Poetry Prize – Helen Bell Poetry Bequest Award 2013

The Department of English at the University of Sydney is pleased to announce that the first biennial award under the Helen Anne Bell Poetry Bequest  will be made in 2013.  Under the terms of Helen Anne Bell’s will, a cash prize of $5,000 will be offered for the best collection of 30 poems by a female poet over the age of 18.  Applicants must be Australian, and the poems submitted must be “about Australian culture,” broadly defined.

The submitted poems should not previously have been published in collected book form, whether in print or on the virtual domain.  The successful applicant must agree to give a public reading of their work at the University of Sydney, and the Bell bequest will also pay for the production and distribution by the University of Sydney of a chapbook or book of poetry by the winning poet.

The closing date for entries is 1 February 2013.  Please send 3 copies of the manuscript entries, with a covering letter, to Judith Beveridge, Department of English (A20), University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.  All entries must be in hard copy; e-mail attachments are not acceptable.  Three judges will be appointed.

The winner will be announced at the Department of English’s awards ceremony in May 2013.

Enquiries to: Judith.Beveridge@sydney.edu.au