Ballarat Writers is now accepting entries into the Martha Richardson Memorial Poetry Prize, to be judged this year by acclaimed Australian poet Melissa Watts.

Entries must be your own original and unpublished work on the 2024 theme of The Bush

Entries open on 1 August 2024 and close 13 October 2024

Format: Poetry to 40 lines per entry. (The line count excludes the title and blank lines)

Entry Fee: AU$35 per poem (AU$25 for members of Ballarat Writers, $AU15 for each additional poem for members and non-members)

First Prize: AU$1,000
Second Prize: AU$400
Third Prize: AU$100

Results: Finalists and Winner to be announced in November 2024

2024 Judge: MELISSA WATTS

Melissa Watts has published poetry, fiction and non-fiction for over fifteen years. Her poems have inspired other artists to craft bronze statues and compose piano performances for audiences in New York.

Melissa Watts headshot

She has published a full-length collection of free-verse and structured poetry exploring the relationship between people and place. In Small Towns (2022) Melissa shines a light on the unsaid. She picks the scab of small-town tensions, then unflinchingly aims her bow at social injustice, tipping her hat to the feminist poets who have come before her.

Melissa has hosted keynotes at writers’ festivals, interviewing M.J. Hyland (Melbourne Writers Festival) and Maureen McCarthy (Ballarat Writers Festival) and maintained monthly radio sessions interviewing authors such as Paddy O’Reilly, Graeme Simsion, Toni Jordan and Angela Savage. She spent several years as the publicity officer for Ballarat Writers.

Melissa has a PhD in creative writing and history from Federation University (2023) and a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in creative writing and literary studies from the University of Melbourne (2004).

Melissa lives and works on Wadawurrung Country, Ballarat. Connect with Melissa via Instagram @Melissa_Watts_Writer or www.melissawatts.net

COMPETITION GUIDELINES

  1. Entries open at 9am Thursday 1 August 2024 and close at 11.59pm on Sunday 13 October 2024. Late entries will not be accepted.
  2. The competition is open to anyone over the age of 18 years, including overseas applicants.
  3. Entries must be the original work of the applicant.
  4. Entries must not have been previously published or broadcast (including social media), or a prizewinner in any other competition.
  5. Entry fees are AU$35 per poem. Second and subsequent entries by the same entrant are eligible for the reduced rate of AU$15. Entries via trybooking will incur a 50c booking fee.
  6. Members of Ballarat Writers are entitled to a $10 discount on the entry fee (first poem only.)
  7. There is no limit to the number of entries each applicant may submit, providing the entry fee is paid for each poem submitted.
  8. All entries must be submitted in English, double spaced, using a standard 12 pt font such as Times New Roman or Arial.
  9. Entries should be no more than 40 lines. (The line count excludes the title and blank lines)
  10. As all entries are subject to a blind judging process, the applicant’s name must not appear anywhere on the poem.
  11. Fees will not be refunded under any circumstances.
  12. Submissions will not be returned.
  13. No corrections or changes will be accepted once entries are submitted.
  14. Copyright remains with the author.
  15. The judge’s decision is final. No discussion will be entered into.
  16. The finalists and winner will be announced at our November members’ night on Wednesday 27 November 2024 in Ballarat
  17. The winning entry will be published, along with the judge’s report, on the Ballarat Writers website in December 2024.

ONLINE ENTRIES (PREFERRED)

  1. Pay the entry fee online by credit card and enter your details through Trybooking: www.trybooking.com/
  2. Email your poem/s to competitions@ballaratwriters.com

Save your poem/s as PDF, DOC or DOCX files (1 poem per file), and then attach it to your email. In the subject title, put ‘MRMPP 2024’. In the body of the email, include your full name and the title of the poem/s.

HARD-COPY ENTRIES

  1. Pay the entry fee by cheque or money-order, made out to ‘Ballarat Writers’
  2. Print & complete the entry form (1 per poem).
  3. Print your poem/s.
  4. Post payment, form and poem to

Ballarat Writers MRMPP 2024
PO Box 2738
Bakery Hill VIC 3350

LINKS

Trybooking:  https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1260027?

Entry form (only for printed entries): can be downloaded here

Join as a member online www.ballaratwriters.com/membership

ENQUIRIES

Competitions co-ordinator:  competitions@ballaratwriters.com

ABOUT MARTHA RICHARDSON

Martha Richardson emigrated from Los Angeles to Mildura after her Australia-born husband Ted became ill with cancer and decided to return ‘home’ in 1991. Over the next six years she continued to diligently hone her writing skills; her reputation as an emerging poet began to spread beyond Mildura. She was the first prize winner of the poetry contest sponsored by ABC Radio Oasis FM and the Mildura Writers’ Festival in 1995. Her work was published in America and Australia.

At the beginning of 1997 Martha and Ted came to Ballarat and joined the Diploma of Arts (Professional Writing & Editing) course at the University of Ballarat. The following year Martha was a first place winner in the Seddon Prize for Poetry 1998 and Five Islands Press announced its intention to publish an anthology of her poems titled In an Empty Room (New Poets: Series 6, 1998). Her reputation as a talented poet continued to grow.

Martha was diagnosed with breast cancer two years later. Writing became even more important to her as she endured an aggressive regime of radiotherapy treatment throughout 2001. She agreed to join the committee of the Ballaarat Writing Council (now Ballarat Writers Inc.) when her treatment was completed.

Martha Elaine Richardson died in June 2002, six months after developing secondary cancer; she never reached ‘retiring age’.