Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards 2020 competition open for entries

The new award - named after the poet's nearby former family residence - is being established by the Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society to encourage more local youth and schools to enter the long-running competition.

It is aimed at schools within a 100km radius of Gunnedah and there is a $250 prize for the best primary school and also the best secondary school.

"We're hoping this will spark interest, so it's pretty exciting," awards project officer Brittany Riley said.

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The 2020 poetry competition was launched on Sunday, along with this year's optional theme, 'We used to live there'.

Ms Riley said it was an "imaginative" theme and conjured images of "home and belonging".

"We'll see what comes up in poems. It will be quite interesting," she said.

Award categories include lower primary (K-year 3), upper primary (years 4-6), assisted learning primary and secondary, junior secondary years 7-9, senior secondary (years 10-12), schools' award and the David Maher Award.

The David Maher Award was introduced in 2018 for small schools in regional areas with 30 students or fewer, and no more than two teachers.

The prize is sponsored by ex-regional director of education for the New England North West Region, David Maher, who felt smaller schools should be acknowledged within the awards.