News
Bell Gully national poetry awards shortlist announced
Ten secondary school students from throughout New Zealand have made the shortlist of aspiring poets in the running to win the Bell Gully National Schools Poetry Award.
The International Institute of Modern Letters (IIML) at Victoria University has teamed up with Bell Gully since 2003 to encourage secondary school students to explore their poetry talents and enter the awards.
The 2006 shortlisted poems were unveiled today at a function at Bell Gully, which featured readings from top New Zealand writers Bill Manhire, Elizabeth Knox and Hinemoana Baker.
This year's competition attracted 180 entries from Year 12 and Year 13 students throughout New Zealand. The winner will be announced at an awards ceremony in Wellington on 18 August.
The shortlisted poets are:
| Andrew Aitken-Fincham | St Andrew's College | Christchurch |
| Lisa Cochrane | Epsom Girls Grammar | Auckland |
| Sophia Graham | Epsom Girls Grammar | Auckland |
| Chaturika Jayasinghe | St Cuthbert's College | Auckland |
| Graeme Ninness | Awatapu College | Palmerston North |
| Jennifer Niven | Samuel Marsden Collegiate | Wellington |
| Dora Sharpe-Davidson | St Andrew's College | Christchurch |
| Alisha Vara | Rangi Ruru Girls' School | Christchurch |
| Sarah Wilks | Samuel Marsden Collegiate | Wellington |
| Lilian Yong | Epsom Girls Grammar | Auckland |
The students will be flown to Wellington for the awards and to take part in a poetry master class with IIML director Bill Manhire, award judge James Brown and fellow poets Chris Price and Bernadette Hall.
James Brown believes the competition will help all those shortlisted to develop their talent.
"The really great thing about this competition is that it isn't just a case of entering a poem and then finding out whether you've won anything or not. The day of master classes will give me and others a chance to discuss the poems with the poets and suggest ways to improve them."
Shortlisted poets receive subscriptions to Sport, New Zealand's leading literary journal, membership of the New Zealand Book Council, $50 book vouchers and $100 cash.
The winner will also receive a subscription to Landfall, membership of the New Zealand Society of Authors and the New Zealand Book Council, $50 book vouchers, $500 cash and $500 to spend of books for their school library.
Finalists' poems can be read at www.vuw.ac.nz/modernletters/activities/winning-poems.aspx
For more information, please contact:
Amy Morley
Communications Advisor
Victoria University of Wellington
64 9 +64 04 463 5105 or 027 563 5105
amy.morley@vuw.ac.nz
