The Australian Government recognises and congratulates the outstanding achievement of the winners of the 38th Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards, Australia's longest-running poetry competition.
Australia's young poets will celebrate their achievements at an in-person ceremony today, after the pandemic forced the event to be held online for the previous two years.
More than 6,000 entries were received from schools around the country, demonstrating the strong interest that many students have in poetry, literary creativity, and self-expression.
It was great to see so many students take on the challenge of crafting poems in response to the this year's theme 'In My Opinion', which provided students with the freedom to use their voice to tackle any topic they wanted.
I applaud every student who gave it a go, with every poem offering a fascinating insight into the unique perspectives of students of all ages and the issues they face.
I urge all students who participated in this year's competition to keep fostering that spark of creativity and explore their passion for literature.
The winners of the 2022 Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards are:
| Category |
Name |
Age |
School |
| Lower Primary |
Sarah Savage |
8 |
St Elizabeth's Primary School, Tarragindi |
| Upper Primary |
Catherine Rong |
11 |
Laguna Street Public School, Caringbah South |
| Learning Assistance Primary |
Aaryan Mehta |
9 |
Redeemer Baptist School, North Parramatta |
| David Maher Award |
Liam Dau |
10 |
Urbenville Public School, Urbenville |
| Kurrumbede Award (Primary) |
Quinn Eyre |
9 |
Gunnedah South Public School, Gunnedah |
| Schools' Award Primary |
- |
- |
Urbenville Public School, Urbenville |
| Junior Secondary |
Matthew Gu |
14 |
Sydney Grammar School, Darlinghurst |
| Senior Secondary |
Zara Perry |
16 |
Ravenswood School for Girls, Gordon |
| Learning Assistance Secondary |
Bach (Nathan) Nguyen |
17 |
Cavendish Road State High School, Holland Park |
| Schools' Award Secondary |
- |
- |
St Michael's Collegiate, Hobart |
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