Award Winning Bush Verse & Stories 2013

Following the success of the 2012 edition of Award Winning Bush Verse and Stories (AWBV), which won the Collected Verse Book of the Year award at the Australian Bush Laureate Awards, Melbourne Books proudly presents the second edition of AWBV.

AWBV is the first nationally distributed anthology wholly dedicated to award-winning poems and stories that take inspiration from Australians and the Australian way of life, both historical and contemporary. These poems and stories follow in the tradition established by such literary giants as Henry Lawson, Banjo Paterson and C.J. Dennis. These days bush poetry is celebrated through numerous festivals and competitions, ranging from Bundaberg’s Bush Lantern to Tamworth’s Blackened Billy; Ipswich’s Poetry Feast to the Laura Arts Festival Literary Awards.

Other competitions featured in the 2013 edition of AWBV include:

• ABPA National Championships
• Gilgandra Coo-ee Festival
• Hal Porter Short Story Competition
• Boyup Brook Literary Festival
• Morisset Hunter Bush Poets Written Competition
• Eaglehawk Dahlia and Arts Festival
• Bryan Kelleher Award
• Dunedoo Bush Poetry Festival

This year, the anthology features a story by that great Australian storyteller Henry Lawson, and also pays tribute to the wonderful skills of the multi-award-winning poet Graham Fredriksen, who tragically passed away in 2010. Both of these contributions were selected by the 2013 editor, David Campbell.

Much like its precursor, AWBV 2013 is committed to showcasing Australia’s diverse literary landscape. In this way, it offers an opportunity to engage with a unique artform, while also bringing together in one place the many talented writers whose work is represented in its pages.