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 * 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