Back: Frank Daniel, Canowindra; Derrick Mason Boorowa (Judge); Ted Webber, Young; Sue Pearce, Tumut; Robyn Sykes, Binalong (Chief Poetry Steward and MC)
Seated: Leigh Brown, Yass (Judge) Sally Williams, Canberra; Rob Gorman, Yass.
- A mix of junior, adult, performance, contemporary and bush poets gathered for an energetic and exciting morning of poetry. People from Sydney, Canberra, Junee, Canowindra, Tumut and more had joined local poets for the performance poetry competition and the presentation of the written awards.
On a chilly morning, local poets Leigh Brown and Robyn Sykes warmed the audience up with a couple of poems before the competition and awards began. At times the cattle being judged outside contributed their own poetry, which all added to the ambience of the event! The Bowling Club ladies also warmed up the audience with their bacon and egg rolls and tea and coffee.
Sue Pearce from Tumut won a very tightly contested performance section with her original poem ‘Danny Boy’.
A strong contingent from Young made the trip to the Yass Show. Ted Webber took home second prize in the adult section and Jim Lamb put in a strong performance to confirm his rapid rise up the bush poetry ladder. At just 12 years of age, Reid Noyes took the crowd’s breath away with his rendition of ‘The Anzac on the Wall’, by Jim Brown, and pocketed the junior winner’s cash for his trouble.
In the contemporary written section, Colin Campbell from Canberra won both first and second place, with Yass poet Greg Piko filling the next two places, taking out the local poet’s award in the process.
In evidence of the popularity of bush poetry and the dedication of bush poets, the bush poetry written awards will be posted all over Australia, destined for Arthur Green from Queensland, David Campbell from Victoria and Terry Piggott from Western Australia. Luckily Roger Buckman was on hand to receive the local poet’s encouragement award.
The audience enjoyed hearing the work of the budding junior poets awarded in the junior written awards. First was Finbar Gallagher from Sydney, who collected the winner’s cash and certificate for his poem ‘Douglas Bader’s Lost Leg’. Bowning Public School student Mikaela Allen read her second placed poem ‘Sunflowers’ beautifully, while Jason Davis of Wee Jasper Public was on hand to receive his Highly Commended certificate for his poem, ‘The One-eyed Bronc’. Abbey Selwyn and Selina Smith, also of Bowning Public, were third and HC respectively.
Harmonica player-extraordinaire Jeff Brown treated the crowd to a few tunes to round off an exceptional morning of poetry. A big thank you to Jeff for his work ensuring the sound was seamless.
Thank you to all who made it happen, which includes the audience, for there’s no show without an audience. See you next year!