2021

Friendly Street Anthology 45 Prizes

Two poems from each volume of the Friendly Street Poets annual anthology are selected for special commendation. The following notes from the judge for Anthology 45, Thom Sullivan, explain, and the poems themselves are featured for your reading pleasure. 

From THE REPORT OF THE JUDGE – Thom Sullivan

As to the Satura Prize, awarded to the author of the best poem in each Friendly Street anthology, the poems that gave me most pause for thought were Maria Vouis’ Woman is the Cow of the World, Belinda Broughton’s Changing Colours, and Phil Saunders’ Burnt. But the poem that was the standout for me, and the winner of the Prize, was Maria Vouis’ Sepia apama: a poem full of colour and chaos, music and metaphor, glorifying the cuttlefish.… Click for more

Poem of the Month – December 2021: Overture for Winter by David Cookson

Congratulations to David Cookson, winner, November 2021 Poem of the Month, as selected by 2021 FSP Anthology editors, Louise Nicholas and Judy Dally.

And a reminder… any last submissions of poems read during the year at any of Friendly Street’s reading opportunities must be received by December 31, 2021, to be considered for inclusion in the next anthology. You should use the on-line submission form via the following link:
https://friendlystreetpoets.org.au/publications/fsp-annual-anthology/

Overture for Winter by David Cookson

The breeze grows claws,
rakes the ocean with a colder green. 
Sun from a Turner seascape
battles with shadows as I trudge home 
beneath hangdog casuarinas,
my hair matted by salt spray.… Click for more

FSP December City Meeting: Anthology 45 Launch

Monday, 6th December, 2021
doors from 6:00pm for 6:30pm start.

The Box Factory
59 Regent St, Adelaide, SA 5000

Our December meeting will launch the FSP Anthology #45 featuring poems read by FSP members during the previous year.

One of Adelaide’s finest poets, Thom Sullivan, will formally launch the volume and announce the winners of the Satura and Nova prizes.

Contributors to the Anthology will be invited to read their selected poems. If time permits, there may be an Open Mic.

Books will be available for sale on the night for $20 each.

$5 to read.

The event will be held under COVID-Safe conditions: you will need to check in with via the QR code or sign-in, and wear a mask when not reading.

FSP November City Meeting and Open Mic

Monday, 1st November, 2021
from 6:00pm

The Box Factory
59 Regent St, Adelaide, SA 5000

$5 to read. 3 minutes per poet. 

Current COVID-19 guidelines (unless they change) allow us up to 72 people and we’re ready to hear your poetry. 

You just sign in – via QR code or handwriting – and then add your name to the reading list if you want a turn at the mic. Bring two copies of your poems for the current editors if you want those considered for next year’s anthology, or submit them electronically via the form below straight after the night.

… Click for more

Poem of the Month – September 2021: After the Cremation by Martha Landman

Congratulations to Martha Landman, winner, September 2021 Poem of the Month, as selected by 2021 FSP Anthology editors Louise Nicholas and Judy Dally.

After the Cremation
by Martha Landman

I polish the copperplate, sing laments to your ashes
until the earth questions the rain, persecuting it
for the myth of peaceful words in a lifeless land.
I’m an empty-handed sailor in a foreign port.
We converse in sign language. I tell your ashes
the nut trees are dry, the pump is broken, the ostrich
next door had two chicks.  I tell them there are days
when even the sea is quiet, unfamiliar with its own undercurrent.… Click for more

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