I am very proud to announce my poem ‘The last tourist’ (for the birds at Tangalooma, Moorgumpin) won Highest Queensland Entry in the 2020 Queensland Poetry Festival Val Vallis Award. Congratulations to first place winner Helen Lucas for ‘Heirloom’ and second place winner Sarah Rice for ‘My Time in Govie Housing Draws to a Close’.

In their comments, judges Judith Beveridge and Kirli Saunders said of ‘The last tourist’:

This poem’s vernacular immediacy, imagistic freshness and perspectives give it an immediate appeal. Tone and voice are used both humorously and incisively to create memorable portraits that reflect both animal and human foibles in an energetic way.

Thank you so much to Queensland Poetry Festival, Arts Queensland and Cordite Poetry Review, and of course to the judges Judith Beveridge and Kirli Saunders for choosing my poem.

Read my poem ‘The last tourist’ (and watch the accompanying video) on the Cordite website.

Read more about the Val Vallis Award here.

Photo by Kerin Gedge on Unsplash.