$1000 Poetry Prize announced

International Writers' Workshop NZ Inc (IWW)  is delighted to announce that due to an ongoing bequest from the Jocelyn Grattan Charitable Trust the Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems will take place again later this year.

The competition is for a cycle or sequence of poems that has a common link or theme and is open to current and honorary members of IWW.  The rules for the competition and details of how to join are available from the IWW website: www.iww.co.nz although for new members to become eligible to enter the 2015 Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems, application for membership must be received by the third Tuesday in June.

The competition closes on the 1^st Tuesday in October and the winner is announced on the 3^rd Tuesday in November. The winner will receive a prize of $1000.

This is the seventh time this poetry competition will be held with previous winners being Julie Ryan (2014), Belinda Diepenheim (2013), James Norcliffe (2012), Jillian Sullivan (2011) Janet Charman and Rosetta Allan (joint winners 2010) and Alice Hooton (2009).

IWW is delighted to announce that Rosetta Allan, (right), a previous winner of the prize, will judge the competition this year. 

Rosetta is an Auckland-based writer who grew up in Hawke’s Bay. Her first poetry collection, Little Rock, was released in 2007, and her second volume, Over Lunch, in 2010. Her poetry and essays have appeared in publications and anthologies in New Zealand, Australia and USA, and in online literary journals. Her most recent publication, Purgatory, is a historical fiction novel based on the Otahuhu Murders of 1865, published by Penguin Books NZ June 2014.

The Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems is sometimes referred to as the 'Little Grattan' as the Jocelyn Grattan Charitable Trust also funds the biennial Kathleen Grattan Award, run by Landfall / Otago University Press.

In addition to the Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems, IWW holds six or seven writing competitions a year for members. These cover fiction, non-fiction, children's stories and a single poem. Workshops take place on the first and third Tuesdays of the month in Northcote.

Key Dates

June 16: Last day for new members to join IWW to be eligible to enter the 2015 Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems

October 6: Closing date for entries in the 2015 Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems

November 17: Announcement of the winner of the 2015 Kathleen Grattan Prize for a Sequence of Poems

For further information about the Prize or IWW in general, contact IWW President Sue Courtney, email iww-writers@outlook.com or phone (09) 426 6687.