The Wesley Michel Wright Prize is an Australian poetry prize named in honour of Wesley Michel Wright in recognition of his bequest to 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 no ...
. It is awarded annually.
History
Wesley Michel Wright graduated from the University of Melbourne in 1951. In his will he left a bequest to the university.
Wright died in 1963 and the award was subsequently inaugurated. The first known recipient was Leon Slade in 1962.
John Tranter,
Judy Johnson
William Julius "Judy" Johnson (October 26, 1899 – June 15, 1989) was an American professional third baseman and manager whose career in Negro league baseball spanned 17 seasons, from 1921 to 1937. Slight of build, Johnson never developed as ...
and
Sarah Day have won twice.
, the prize is valued at A$4,300.
Entry conditions
Entry is open to Australian citizens for a poem or poetry collection published in the previous twelve months. Poems to be from 50 to 500 lines long.
Winners
This list is drawn from the
AustLit database:
* 1982 Leon Slade
* 1983 Alex Skovron
* 1984 no award
* 1985
** John Scott – joint winners
** Frank Kellaway – joint winners
* 1986
Philip Hodgins
Philip Ian Hodgins (28 January 1959 – 18 August 1995) was an Australian poet, whose work appeared in such major publications as ''The New Yorker''.
The Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal for Literary Excellence is awarded annually at the Mildu ...
* 1987
Diane Fahey
* 1988
Laurie Duggan
Laurence James Duggan (born 1949), known as Laurie Duggan, is an Australian poet, editor, and translator.
Life
Laurie Duggan was born in Melbourne and attended Monash University, where his friends included the poets Alan Wearne and John A. Sc ...
* 1989
** David Herkt – joint winner
**
John Tranter – joint winner
* 1990
Ken Bolton
* 1991
**
Jordie Albiston
Jordie Albiston (30 September 1961 – 28 February 2022) was an Australian poet.
Early life
Jordie Albiston grew up in Melbourne, the second of four children. She studied music at the Victorian College of the Arts before completing a doct ...
– joint winner
**
Jan Owen – joint winners
* 1992
Peter Boyle
* 1993
John Tranter
* 1994
Dimitris Tsaloumas
Dimitris Tsaloumas (13 October 1921 – 4 February 2016) was a Greek-Australian poet.
Biography
Tsaloumas was born in Greece on the island of Leros, one of the Dodecanese islands, which were then under Italian rule (from 1912 to 1947). Consequen ...
* 1995
Bruce Beaver
* 1996
Thomas Shapcott
Thomas William Shapcott (born 21 March 1935) is an Australian poet, novelist, playwright, editor, librettist, short story writer and teacher.
Biography
Thomas William Shapcott was born in Ipswich, Queensland, and attended the Ipswich Grammar ...
* 1997
Judith Beveridge
Judith Beveridge (born 1956) is a contemporary Australian poet, editor and academic. She is a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award.
Biography
Judith Beveridge was born in London, England, arriving in Australia with her parents in 1960. She ...
* 1998
Jean Kent
Jean Kent (born Joan Mildred Field; 29 June 1921 − 30 November 2013) was an English film and television actress.
Biography
Born Joan Mildred Field (sometimes incorrectly cited as Summerfield) in Brixton, London in 1921, the only child of va ...
* 1999 Margaret Bradstock
* 2000 Judy Johnson
* 2001
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 ...
* 2002
Martin Harrison
* 2003
Chris Andrews
* 2004
Sarah Day
* 2005–2007 no award
* 2008
Caroline Caddy
Caroline Mavis Caddy (born 20 January 1944) is an Australian poet.
Biography
Born in Western Australia to an Australian mother and an American father, Caroline Mavis Caddy spent part of her childhood in the United States and Japan. She returne ...
* 2009
Emily Ballou
Emily Ballou is an Australian-American poet, novelist and screenwriter. Her poetry collection ''The Darwin Poems'', a verse portrait of Charles Darwin, was published by University of Western Australia Press in 2009.
* 2010 no award
* 2011 Rosanna Licari
* 2012 A. Frances Johnson
* 2013 Judy Johnson
* 2014
Sarah Day
* 2015–16 no award
* 2017 Susan Fealy
* 2018
John Kinsella
* 2019 Kevin Brophy
* 2020 Zenobia Frost
* 2021
Jill Jones
Jill Jones (born July 11, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress, who performed as a backing vocalist for Teena Marie and Prince in the 1980s.
Overview
Jones was born in Lebanon, Ohio on July 11, 1962. Her mother, a fashion model ...
* 2022
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,'' ...
* 2023
Stuart Barnes
References
{{Reflist
Australian poetry awards