Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry

The Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry is awarded annually as part of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for a book of collected poems or for a single poem of substantial length published in book form.^[1] It is named after Kenneth Slessor (1901–1971).

The prize currently comes with a A$30,000 cash award.^[1]

Winners and shortlists

2024

• Winner: Tais Rose Wae – Riverbed Sky Songs^[2]
• Pooja Mittal Biswas – Hunger and Predation^[3]
• Willo Drummond – Moon Wrasse
• Libby Hart – Burn
• Caitlin Maling – Spore or Seed
• Omar Sakr – Non-Essential Work

2023

• Winner: Kim Cheng Boey – The Singer and Other Poems^[4]
• Adam Aitken – Revenants
• Pam Brown – Stasis Shuffle
• Lisa Gorton – Miribilia
• Sarah Holland-Batt – The Jaguar
• Marjon Mossammaparast – And to Ecstacy

2022

• Winner: Dan Disney – accelerations & inertias^[5]
• Eunice Andrada – TAKE CARE^[6]
• Evelyn Araluen – Dropbear
• Eileen Chong – A Thousand Crimson Blooms
• John Kinsella – Supervivid Depastoralism
• Bella Li – Theory of Colours

2021

• Winner: Ellen van Neerven – Throat^[7][8]
• Jordie Albiston – Element: The Atomic Weight & Radius of Love ^[9]
• Rebecca Jessen – Ask Me About the Future
• Jill Jones – A History of What I’ll Become
• Jaya Savige – Change Machine 

2020

• Winner: Peter Boyle – Enfolded in the Wings of a Great Darkness^[10][11]
• Joanne Burns – apparently
• Zenobia Frost – After the Demolition
• Lisa Gorton – Empirical
• Natalie Harkin – Archival-Poetics
• David Malouf – An Open Book

2019

• Winner: Judith Bishop – Interval^[12][13]
• Michael Farrell – I Love Poetry
• Penelope Layland – Things I’ve Thought To Tell You Since I Saw You Last
• Philip Neilsen – Wildlife of Berlin
• Mark Reid – Blindside
• Chris Wallace-Crabbe – Rondo

2018

• Winner: Bella Li – Argosy^[14]
• Adam Aitken – Archipelago
• Jordie Albiston – Euclid's dog: 100 algorithmic poems
• Rico Craig – Bone Ink
• Nguyễn Tiên Hoàng – Captive and Temporal
• Omar Sakr – These Wild Houses

2017

• Winner: Peter Boyle – Ghostspeaking^[15]
• Paul Hetherington – Burnt Umber
• Jill Jones – Breaking the Days
• Antigone Kefala – Fragments
• John Kinsella – Firebreaks: Poems
• Ellen van Neerven – Comfort Foot

2016

• Winner: Joanne Burns – brush^[16]
• Lionel Fogarty – Eelahroo (Long Ago), Nyah (Looking), Möbö-Möbö (Future)
• Sarah Holland-Batt – The Hazards
• Meredith Wattison – terra bravura
• Chloe Wilson – Not Fox Nor Axe
• Ouyang Yu – Fainting

2015

• Winner: David Malouf – Earth Hour^[17]
• Michael Aiken – A Vicious Example
• Judith Beveridge – Devadatta's Poems
• Anne Elvey – Kin
• Libby Hart – Wild
• John Mateer – Unbelievers, or The Moor

2014

• Winner: Fiona Hile – Novelties, Hunter^[18]
• Justin Clemens – The Mundiad, Hunter
• Diane Fahey – The Stone Garden: poems from Clare, Clouds of Magellan
• Liam Ferney – Boom, Grand Parade Poets
• Kate Middleton – Ephemeral Waters, Giramondo Publishing
• Jessica Wilkinson – Marionette: A biography of Miss Marion Davies, Vagabond Press

2013

• Winner: Ali Cobby-Eckermann – Ruby Moonlight, Magabala Books^[19]
• Kate Fagan – First Light, Giramondo Publishing
• Michael Farrell – Open Sesame, Giramondo Publishing
• Anthony Lawrence – The Welfare of my Enemy, Puncher & Wattman
• Kate Lilley – Ladylike, UWA Publishing
• Vivian Smith – Here, There and Elsewhere, Giramondo Publishing

2012

• Winner: Gig Ryan – New and Selected Poems, Giramondo Publishing^[20]
• Ken Bolton – Sly Mongoose, Puncher and Wattman
• Susan Hawthorne – Cow, Spinifex Press
• John Mateer – Southern Barbarians, Giramondo Publishing
• Claire Potter – Swallow, Five Islands Press
• Tracy Ryan – The Argument, Fremantle Press

