The 2019 Venie Prize Winner

Thank you to all the poets who took the time to compose and send in poems to the 2019 Venie Holmgren Environmental Poetry Prize – we received 192 entries. The content of the poems was beautifully varied: some were engaging, some funny, some sad, delicate, considerate, angry, political, provocative…

A huge thank you to Claire Coleman + Kevin Brophy for judging the Prize, and to Claire for coming along to Sunday’s Words in Winter event where the winners were announced. You can read the judge’s report here.

Without further ado, this year’s winners are:

Winner
Hailey Bonner – God instructs His Angels to Burn the Notre Dame

Commended
Kristen Lang – A Heart Like This
A. Frances Johnson – The Poem After Forests

The Packing Room Prize (as chosen by the Holmgren Design office staff)
Kiara Lindsay – Greengage Plums in Preston

Words in Winter festival co-director Maia Irell welcomes everyone to the Prize presentation.

Event MC Cate Kennedy announces the Prize winner and commended poems.

Claire Coleman reads the winning poem and two commended poems.

 . .

Kiara Lindsay reads her Packing Room Prize winning poem.

A huge thank you to the Venie Prize co-sponsor, Rabbit: a journal for nonfiction poetry, the judges, Claire Coleman and Kevin Brophy, the Words in Winter directors, Maia Irell and Kevin Childs, presentation event MC Cate Kennedy, Jen Bray for taking the above photos, and of course all the poets who saw and felt deeply and sent us their words to read and reflect upon.