Calling budding poets

Entries are now open for the 'RAS AB Paterson Bush Poetry Award' for the Royal Easter Show in 2023. All school-aged Australian poets are invited to explore the beauty, mystique, enchantment, and characteristics of the Australian Bush in a new work of 50 lines or less. There will be two different categories for the award, Primary aged (K - 6) winner and Secondary aged (7-12), and will be assessed on the basis of the age level of each student.

The ‘RAS AB Paterson Bush Poetry Award’ is an open poetry Award that challenges poets to capture the beauty, mystique, and characteristics of the Australian Bush.

All poems entered must have a recognisable Australian Bush theme and demonstrate high degrees of artistic and conceptual proficiency.

The winner of this competition will be gifted a copy of Banjo Paterson by Alistair Campbell from Pan Macmillan Publishers, a Copyrighted copy of Banjo Paterson’s original notes when writing ‘Waltzing Matilda’, and a family pass to the 2023 Sydney Royal Easter Show to attend the presentation at the Easter Show. This will be presented by a member of the Campbell family, the only direct relatives of AB Paterson, during the lunchtime Entertainment Program in the Main Arena and can recite their winning poetry work. The date for this presentation is still TBC.

This competition provides students with the opportunity to become published authors and showcase their incredible creativity. It can be used as a whole class teaching activity or an individual project. To maximise the purpose of the competition, teachers are encouraged to refer to the NSW English Syllabus.

Thank you for ensuring that culture stays in Agriculture.

Beauty by Julia Han was one of the selected pieces in 2022.

BEAUTY
By Julia Han

I touch the eucalyptus trees
Leaves crunch under my feet.
Pieces of bark drop free
The forest floor complete.
I see butterflies fluttering in the wind
Sunlight grazing their wings.
Undefined and unconfined
Looking for what life can bring.
I hear the song of kookaburras
A melancholy mixture of melody.
An orchestra of highest class
The beautiful Australian familiarities.
I smell the scent of the billabong
Hidden behind the bushes.
Sand and stones pushed along
In the trickle of the fresh water pushes.
I taste cool drops of mist on the tips of my tongue
Fresh beads of dew that fall from the treetops
Lush and detoxing and beautifully young
Mint-raw but delicate in a way that never stops.
I touch
And see
And hear
And smell
And I taste
Yet my heart still wonders
About the things I may not know
My mind left to ponder
About the things that do not show.
But now the sun is high in the sky
And my thoughts are held to a rest
Questions flowing in full supply
For next time when I am once again a forest guest.
I guess now it is
Time to go back home.