Maling named in 2014 Newcastle Poetry Prize list

‘Border Crossing’, a poem by Fremantle Press poet Caitlin Maling, has been shortlisted for the 2014 Newcastle Poetry Prize.

Administered by the Hunter Writers Centre, the Newcastle Poetry Prize is an important Australian literary award, with a $20,000 prize pool awarded by the University of Newcastle.

‘Being shortlisted feels great and surreal. I have entered my poems for many years now so I fully expected to not hear anything about the prize,’ said Caitlin.

Maling said ‘Border Crossing’ shared similar themes to her new collection, Conversations I’ve Never Had, which will be released by Fremantle Press in July 2015.

‘ Conversations is very much “of” Western Australia. It’s my first collection and it’s about growing up and relating to Australia. “Border Crossing” extends these concerns of place to the southern US, where I have lived for the past three years,’ said Caitlin.

‘The poem is about moving through spaces, what it means to find yourself foreign and how we make sense of our environments,’ said Caitlin.

The Newcastle Poetry Prize, currently in its thirty-third year, is awarded to writers of distinguished Australian poetry. The 2014 judges are Mark Tredinnick and Anna Kerdijk Nicholson. The winner of the Newcastle Poetry Prize will be announced on Saturday 25 October at A Day of Poetry at the Delaney Hotel in Newcastle. More information is available at hunterwriterscentre.org.