Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry
The Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry is awarded annually as part of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for a book of collected poems or for a single poem of substantial length published in book form.[1] It is named after Kenneth Slessor (1901–1971).
The prize currently comes with a A$30,000 cash award.[1]
Winners and shortlists
- Winner: Hasib Hourani – rock flight[2]
- Chris Andrews – The Oblong Plot[3]
- Nam Le – 36 Ways of Writing a Vietnamese Poem
- Jeanine Leane – Gawimarra: Gathering
- Kate Middleton – Television
- Winner: Tais Rose Wae – Riverbed Sky Songs[4]
- Pooja Mittal Biswas – Hunger and Predation[5]
- Willo Drummond – Moon Wrasse
- Libby Hart – Burn
- Caitlin Maling – Spore or Seed
- Omar Sakr – Non-Essential Work
- Winner: Kim Cheng Boey – The Singer and Other Poems[6]
- Adam Aitken – Revenants
- Pam Brown – Stasis Shuffle
- Lisa Gorton – Miribilia
- Sarah Holland-Batt – The Jaguar
- Marjon Mossammaparast – And to Ecstacy
- Winner: Dan Disney – accelerations & inertias[7]
- Eunice Andrada – Take Care[8]
- Evelyn Araluen – Dropbear
- Eileen Chong – A Thousand Crimson Blooms
- John Kinsella – Supervivid Depastoralism
- Bella Li – Theory of Colours
- Winner: Ellen van Neerven – Throat[9][10]
- Jordie Albiston – Element: The Atomic Weight & Radius of Love [11]
- Rebecca Jessen – Ask Me About the Future
- Jill Jones – A History of What I’ll Become
- Jaya Savige – Change Machine
- Winner: Peter Boyle – Enfolded in the Wings of a Great Darkness[12][13]
- Joanne Burns – apparently
- Zenobia Frost – After the Demolition
- Lisa Gorton – Empirical
- Natalie Harkin – Archival-Poetics
- David Malouf – An Open Book
- Winner: Judith Bishop – Interval[14][15]
- Michael Farrell – I Love Poetry
- Penelope Layland – Things I’ve Thought To Tell You Since I Saw You Last
- Philip Neilsen – Wildlife of Berlin
- Mark Reid – Blindside
- Chris Wallace-Crabbe – Rondo
- Winner: Bella Li – Argosy[16]
- Adam Aitken – Archipelago
- Jordie Albiston – Euclid's dog: 100 algorithmic poems
- Rico Craig – Bone Ink
- Nguyễn Tiên Hoàng – Captive and Temporal
- Omar Sakr – These Wild Houses
- Winner: Peter Boyle – Ghostspeaking[17]
- Paul Hetherington – Burnt Umber
- Jill Jones – Breaking the Days
- Antigone Kefala – Fragments
- John Kinsella – Firebreaks: Poems
- Ellen van Neerven – Comfort Foot
- Winner: Joanne Burns – brush[18]
- Lionel Fogarty – Eelahroo (Long Ago), Nyah (Looking), Möbö-Möbö (Future)
- Sarah Holland-Batt – The Hazards
- Meredith Wattison – terra bravura
- Chloe Wilson – Not Fox Nor Axe
- Ouyang Yu – Fainting
- Winner: David Malouf – Earth Hour[19]
- Michael Aiken – A Vicious Example
- Judith Beveridge – Devadatta's Poems
- Anne Elvey – Kin
- Libby Hart – Wild
- John Mateer – Unbelievers, or The Moor
- Winner: Fiona Hile – Novelties, Hunter[20]
- Justin Clemens – The Mundiad, Hunter
- Diane Fahey – The Stone Garden: poems from Clare, Clouds of Magellan
- Liam Ferney – Boom, Grand Parade Poets
- Kate Middleton – Ephemeral Waters, Giramondo Publishing
- Jessica Wilkinson – Marionette: A biography of Miss Marion Davies, Vagabond Press
- Winner: Ali Cobby Eckermann – Ruby Moonlight, Magabala Books[21]
- Kate Fagan – First Light, Giramondo Publishing
- Michael Farrell – Open Sesame, Giramondo Publishing
- Anthony Lawrence – The Welfare of my Enemy, Puncher & Wattman
- Kate Lilley – Ladylike, UWA Publishing
- Vivian Smith – Here, There and Elsewhere, Giramondo Publishing
- Winner: Gig Ryan – New and Selected Poems, Giramondo Publishing[22]
- Ken Bolton – Sly Mongoose, Puncher and Wattman
- Susan Hawthorne – Cow, Spinifex Press
- John Mateer – Southern Barbarians, Giramondo Publishing
- Claire Potter – Swallow, Five Islands Press
- Tracy Ryan – The Argument, Fremantle Press
- Winner: Jennifer Maiden – Pirate Rain, Giramondo Publishing[23]
- Susan Bradley Smith – Supermodernprayerbook, Salt Publishing
- Andy Jackson – Among The Regulars, Papertiger Media Inc
- Jill Jones – Dark Bright Doors, Wakefield Press Pty
- Anna Kerdijk Nicholson – Possession, Five Island Press
- Andy Kissane – Out to Lunch, Puncher and Wattmann
- Winner: Jordie Albiston – The Sonnet According to "M"[24]
- Emily Ballou – The Darwin Poems
- Judith Beveridge – Storm and Honey
- Emma Jones – The Striped World
- Morgan Yasbincek – White Camel
- Winner: LK Holt – Man Wolf Man, John Leonard Press.[25]
- Michael Brennan – Unanimous Night, Salt Publishing
- David Brooks – The Balcony, University of Queensland Press
- Sarah Holland-Batt – Aria, University of Queensland Press
- Kerry Leves – A Shrine To Lata Mangeshkar, Puncher & Wattman
- Alan Wearne – The Australian Popular Songbook, Giramondo
- Winner: Kathryn Lomer – Two Kinds of Silence[26]
- Joanne Burns – an illustrated history of dairies
- Brook Emery – Uncommon Light
- Peter Kirkpatrick – Westering
- David Malouf – Typewriter Music
- Phyllis Perlstone – The Edge of Everything
- Winner: John Tranter – Urban Myths, University of Queensland Press[27]
- Robert Adamson – The Goldfinches of Baghdad, Flood Editions
- Laurie Duggan – The Passenger, University of Queensland Press
- Les Murray – The Biplane Houses, Black Inc.
- Simon West – First Names, Puncher and Wattmann
- Fay Zwicky – Picnic, Giramondo Publishing Company
- Winner: Jaya Savige – Latecomers, University of Queensland Press.[28]
- Aidan Coleman – Avenues & Runways, Brandl & Schlesinger
- Susan Hampton – The Kindly Ones, Five Islands Press
- Jill Jones – Broken/Open, Salt Publishing
- Penelope Layland – Suburban Anatomy, Pandanus Books
- David McCooey – Blister Pack, Salt Publishing
- Winner: Samuel Wagan Watson – Smoke Encrypted Whispers, University of Queensland Press[29]
- M. T. C. Cronin – < More or Less Than> 1–100, Shearsman Books Ltd
- Lidija Cvetkovic – War is Not the Season for Figs, University of Queensland Press
- John Kinsella – Doppler Effect, Salt Publishing
- Dipti Saravanamuttu – The Colosseum, Five Islands Press
- Alan Wearne – The Lovemakers Book Two: Money and Nothing, ABC Books
- Winner: Pam Brown – Dear Deliria: New & Selected Poems, Salt Publishing[30]
- Jordie Albiston – The Fall, White Crane Press
- M. T. C. Cronin – beautiful, unfinished Salt Publishing
- Brook Emery – Misplaced Heart, Five Islands Press
- Philip Hammial – In the Year of Our Lord Slaughter's Children, Island Press
- John Tranter – Studio Moon, Salt Publishing
- Winner: Jill Jones – Screens Jets Heaven[31]
- Alison Croggon – Attempts at Being
- Kate Lilley – Versary
- Emma Lew – Anything the Landlord Touches
- Sarah Day – New and Selected Poems
- Robert Gray – Afterimages
- Winner: Alan Wearne – The Lovemakers, Penguin Books Australia[32]
- Robert Adamson – Mulberry Leaves: New & Selected Poems: 1970–2001, Paper Bark Press
- Martin Harrison – Summer, Paper Bark Press
- Dorothy Hewett – Halfway Up the Mountain, Fremantle Arts Centre Press
- Bronwyn Lea – Flight Animals, University of Queensland Press
- Gig Ryan – Heroic Money, Brandl & Schlesinger
- John Tranter – Ultra, Brandl & Schlesinger
- Winner: Ken Taylor – Africa, Five Islands Press[33]
- Jennifer Compton – Blue, Ginninderra Press
- Brook Emery – and dug my fingers in the sand, Five Islands Press
- Philip Hammial – Bread, Black Pepper
- J. S. Harry – Sun Shadow, Moon Shadow, Vagabond Press
- Wendy Jenkins – Rogue Equations, Fremantle Arts Centre Press
- Winner: Jennifer Maiden – Mines, Paper Bark Press/Australian Humanities Research Foundation[34]
- Richard James Allen – Thursday's Fictions, Five Islands Press
- M. T. C. Cronin – Everything Holy, Balcones International Press
- Jennifer Harrison – Dear B, Black Pepper
- Kevin Hart – Wicked Heat, Paper Bark Press
- John Millett – Iceman, Five Islands Press
1999 and before
Award winners:[35]
- 1999: Lee Cataldi – Race Against Time, Penguin Books Australia
- 1998: no awards were presented
- 1997: Anthony Lawrence – The Viewfinder, University of Queensland Press
- 1996: Eric Beach – Weeping for Lost Babylon, HarperCollins and J. S. Harry – Selected Poems, Penguin Books Australia
- 1995: Peter Boyle – Coming Home From the World, Five Islands Press
- 1994: Barry Hill – Ghosting William Buckley, William Heinemann Australia
- 1993: Les Murray – Translations from the Natural World, Isabella Press
- 1992: Elizabeth Riddell – Selected Poems, Collins Angus & Robertson
- 1991: Jennifer Maiden – The Winter Baby, Collins Angus & Robertson
- 1990: Robert Adamson – The Clean Dark, Paper Bark Press
- 1989: John Tranter – Under Berlin, University of Queensland Press
- 1988: Judith Beveridge – The Domesticity of Giraffes, Black Lightning Press
- 1987: Philip Hodgins – Blood and Bone, Angus & Robertson
- 1986: Robert Gray – Selected Poems 1963-1983, Angus & Robertson[36]
- 1985: Kevin Hart – Your Shadow, Angus & Robertson
- 1984: Les Murray – The People's Otherworld : Poems, Angus & Robertson[37]
- 1983: Vivian Smith – Tide Country, Angus & Robertson[38]
- 1982: Fay Zwicky – Kaddish and Other Poems, University of Queensland Press[39]
- 1981: Alan Gould – Astral Sea, Angus & Robertson[40]
- 1980: David Campbell – The Man in the Honeysuckle, Angus & Robertson[41]
See also
Notes
- ^ a b New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Web page, accessed 5 November 2006
- ^ "Le wins NSW Literary Book of the Year Award". Books+Publishing. 19 May 2025. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ "NSW Literary Awards 2025 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 30 April 2025. Retrieved 30 April 2025.
- ^ Story, Hannah (20 May 2024). "Aboriginal poet wins $40,000 at major literary awards with 'profound' verse novel". ABC News. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
- ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2024 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
- ^ "2023 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
- ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2022 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
- ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2022 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
- ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2021 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- ^ "'Eight jobs at once and no sick days': $60,000 prizes a welcome relief for young writer". www.abc.net.au. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
- ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
- ^ Evans, Kate Evans (26 April 2020). "Novel celebrating Wiradjuri language wins Book of the Year at major literary awards". ABC News. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
- ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2020 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
- ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2019 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
- ^ "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2019 winners announced; Griffiths wins book of the year". Books+Publishing. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
- ^ "2018 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
- ^ "2017 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
- ^ "2016 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
- ^ "2015 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ^ "2014 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ^ "2013 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ^ "2012 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ^ ""Fraser the Cold War warrior joins the literati"". The Age, 17 May 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ ""Herald writer wins top prize for Hamas book"". Sydney Morning Herald, 18 May 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ ""The NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2009"". Parra Reeds, 20 May 2009. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ ""Lost Dog wins NSW literary gong"". AAP Bulletin Wire 2, 19 May 2008. ProQuest 455573294. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ ""2007 NSW Premier's Literary Awards "". Sydney Morning Herald, 30 May 2007. Retrieved 13 September 2025.
- ^ ""NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2006 winners"". Sydney Morning Herald, 24 May 2006. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ ""Ten-year walk down memory lane brings home the bacon"". Sydney Morning Herald, 24 May 2005. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ ""Shanghai surprise"". Sydney Morning Herald, 18 May 2004. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ ""Top prize for tough little book"". Sydney Morning Herald, 20 May 2003. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ ""Lawson of the suburbs finds poetry in ordinary lives"". Sydney Morning Herald, 28 May 2002, p3. ProQuest 363845396. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ ""A boundary writer climbs the mountain"". Sydney Morning Herald, 15 May 2001, p6. ProQuest 363769884. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ ""Aboriginal book floors competition"". Sydney Morning Herald, 16 May 2000. ProQuest 2527651786. Retrieved 14 September 2025.
- ^ New South Wales Ministry of Culture Web site, official list of past winners
- ^ "Premier's prize giving a sober literary affair". Sydney Morning Herald, 17 September 1986, p5. ProQuest 2526321643. Retrieved 23 November 2025.
- ^ "Austlit — The People's Otherworld by Les Murray". Austlit. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
- ^ "Austlit — Tide Country by Vivian Smith". Austlit. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
- ^ "Austlit — Kaddish and Other Poems by Fay Zwicky". Austlit. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
- ^ "Book award goes to 86-year-old". The Age, 8 September 1981,p16. Retrieved 25 November 2025.
- ^ "Austlit — The Man in the Honeysuckle by David Campbell". Austlit. Retrieved 3 September 2023.