Bryan Kelleher Literary Award

[Gary Harding]

Geez.. I dunno Stephen .. good thinking!!

You certainly make a GOOD point, that's for sure

As a Queenslander I would love the Lions to win three consecutive Premierships.... and YES if they did I would naturally object if they were sent to the bench for being too Good, along with many other supporters too I suppose?!

BUT as that scenario is extremely Unlikely (I think), let us agree to deal with Reality instead.

Analogies are great... when they are relevant.

In truth, in this particular Literary Award we are concerned with both rewarding excellence in writing and encouraging those who aspire to excellence and who are on that long trek to the literary summit.

Bryan Kelleher visited our Pharmacy in Cockatoo (Vic) many years ago. I am closely related to the Kellihers of Neerim South in Victoria. (with an "i")

I was not there that day but apparently he made quite an impression!!

For some unknown reason my book (The Murdered Swagman's Ghost and Other Verses) was not available that day to buy at the counter, to my eternal regret, but the connection was made as I understand.
It was not until the Bryan Kelleher Literary Award was announced some years later that I made the connection with Bryan himself.

Also if you have an interest in C.J. Dennis, I knew Ian McLaren very well and visited his home and library in Waverley Rd. Malvern. Vic. We had some good discussions.

That remarkable Australiana collection then passed on to the University of Melbourne where it is housed as The McLaren Collection today.. as you likely already know.

I remember Ian referred to C.J. Dennis as "Den" which is how I refer to him also.. rightly or wrongly I guess.

[Gary Harding]

Actually Stephen I do not mean to be dismissive of your AFL analogy. I apologise for that. It is actually a GOOD analogy.

The AFL have an annual public player draft where clubs can take it in turns to select new young talented players from the pool. This acts to prevent dominance by the larger and wealthy clubs.. to the detriment of the small clubs. It helps to make the AFL competition more equitable, open and fun... and is good for the game, even if it pulls back the larger clubs.

Also salary caps (when they are followed) help to prevent the cycle of the rich clubs attracting the best players, in turn making them richer and able to buy the best again and so on... to the detriment of the smaller clubs and the overall competition.

If the Management of AFL, surely Australia's biggest Competition consider it their obligation and right to act in the interests of the Game by introducing rules such as the player draft.. to keep the competition more open and not be dominated by one or two clubs... then why should the Trustees of a major Literary Award not have the same rights to act in the interests of their game as well to prevent dominance. To keep it open, and to encourage those smaller players. Give them a sporting chance.

One may also see the tough US anti-trust laws in the same way.. to keep the competition open to all players in the public interest....and Australia's Competition Commission.

I acknowledge your AFL example is a good one. It strongly supports my argument that good Management have a right and duty to act to preserve their competition in the interests of the majority.. the supporters. Even if it is vexatious to one or two Big Clubs...

[Heather]

Gary we might have to stop you from talking now because you are dominating the discussion.

[Stephen Whiteside]

To look for other sporting analogies, Gary, how would it be if you were disqualified from entering Wimbledon after you had won it three times? We would then not have the glory of comparing, say, multiple winners such as Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, etc. It is impossible to truly compare players from different eras, but totting up their relative Grand Slam victories is one of the best ways of trying to do it.

Or to look at other literary prizes, how would it be if you became ineligible for the Man Booker or the Miles Franklin after you had won it a certain number of times. That would be ludicrous, surely?

I can understand that little competitions might behave this way to encourage participation, but given that the Bryan Kelleher had the largest prize money of any bush poetry competition in the country, it hardly seems to be in this category. Surely, if it is the job of any bush poetry competition to uncompromisingly reward the best poems/poets year after year, the Bryan Kelleher was that competition.

[Bob Pacey]

This would have kept H happy Gary


Geez.. I dunno Stephen .. good thinking!!

You certainly make a GOOD point, that's for sure


Bob

[Mal McLean]

Very strange indeed, Maureen. I wrote to the competition organiser (who I had met several times) in late 2012 making a specific reference to the ABPA website...pointing out that their strict publication rule meant that "...poets are reluctant to post drafts of poems for comment and discussion on the ABPA bush poetry website because that constitutes 'publication' and means they can't subsequently enter them in competitions like the BKA. So a potential exchange of useful information is eliminated."

David

Why can't we simply restrict viewing of ABPA's members poetry to members only? Just an idea to encourage the discussion of draft forms. Surely, a poem, having been subjected to private criticism behind the closed door would remain eligible for a competition? Maybe not.

[Maureen K Clifford]

The walls we build to keep others out only keeps us in Mal

[Mal McLean]

We could turn them around and send them back?

[manfredvijars]

Why can't we simply restrict viewing of ABPA's members poetry to members only? Just an idea to encourage the discussion of draft forms. Surely, a poem, having been subjected to private criticism behind the closed door would remain eligible for a competition? Maybe not.

Yep, we can do that .... Does anyone want to restrict, ABPA Member's Poetry to the public ??

Let me know, it's your forum after all ...

[Mal McLean]

Well, I'm maybe talking more of a thread where members can post and discuss their ideas and drafts, closed off from external scrutiny.
Maybe. I'm not sure I'd do it myself, but it's just an idea.

Mal