Cervantes Written Competition Results

[Irene]

The Cervantes Art Festival concluded today, and the awards for the bush poetry written competition are as follows:

Winner:
A Cross Beside A Lonely Road - Ellis Campbell

Highly Commended:
The Ugly Side of Drought - Terry Piggot
Do You Think of Me? - Zondrae King
A Garden On the Wall - Heather Knight

Commended:
Old Life Dreams - David Delaney
The Valma June - Terry Piggot

I will post the Judge's comments below about how difficult his task was, but, suffice to say, it was basically one word used in a slightly incorrect context that separated Terry's poem - The Ugly Side of Drought from the winning poem.
Congratulations to all who placed in it, and to those who didn't - as per the judge's comments, there were many other poems that were winning poems. Unfortunately, only one can win.
Many thanks to all who supported the competition.

Judges Comments:

What a difficult task I was set, The standard was generally very high, almost half of the entries, in a different field, could have been among the placegetters.
In general, there was a high degree of consistency in the metre and the stress patterns that go to make a good Bush Poem flow easily.
The top third or so of entries had almost no technical errors, and it was largely on "storyline appeal" that I made my final decision.
Of those that didn't 'make the grade", only one was not what I would describe as "Good Aussie Rhyming Poetry" - it was lacking in almost all aspects.
Several others had difficulty sustaining a consistent stress pattern, such errors are almost immediately apparent when reading the poem as a stumble in the flow of the words.
This is by far the feature of Bush Poetry that is most difficult for many to achieve, In terms of rhyme, a far easier concept to get your head around than metre and stresses, there were a significant number who had imperfect rhyme. A couple had resorted to visual rhyme, - ie "I often find the gusty wind........ - but that's not what Bush poetry is about, it must stand up when read aloud.
There is no excuse for this for good (Australian) Rhyming Dictionaries are a tool that all Bush Poets should be using - they are readily available, either as a printed book or on line.

So there we have it, - Overall, a moderately good standard with around half being very good to excellent

My choices are

Commended 2 entries
a) "Old Life Dreams", a very lyrical poem about "getting away from it all"
b) ""The Valma June" a very descriptive verse about a shipwreck

Highly Commended 3 Entries
a) "Do You Think Of Me?" Delightful love story, not your usual Bush poem
b) "A Garden On The Wall" A rather simple poem, but with a very strong message
c) "The Ugly Side of Drought" Both very emotive and descriptive - unfortunately, the incorrect usage of one word lost it first place

And in 1st Place, a poem that touches the heart of all who pass along our highways and byways, on a subject that has had many variants over the years, This one also having a brilliant usage of words and structure. The Poem is "A Cross Beside A Lonely Road"