The Vincent Buckley Poetry Prize is a biennial award that is offered alternately to enable an Australian poet to visit Ireland and to facilitate the visit of an Irish poet to Melbourne. It provides the recipient with a return airfare, a contribution towards living expenses and an honorary fellowship at the Australian Centre in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

.The Vincent Buckley Poetry Prize
/ref> The prize was established in 1992 to commemorate the life and work of

Vincent Buckley Vincent Thomas Buckley (8 July 1925 – 12 November 1988) was an Australian poet, teacher, editor, essayist and critic. Life Buckley was born in 1925 in Romsey, Victoria to Patrick Buckley, a carter and sometime farm labourer, and his wife Fran ...

by reflecting his "love of and commitment to both Australian and Irish poetry".''Irish poet Mark Granier wins Vincent Buckley Poetry Prize'' (Media Release, 21 January 2004)
/ref> Buckley was a poet, critic and Professor of English at the University of Melbourne and the prize was funded through donations from his family and friends.

The Award

The award is made by a committee comprising the director of the Australian Centre, the head of the department of English at the University or the head's nominee, and a practising poet nominated by the dean of the faculty of Arts. Past committee members have included

Chris Wallace-Crabbe Christopher Keith Wallace-Crabbe (born 6 May 1934) is an Australian poet and emeritus professor in the Australian Centre, University of Melbourne. Life and career Wallace-Crabbe was born in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond. His father was Ken ...

and former recipient

Cate Kennedy Cate Kennedy (born 1963) is an Australian author based in Victoria. Life and career Kennedy graduated from the University of Canberra and has also taught at several colleges, including The University of Melbourne. She is the author of the hi ...

. The first award was made in 1994 and the recipient was

Lisa Gorton Lisa Gorton (born 1972) is an Australian poet, novelist, literary editor and essayist. She is the author of three award-winning poetry collections: ''Press Release'', ''Hotel Hyperion'' '','' and ''Empirical''. Her novel ''The Life of Houses,'' ...

Winners

*2020:

Susannah Dickey Susannah Dickey is a novelist and poet from Derry in Northern Ireland. Dickey received an Eric Gregory Award from the Society of Authors in 2020. Her first novel, ''Tennis Lessons'', was published by Doubleday UK in 2020. Her second novel, ''Commo ...

*2018:

Joel Deane Joel Deane (born 1969) is an Australian poet, novelist, and speechwriter. Bibliography Non-fiction * ''Catch and Kill: The Politics of Power'' (UQP, 2015) Fiction * ''Another'' (IP, 2004) * ''The Norseman's Song'' (Hunter, 2010) Poetry * ...

*2016:

James Harpur James Harpur (born 1956) is a British-born Irish poet who has published eight books of poetry. He has won a number of awards, including the Michael Hartnett Award and the UK National Poetry Competition. He has also published books of non-fictio ...

*2014:

Dan Disney Dan or DAN may refer to: People * Dan (name), including a list of people with the name ** Dan (king), several kings of Denmark * Dan people, an ethnic group located in West Africa **Dan language, a Mande language spoken primarily in Côte d'Ivoi ...

*2012:

Miriam Gamble Miriam Gamble (born 1980) is a poet who won the Eric Gregory Award in 2007 and the Somerset Maugham Award in 2011. She lives in Scotland and works as a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. Life and career Miriam Gamble was born in Brussels ...

*2010: Elizabeth Campbell *2008: David Wheatley *2006:

Bronwyn Lea Bronwyn Lea is a contemporary Australian poet, academic and editor. Biography Born in Tasmania, Lea grew up in Queensland and Papua New Guinea, moving to San Diego to study at California State University. She completed a PhD titled "The way ...

*2004:

Mark Granier Mark Granier born in London, England, is an Irish poet and photographer based in Dublin, Ireland. Poetry Ireland Review describes Granier as, "a poet of individual poems," poems that are, "perfectly operating verbal machines, which are their ow ...

*2002:

*2000: John Montague *1998:

Aileen Kelly Aileen is a feminine given name. Its common used in Ireland. It comes from the Turkish name Aylin, which means "Halo of the moon". Notable people with the name include: * Aileen Adams (born 1923), British consultant anaesthetist *Aileen Allen (1 ...

*1996:

Enda Wyley Enda Wyley is an Irish writer of poetry and children's literature. Life Enda Wyley was born in Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin in 1966 and lives in Dublin. She was awarded a B.Ed. by the Marino Institute of Education, Dublin and then worked fo ...

*1994:

References

{{reflist Australian poetry awards Awards established in 1992