2011

• Winner: Jennifer Maiden – Pirate Rain, Giramondo Publishing^{[citation needed]}
• Susan Bradley Smith – Supermodernprayerbook, Salt Publishing
• Andy Jackson – Among The Regulars, Papertiger Media Inc
• Jill Jones – Dark Bright Doors, Wakefield Press Pty
• Anna Kerdijk Nicholson – Possession, Five Island Press
• Andy Kissane – Out to Lunch, Puncher and Wattmann

2010

• Winner: Jordie Albiston – The Sonnet According to "M"^{[citation needed]}
• Emily Ballou – The Darwin Poems
• Judith Beveridge – Storm and Honey
• Emma Jones – The Striped World
• Morgan Yasbincek – White Camel

2009

• Winner: LK Holt – Man Wolf Man, John Leonard Press.^{[citation needed]}
• Michael Brennan – Unanimous Night, Salt Publishing
• David Brooks – The Balcony, University of Queensland Press
• Sarah Holland-Batt – Aria, University of Queensland Press
• Kerry Leves – A Shrine To Lata Mangeshkar, Puncher & Wattman
• Alan Wearne – The Australian Popular Songbook, Giramondo

2008

• Winner: Kathryn Lomer – Two Kinds of Silence^{[citation needed]}
• Joanne Burns – an illustrated history of dairies
• Brook Emery – Uncommon Light
• Peter Kirkpatrick – Westering
• David Malouf – Typewriter Music
• Phyllis Perlstone – The Edge of Everything

2007

• Winner: John Tranter – Urban Myths, University of Queensland Press^{[citation needed]}
• Robert Adamson – The Goldfinches of Baghdad, Flood Editions
• Laurie Duggan – The Passenger, University of Queensland Press
• Les Murray – The Biplane Houses, Black Inc.
• Simon West – First Names, Puncher and Wattmann
• Fay Zwicky – Picnic, Giramondo Publishing Company

2006

• Winner: Jaya Savige – Latecomers, University of Queensland Press.^{[citation needed]}
• Aidan Coleman – Avenues & Runways, Brandl & Schlesinger
• Susan Hampton – The Kindly Ones, Five Islands Press
• Jill Jones – Broken/Open, Salt Publishing
• Penelope Layland – Suburban Anatomy, Pandanus Books
• David McCooey – Blister Pack, Salt Publishing

2005

• Winner: Samuel Wagan Watson – Smoke Encrypted Whispers, University of Queensland Press^{[citation needed]}
• M. T. C. Cronin – < More or Less Than> 1–100, Shearsman Books Ltd
• Lidija Cvetkovic – War is Not the Season for Figs, University of Queensland Press
• John Kinsella – Doppler Effect, Salt Publishing
• Dipti Saravanamuttu – The Colosseum, Five Islands Press
• Alan Wearne – The Lovemakers Book Two: Money and Nothing, ABC Books

2004

• Winner: Pam Brown – Dear Deliria: New & Selected Poems, Salt Publishing^{[citation needed]}
• Jordie Albiston – The Fall, White Crane Press
• M. T. C. Cronin – beautiful, unfinished Salt Publishing
• Brook Emery – Misplaced Heart, Five Islands Press
• Philip Hammial – In the Year of Our Lord Slaughter's Children, Island Press
• John Tranter – Studio Moon, Salt Publishing

2003

• Winner: Jill Jones – Screens Jets Heaven^{[citation needed]}
• Alison Croggon – Attempts at Being
• Kate Lilley – Versary
• Emma Lew – Anything the Landlord Touches
• Sarah Day – New and Selected Poems
• Robert Gray – Afterimages

2002

• Winner: Alan Wearne – The Lovemakers, Penguin Books Australia^{[citation needed]}
• Robert Adamson – Mulberry Leaves: New & Selected Poems: 1970–2001, Paper Bark Press
• Martin Harrison – Summer, Paper Bark Press
• Dorothy Hewett – Halfway Up the Mountain, Fremantle Arts Centre Press
• Bronwyn Lea – Flight Animals, University of Queensland Press
• Gig Ryan – Heroic Money, Brandl & Schlesinger
• John Tranter – Ultra, Brandl & Schlesinger

