Joanna Preston's debut collection, The Summer King has been shortlisted for Australia's Mary Gilmore Prize

Christchurch based poet, Joanna Preston's debut collection, The Summer King has been shortlisted for Australia's Mary Gilmore Prize for the best first book of poetry by an Australian author.  The Mary Gilmore Prize is given to a first book of poetry from the previous two years; prior to 1998 it was awarded annually. It is conducted by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature (http://asaliterature.com/) and named after the writer and socialist, Dame Mary Gilmore (http://adbonline.anu.edu.au/biogs/A090015b.htm). 
The judging panel for the 2010 Mary Gilmore Prize is Denis Haskell (Chair), Alison Bartlett and Andrew Taylor.
Other shortlisted poets are Emma Jones for The Striped World, Emily Ballou for The Darwin Poems, and Sarah Holland-Batt for Aria.

The judges’ comments mention that:
"Joanna Preston’s title poem, the first in the book, jolts the reader with its imaginativeness and dramatic power, and these qualities are apparent in all the poems that follow. A strong grasp of the actual underlies imaginative representations of both the natural world and the humanly made, generating a dramatic intensity, even in the quieter poems. This is a book of succinct, taut writing that displays a depth of imaginative thought."
High praise indeed for Australian born, but now New Zealand resident, Joanna Preston.

Link here to the shortlist and Interim Report of the Judging Panel:  http://asaliterature.com/?page_id=14 

Link here for Helen Lowe's 2009 review of The Summer King