27th November 2013
The winner of the 2013 Kathleen Grattan Prize for a
Sequence of Poems, run by International Writers’ Workshop NZ Inc, has
been announced.
Judges Stu Bagby and Jenny Cole were
unanimous in their decision that Belinda Diepenheim be awarded the $1250 prize
for her sequence Bittercress and Flax.
Maris O’Rourke was runner up with her sequence Wanderings.
The sequence Bitterness and Flax comprises some eighteen poems. Nine are based
upon the Nine Herbs Charm used during
the 10th century, with the second nine written around medicinal
plants used by Maori and the early settlers in New Zealand.
The judges commented that Belinda’s work
was “an intelligent and satisfying composition which draws the reader in and
holds their interest. Many segments work as stand-alone poems, often wry. The
characteristics of herbs and natives interchange with our own attitudes and
actions. The poems in the sequence work well together ... the use of language
is deft and economical with varied structure.”
Belinda Diepenheim lives in Ashhurst and
has had her poetry published in Takahe,
Landfall, Poetry NZ and in various New Zealand and international magazines
and ezines. She completed the Iowa Poetry Workshop at Victoria University and
joined IWW in 2011.
International Writers’ Workshop NZ Inc
(IWW) was founded in 1976 by poet Hilda B. Whyte and meets twice a month from
February to November at the Lake House Arts Centre in Takapuna. IWW’s main aim
is to inspire writers by means of workshops and competitions.
The Kathleen
Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems has been made possible by a bequest
from the Jocelyn Grattan Charitable Trust.
It is one of the two poetry competitions funded by the Trust, the other
being the prestigious Kathleen Grattan
Award run by the publishers of Landfall magazine.
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