Mary Gilmore Award


The Mary Gilmore Award is currently an annual Australian literary award for poetry, awarded by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Since being established in 1956 as the ACTU Dame Mary Gilmore Award, it has been awarded in several other categories, but has been confined to poetry since 1985. It was named in honour of writer and journalist Mary Gilmore.

History

The Mary Gilmore Award was established in 1956 by the Australian Council of Trade Unions as the ACTU Dame Mary Gilmore Award to encourage literature "significant to the life and aspirations of the Australian people". Over the years it has been awarded for a range of categories, including novels, poetry, a three-act play, and a short story.
In 1959 it was organised by the May Day Committees of Melbourne, Sydney and Newcastle in partnership with the New Theatre in Newtown, Sydney, as an award for the best new play.
The Mary Gilmore Award for a First Book of Poetry was established in 1985, named in honour of the Australian writer and journalist Dame Mary Gilmore. Since 2022 it has been known simply as the Mary Gilmore Award.
The award currently conducted by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature and given to a first book of poetry published in Australia in the previous year. From 1998 to 2016, it was awarded every two years; prior to 1998 it was awarded annually.

Poetry

Past winners of the poetry prize include: