Gillam wins Tasmanian poetry prize

Two Poets author Kevin Gillam has won a Sawtooth Writing Prize (Poetry) for ‘the moon’s reminder’. Run by the Sawtooth Art Gallery in Tasmania, the award is for an ekphrastic poem written in response to a piece of art featured in a 2014 exhibition.

Gillam, who wrote in response to Edna Broad’s Tide Travellers, said the Prize was important because it brought attention to a somewhat neglected style of poetry and recognised the great synergy that can exist between visuals and text.

‘The painting and my poem also focus upon the current Australian immigration policy towards “boat” arrivals,’ said Gillam.

‘I feel quite honoured and humbled in winning, having read the poems in the final selection – some very strong and evocative pieces here,’ said Gillam.

As the winner Gillam receives a $500 cash prize plus a subscription to Island Magazine and a year’s membership to the Tasmanian Writers’ Centre. His winning submission will be posted on the Sawtooth Review blog and Write Response Blog.

Gillam has been the recipient of the Woorilla Poetry Prize, the Trudy Graham Literary Award and the Manly FAW Poetry Award. His work has been published in collections and journals around Australia. His latest book with Fremantle Press is Fremantle Poets: Two Poets.