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Young Australian Poets Encouraged to Impart Their Opinion
The Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards are open to school students nationwide.

Starting as a local schools' competition in Gunnedah NSW in 1984, the awards have grown to be Australia's largest and oldest poetry competition for children.

The nine categories of the competition cover kids at every level of schooling, from kindergarten students with the Lower Primary, right the way through to Year 12 with Senior Secondary. Also on offer are the Assisted Learning categories, the David Maher Award for Small Schools, the Kurrumbede Award, and the coveted Schools' Award.

This year's optional theme is 'In My Opinion', with students encouraged to write passionately and persuasively about the topics that interest them. The breadth and diversity of poems in 2021 amazed primary schools' judge, Michelle Taylor, who said in her report that "poetic elements were on display and deftly employed." Michelle is returning to the judging panel in 2022, along with new primary schools' co-judge Ross Clark, and secondary schools' judge, Sherryl Clark

With close to 8,000 entries in 2021 and 2020, the Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society is looking forward to seeing what literary talent the 2022 competition will unearth. Cash prizes, trophies, book vouchers, and anthology publication are up for grabs. Additionally, every student that enters receives a participation certificate as part of the competition program! 

Entries close June 30 with a plethora of learning resources, previous presentation booklets, and historical information available to teachers and parents. You'll also be able to view the 2020 and 2021 presentation ceremonies, which, as a result of COVID-19, had to be held virtually rather than in-person at Gunnedah's Civic Theatre.

For more information about the competition, please contact our Project Officer, Brittany Riley, via phone or email using the details below.
Ph: (02) 6742 1200
E: dorothea.mackellar@outlook.com


Good luck!
Register now!
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"Poetry will reward and enrich you in ways you may not expect."
-Sherryl Clark, Secondary Schools' Judge