WA poet on gold medal longlist

Dennis Haskell’s poetry collection Ahead of Us has been longlisted for the ALS Gold Medal. The ALS Gold Medal is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year. Haskell said it was a bit unusual for a poetry book to get listed.

‘I’m pleased to make the ALS Gold Medal longlist because it’s the oldest literary prize in the country and is open for all types of books,’ said Haskell.

Haskell said Ahead of Us was his most intensely personal book published to date.

‘To be honest, I was nervous about the publication, but I have a mission: partly to speak up for others who have gone through (or are going through) a cancer experience but do not have the verbal capacity to speak or write of it, and partly to publicise the situation with ovarian cancer,’ said Haskell.

Ahead of Us is Haskell’s eighth book of poetry and is dedicated to his wife, Rhonda, who lost her battle with cancer after a long illness.

The ALS Gold Medal was inaugurated by the Australian Literature Society in 1899. More information about the award is available at austlit.edu.au.

Ahead of Us is available in all good bookstores and online.