- Minister for Education
The talented young winners of Australia’s longest-running annual nationwide poetry competition for school children were announced in Gunnedah today.
Minister for Education Dan Tehan praised the quality of the entrants in this year’s Dorothea Mackellar awards, with almost 7,000 poems entered from students around Australia.
The 2019 winners are:
Category | Name | Age | School | State |
Lower primary | Lincoln Cecil | 7 | Rowena Public School | NSW |
Upper primary | Sanu Kariyawasam | 12 | Seymour College | SA |
Assisted learning primary | Felix Liu | 12 | Redeemer Baptist School | NSW |
David Maher award | Lachlan Spence | 11 | Booligal Public School | NSW |
Junior secondary | Janiru Liyanage | 14 | Baulkham Hills High School | NSW |
Senior secondary | Amelia Neylon | 16 | The Friends’ School | TAS |
Assisted learning secondary | Han Zheng | 15 | Redeemer Baptist School | NSW |
"Dorothea Mackellar is one of our best-known bush poets and most Australians would recognise the words from her famous poem My Country: ‘I love a sunburnt country, A land of sweeping plains, Of ragged mountain ranges, Of droughts and flooding rains’," Mr Tehan said.
"Writing poetry challenges our creativity and literacy skills, and this competition honours Australia’s proud history of bush poets.
"Our Government is helping inspire a love of poetry in our students by providing $150,000 to run this competition. Now in its 35th year, the competition fosters creativity and imagination. Everyone who took part should be proud of their efforts. Year after year the calibre of young poets around the country continues to impress."
Visit www.dorothea.com.au for more information and a list of the 2019 winners and finalists.