The Blake Poetry Prize is an Australian poetry prize for a new work of 100 lines or less, focused on non-sectarian spiritual and religious topics, connected to the

Blake Prize The Blake Prize, formerly the Blake Prize for Religious Art, is an Australian art prize awarded for art that explores spirituality. Since the inaugural prize in 1951, the prize was awarded annually from 1951 to 2015, and since 2016 has been a ...

, an art prize. The prize, worth , is presented biennially by the

Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre Casula Powerhouse Arts Centre (CPAC), commonly referred to as Casula Powerhouse, is a multi-disciplinary arts centre in Casula, a south-western outer suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Before being renovated and converted into an art ...

(CPAC) in conjunction with the bookshop Westwords.

History

The prize was established in 2008 by the

Blake Society The Blake Prize, formerly the Blake Prize for Religious Art, is an Australian art prize awarded for art that explores spirituality. Since the inaugural prize in 1951, the prize was awarded annually from 1951 to 2015, and since 2016 has been ...

in conjunction with the

New South Wales Writers' Centre Writing NSW, formerly known as New South Wales Writers' Centre and WritersNSW, is New South Wales, Australia's leading provider of services to writers, including courses, seminars and workshops, writing groups, festivals and events, grants and pri ...

(now Writing NSW), funded by Leichhardt Council in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

. The Blake Prize takes its name from visionary poet and artist

William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...

. After the Blake Society had lost sponsorship for its art prizes in 2015, CPAC and

Liverpool City Council Liverpool City Council is the governing body for the city of Liverpool in Merseyside, England. It consists of 90 councillors, three for each of the city's 30 wards. The council is currently controlled by the Labour Party and is led by Mayor ...

announced that they would be funding and managing the prizes from 2016, with the exhibition and awards moving to

Casula Casula is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is 34 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Liverpool. Casula is the first suburb immediately sou ...

Western Sydney Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

. From 2017, it was intended that Liverpool City Library in conjunction with CPAC, would deliver the Blake Poetry Prize as a biennial event. However, WestWords (Western Sydney's Literature Development Organisation) took over the partnership from the library.

Description

A prize is offered every two years for a new poem of 100 lines or less exploring a non-sectarian religious or spiritual theme.

Winners

* 2008:

Mark Tredinnick Mark Tredinnick (born 1962) is an Australian poet, essayist and teacher. Winner of the Montreal International Poetry Prize in 2011 and the Cardiff International Poetry Competition in 2012. He is the author of thirteen books, including four vo ...

– "Have You Seen" * 2009: John Watson – "Four Ways to Approach the Numinous" * 2010: Tasha Sudan – "Rahula" * 2011: Robert Adamson – "Via Negativa, The Divine Dark" * 2012: Graham Kershaw – "Altar Rock" * 2013: Anthony Lawrence – "Appellations" * 2014: Dave Drayton – "Threnodials" * 2017:

Julie Watts Julie Watts (born 1950) is an Australian author and publisher. She won the Dromkeen Medal in 2001. Early life Watts was born in Guildford, Surrey, England. Her mother worked in a second-hand bookshop after Julie was born. Career Watts' firs ...

– "The Story of Julian who never knew that we loved him" * 2020: Judith Nangala Crispin – "On Finding Charlotte in the Anthropological Record"

References

External links

* *{{official, https://www.westwords.com.au/projects/blake-poetry-prize-2021/, Westwords official page Australian poetry awards Awards established in 2008