TAMWORTH, Australia (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Winners in the 2009 Australian Bush Laureate awards were announced before a capacity audience in the Tamworth Town Hall on Tuesday, January 20.
In Book of the Year, the winner was "The Book Of Australian Popular Rhymed Verse" compiled by Jim Haynes.
In Book of the Year, Original Verse, for the best original Australian work in book form, the winner was "The Final Muster" by Ellis Campbell.
In the new Bush Poem of the Year category, the winner was "The Power Of Kokoda" by Dean Trevaskis.
In Album of the Year, the winner was “The Tartan Saddlecloth” by Gary Fogarty.
In Single Recorded Performance of the Year, the winner was “Faster, Higher, Stronger” by Murray Hartin (the second year running for Murray after his win last year with “Rain From Nowhere”).
In Children's Poem of the Year, the winner was “The Bush Animals Band” by Noel Stallard.
The Judith Hosier Heritage Award – for outstanding achievement in nurturing Australia’s heritage of verse, went to the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Society, Gunnedah, for their annual competition, the oldest and largest poetry competition for school students in Australia.
The competition aims to "capture the imagination of students, inspiring them to express their thoughts creatively through poetry while celebrating the legendary work of Dorothea Mackellar, author of the famous poem My Country".
The Australian Bush Laureate Awards were first staged in 1997 to recognize excellence in published and recorded Australian bush poetry.
The 15th Australian Bush Laureate Awards will be held in Tamworth on Tuesday 26th January (Australia Day), 2010. –by Jane Cohen and Bob Grossweiner
