In partnership with
Rabbit: a journal for nonfiction poetry
we are thrilled to announce the launch of the
The 2022 Venie Holmgren Environmental Poetry Prize
Submissions close August 10, 2022
Major Prize: AUD$1000
About the judges
Georgina Woods
Joel Davison
Georgina Woods is a poet and environmentalist living on Worimi and Awabakal land, in Mulloobinba/Newcastle.
She has a PhD in English literature from Newcastle University and works in environmental advocacy. Her poems and essays have appeared in journals and anthologies including Overland, Cordite and Plumwood Mountain and her first book of poetry, The Tide Will Take It is published by Puncher and Wattman.
Joel Davison is a Gadigal and Dunghutti poet, technologist and sustainable fashion entrepreneur.
About Venie
In her late 50’s Venie Holmgren began to write poetry and her first published anthology, The Sun Collection for the Planet in 1989, became a poetry ‘best seller’. At the same time, she applied her environmental activist skills and commitment to the campaign to save native forests near her home on the far south coast of NSW, where she was arrested twice for obstructing log trucks.
After 16 years of solo self-reliant living she moved to the local town of Pambula where she penned her travel memoir, several more books of poetry and travelled widely as a performance poet.
In 2010 Venie moved to Hepburn where she wrote her last poetry collection, The Tea-house Poems. In January 2016, Venie ‘caught the bus’ at the age of 93 .
You can read more of Venie’s life here.
Entry terms and conditions
Major prize: AUD$1000
All entries must be received by 11.59 pm EST, Wednesday August 10, 2022. The winner will be announced at the Words in Winter festival in Daylesford on Sunday August 28 2022. The judges for the 2022 competition are Georgina Woods and Joel Davison.
- Entrants must be citizens of Australia or have permanent resident status in Australia.
- Poems must be unpublished (including online) and not under consideration by other publishers.
- Poems that have won or are under consideration in other competitions are not eligible.
- Poems must have an environmental theme.
- All poems must be written in English. No images, videos or audio files.
- The winning poems will be published on www.holmgren.com.au and in Rabbit.
- An entry fee of $10 will be charged and is payable via credit card. An email will be sent as confirmation once the money has been received.
- The name of the poet must not appear on the manuscript (including the header, footer or file name) since all poems will be considered anonymously.
- Poems must be no more than 80 lines of text.
- Multiple entries are permitted, though a $10 fee applies to each poem.
- Please ensure you are satisfied with your poem before submitting. Poems that are resubmitted will incur a second fee.
- The competition closes 11.59 pm EST, Wednesday August 10, 2022.
- Selection will be made by the judges. The judges’ decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into.
Submissions
Submissions for the 2022 Venie Prize have now closed. Thank you to all those who entered.
The winner will be announced at the 2022 Daylesford Words in Winter festival on Sunday August 28 at 4.30pm. Book your place here.
Submissions
Please complete a separate form for each submission.
Just a reminder that your name MUST NOT appear on the document (including the header or footer) since all poems will be considered anonymously. Many thanks.
Accepted file formats: .pdf .doc or .docx
Submission Fee: $10:00