2001

• Winner: Ken Taylor – Africa, Five Islands Press^{[citation needed]}
• Jennifer Compton – Blue, Ginninderra Press
• Brook Emery – and dug my fingers in the sand, Five Islands Press
• Philip Hammial – Bread, Black Pepper
• J. S. Harry – Sun Shadow, Moon Shadow, Vagabond Press
• Wendy Jenkins – Rogue Equations, Fremantle Arts Centre Press

2000

• Winner: Jennifer Maiden – Mines, Paper Bark Press/Australian Humanities Research Foundation^{[citation needed]}
• Richard James Allen – Thursday's Fictions, Five Islands Press
• M. T. C. Cronin – Everything Holy, Balcones International Press
• Jennifer Harrison – Dear B, Black Pepper
• Kevin Hart – Wicked Heat, Paper Bark Press
• John Millett – Iceman, Five Islands Press

1999 and before

Award winners:^[21]

• 1999: Lee Cataldi – Race Against Time, Penguin Books Australia
• 1998: no awards were presented
• 1997: Anthony Lawrence – The Viewfinder, University of Queensland Press
• 1996: Eric Beach – Weeping for Lost Babylon, HarperCollins and J. S. Harry – Selected Poems, Penguin Books Australia
• 1995: Peter Boyle – Coming Home From the World, Five Islands Press
• 1994: Barry Hill – Ghosting William Buckley, William Heinemann Australia
• 1993: Les Murray – Translations from the Natural World, Isabella Press
• 1992: Elizabeth Riddell – Selected Poems, Collins Angus & Robertson
• 1991: Jennifer Maiden – The Winter Baby, Collins Angus & Robertson
• 1990: Robert Adamson – The Clean Dark, Paper Bark Press
• 1989: John Tranter – Under Berlin, University of Queensland Press
• 1988: Judith Beveridge – The Domesticity of Giraffes, Black Lightning Press
• 1987: Philip Hodgins – Blood and Bone, Angus & Robertson
• 1986: Robert Gray – Selected Poems 1963–83, Angus & Robertson
• 1985: Kevin Hart – Your Shadow, Angus & Robertson
• 1984: Les Murray – The People's Otherworld, Angus & Robertson^[22]
• 1983: Vivian Smith – Tide Country, Angus & Robertson^[23]
• 1982: Fay Zwicky – Kaddish and Other Poems, University of Queensland Press^[24]
• 1981: Alan Gould – Astral Sea, Angus & Robertson^[25]
• 1980: David Campbell – Man in the Honeysuckle, Angus & Robertson^[26]

See also

• Australian literature
• List of poetry awards
• List of years in poetry
• List of years in literature

Notes

1. New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Web page, accessed 5 November 2006
2. Story, Hannah (20 May 2024). "Aboriginal poet wins $40,000 at major literary awards with 'profound' verse novel". ABC News. Retrieved 20 May 2024.
3. "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2024 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 6 May 2024. Retrieved 10 May 2024.
4. "2023 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
5. "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2022 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 17 May 2022. Retrieved 1 March 2023.
6. "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2022 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
7. "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2021 winners announced". Books+Publishing. 27 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
8. "'Eight jobs at once and no sick days': $60,000 prizes a welcome relief for young writer". www.abc.net.au. 26 April 2021. Retrieved 28 April 2021.
9. "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2021 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 24 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
10. Evans, Kate Evans (26 April 2020). "Novel celebrating Wiradjuri language wins Book of the Year at major literary awards". ABC News. Retrieved 30 April 2021.
11. "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2020 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 20 March 2020. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
12. "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2019 shortlists announced". Books+Publishing. 28 February 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
13. "NSW Premier's Literary Awards 2019 winners announced; Griffiths wins book of the year". Books+Publishing. 30 April 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
14. "2018 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. 19 February 2019. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
15. "2017 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. 1 March 2018. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
16. "2016 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. 16 March 2016. Retrieved 21 March 2020.
17. "2015 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
18. "2014 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
19. "2013 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
20. "2012 - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry". State Library of NSW. Archived from the original on 16 June 2016. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
21. New South Wales Ministry of Culture Web site, official list of past winners
22. "Austlit — The People's Otherworld by Les Murray". Austlit. Retrieved 4 September 2023.
23. "Austlit — Tide Country by Vivian Smith". Austlit. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
24. "Austlit — Kaddish and Other Poems by Fay Zwicky". Austlit. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
25. "Austlit — Astral Sea by Alan Gould". Austlit. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
26. "Austlit — The Man in the Honeysuckle by David Campbell". Austlit. Retrieved 3 September 2023.