A dance of Hands’ was written with gratitude for a love that is no longer.

Kirli Saunders is a proud Gunai woman. She is the Manager of Poetic Learning and Cultural Liaison at Red Room Poetry. Kirli founded the Poetry in First Languages project. Her first children’s picture book The Incredible Freedom Machines has been selected for Bologna Book Fair 2018.

 

Runner-up:

‘revolve’ – Susie Anderson

Susie AndersonI’ve been pulling together moon moments for years, but there was a line in Margaret Atwood’s Surfacing that became the glue for this piece about ceremony and story from Western Vic culture – the story of Gnowee – and moon mythology from other nations, like Tiwi artist Timothy Cook’s paintings of Kulama: ‘The earth rotates, holding my body down to it as it holds the moon’.

Susie Anderson is a Wergaia and Wemba Wemba woman from Western Victoria and currently lives in Sydney. She has performed at local and international poetry events including LitCrawl Wellington and the Emerging Writers Festival in Melbourne. In 2016 she was a resident at the Banff Centre in Canada and in 2014 had a Wheeler Centre Hot Desk Fellowship. Selected publications include Runway Magazine, Running Dog, Rabbit Poetry, Australian Book Review, Voiceworks and The Lifted Brow.

 

Congratulations to these writers, and thanks to all those who submitted to this year’s Nakata Brophy Prize. Note that the 2018 prize will open 1 December and will be awarded to the best short story.

Lead image: Hosier and Rutledge Lane, Melbourne / flickr

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