Tracy Ryan shortlisted for ABR Poetry Prize

Fremantle Press poet Tracy Ryan is on the shortlist for the 2009 ABR Poetry Prize alongside Rose Lucas, Kathryn Lomer, Lisa Gorton, Angela Malone and Judith Beveridge.

Ryan’s short listed poem ‘Lost Property’ features in the March edition of Australian Book Review.

Ryan said when she wrote ‘Lost Property’ she was remembering how vivid and huge the world seems for children, and how easy it is to lose that quality as we grow up.

“In my large family I wasn’t the first child, so from the time I was born there were mysterious discarded objects in the house that had belonged to older siblings.

“I found these quite magical, especially because they gave me a sense of how life goes on before we exist (and of course afterwards, though that’s something we usually don’t understand till much later!),” said Ryan.

The ABR Poetry Prize is now in its fifth year and offers a prize of $4000AUD for the winning entry. Previous recipients of the award were Stephen Edgar, Alex Skovron, Judith Bishop and Ross Clark.

This year’s winner will be announced in April.

Ryan’s latest poetry collection Scar Revision was shortlisted for the Age Book of the Year Award in 2008.