Students, parents and poetry enthusiasts gathered for the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards at the Civic on Friday.
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Special guests included judges Sophie Masson and Stephen Whiteside, and patrons Mark Vaile, Peter Shergold and Margaret White.
The guest speaker was renowned journalist Heather Ewart, who told the award winners about the importance of words.
“It’s wonderful to have a competition like this to encourage kids to write poetry,” Ms Ewart said.
“I told the kids to pursue what they love because invariably that will lead to good things.”
Hosted by the Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society, the awards were a success, according to president Philippa Murray.
“The highlight, as always, was the poetry,” Ms Murray said.
“[There’s] no greater thrill than hearing the winners recite their poems, as nervous as they may be. It was wonderful.
“I think the incisive and inspirational comments from the patrons were a highlight.”
Among the 2016 award winners was Sarah Jaeger who has won two awards in three years.
Sarah Jaeger won the upper primary section in 2014, and the junior secondary section this year with a poem about how much she missed her childhood home of Tamania.
“The judge [Stephen Whiteside] said he struggled to get through it all without tearing up,” Sarah said.
“He said it was an utterly gorgeous poem.”
Sarah’s winning poem in 2014 was about the Holocaust. She said her poems are changing as she gets older.
“My point of view widens as I get older, as I learn more about the world,” she said.
The awards attracted almost 12,000 entries this year in nine categories, including the multicultural NSW award.
Each year the winners have been presented with trophies individually made by local or regional artists.
This year Gulargambone-based artist Alison Dent used recycled steel and timber burls to create small Wilga trees.
Ms Murray said the trophies were “sure to be cherished” by the recipients.
To view the award results and the poems, visit http://www.dorothea.com.au/Poetry-Archive