Co-ordinated by Macquarie Regional Library, the Rolf Boldrewood Literary Awards commemorate the writer and writing of Robbery Under Arms in Dubbo. They are awarded for prose and poetry with an Australian theme. First prize in each section is a bronze Boldrewood bust valued at $100 plus $500. Second prize is $250 and third prize $150. Highly Commended and Commended certificates are awarded at the judges¹ discretion. It is interesting to note that the poetry winner, Kevin Pye, was highly commended last year, and second and third prize winner, Max Merckenschlager, commended. Max was first and second in the poetry in 2009. Poetry Judge was Valerie Pybus adn the winners are:

1st Place ­ Kevin Pye, NSW, Lawson Country; 2nd Place ­ Max Merckenschlager, SA; An Earl¹s Son; 3rd Place ­ Max Merckenschlager, SA, Helping Hands in Crowdy Head. Commended ­Frank Cardiff, NSW, Dreamtime Dreaming.

Prose Judge was Peter Pike and the winners are: 1st Place ­ Joan Owens, NSW, Sunday; 2nd Place ­ Natalie Holmes, NSW; My Mate Reg; 3rd Place ­ Richard Stone, ACT, Father¹s Visit to Kincumber.

Highly Commended ­ Lyn Newberry, NSW, The Scent of a Criminal Highly Commended ­ RE Beattie, NSW, The Jackson Inheritance Highly Commended ­ Judith Turner, NSW, The Gypsy Tap

Commended ­ Edward Fletcher, QLD, Dark Messenger; Commended ­ Harold Mally, NSW; The Original Pommie Bastard; Commended ­WR Widerberg, NSW, Paradox; Commended ­ Ken Windsor, NSW, The Search for Uncle Tom. Congratulations to all the winners! Well Done!

WooHoo! Rousing cheers and applause goes to local illustrator Freya Blackwood for her win today in the Children's Book Council of Australia Awards for Early Childhood Book of the Year! Freya won for her illustrations in the book Maudie and Bear written by Jan Ormerod.

The two honour books in the Early Childhood section were The Tall Man and Twelve Babies by Tom Niland Champion and Kilmeny Niland with illustrations by Deborah Niland; and Look See, Look at Me by Leonie Norrington and illustrated by Dee Huxley.

We have the shortlisted books on display at Orange City Library and you can also check out book reviews by the Library team who have enjoyed reading the shortlisted books over the past month. Way to go Freya!

Macquarie Regional Library is calling on all budding authors and poets to submit entries in the annual Rolf Boldrewood Literary Awards which aim to foster the writing of prose and poetry with an Australian content.

The Awards - which began in 2006 - are named in honour of the Dubbo-based author of the famous 19th century Australian novel Robbery Under Arms, and is a collaboration between Macquarie Regional Library and the Outback Writers' Centre.

Rolf Boldrewood was the pen name of Thomas Alexander Browne who wrote Robbery Under Arms during his term as Police Magistrate in Dubbo between 1881 and 1884. Browne's term as the Magistrate provided the facts to write the fictional account of Captain Starlight, the hero of the story.

Robbery Under Arms was first published in 1888 and is considered one of Australia's three great colonial novels. It has never been out of print, has been translated into 13 languages and made into five films.

The competition categories include: •Prose - fiction or family history memoir; and •Poetry - in any form or style.

Both must have an Australian theme.

A cash prize of $500 will be awarded to the first place winners in both competition categories. Entries close Friday, 16 September 2011 with the presentation of the Awards to be held at the Dubbo Branch Library on 5 November 2011.

For more information contact Council's Director Macquarie Regional Library John Bayliss on 6801 4501.

This year 280 entries were received in the Banjo Paterson Writing Awards with 128 Prose or Short Story entries, 76 in the Open Poetry, 44 in the Bush Poetry and 32 in the Children's section. This is a huge increase on the number of entries received in recent years. Orange City Librarian Elizabeth Barry said human relationships featured in many entries as well as Mother Nature, rain, storms and animals across all the sections of the competition.

Ms Barry said the Awards recognise Orange's literary history and further encouraged writers to develop their craft. Ms Barry congratulated all the entrants and was pleased to announce the following winners:

Short Story: 1. The Magpie Lucky Dip by Brian Yatman, Erskineville, NSW (Prize $ 1,000) 2. The Snake by Jane Lawler, Prahran, VIC ($400) 3. Jack and the Jillaroo by Trudi Refshauge, Woodstock, NSW ($200)

Bush Poetry 1. The Ghost of Old Ted by Wendy Enchelmaier Whiteside, QLD ($500) 2. Lorraine Carew by Ellis Campbell, Dubbo, NSW ($200) 3. The Battler by Sandy Thorne, Lightning Ridge, NSW ($100)

Open Poetry 1. Orpheus in the Desert by Jo Mills, Greenmount, WA ($1,000) 2. Three Monologues by Ron Stevens, Dubbo, NSW ($400) 3. Saddle Dreaming by Vanessa Page, Rosewood , QLD ($200)

ABC Central West Radio Children's Writing Awards 1. Poem Black Temper by Adam Weitzer, Caulfield South, Melbourne, VIC ($200) 2. Story Traces of Tomorrow by Jesse Lyon, Orange, NSW ($100) 3. Story Annie and the Shed Mystery by Chloe Petersen, Portland, NSW ($100)

The Yvonne Zola Encouragement Award goes to Bec Hobden, Orange, NSW for her poem Falling to our Knees ...We're Proud Australians.

Raimondo Cortese is the inaugural recipient of the Patrick White Playwrights' Fellowship. The $25,000 year-long Fellowship, a new position for an established playwright, will see Cortese involved in a range of activities at the Sydney Theatre Company. These will include leading playwriting workshops and participating in a mentoring programme for emerging playwrights.

Raimondo Cortese graduated from the VCA School of Drama in 1993 and is a founding member of Ranters Theatre, of which he was the Artistic Director from 1994 to 2000. His plays include: Lucrezia and Cesare, The Room, The Large Breast or the Upside-Down Bell, The Fertility of Objects, Features of Blown Youth, Roulette, St Kilda Tales and The Wall. A collection of short stories, The Indestructible Corpse (Text Publishing), appeared in 1998. He has also written for film, television and radio. Cortese has exhibited in group exhibitions of visual texts in Australia and overseas, with solo shows in Melbourne and Pisa, Italy. He has also designed textual installations, including 'Salivate', for the Melbourne City Library.

At the recent Sydney Writers Festival, Melissa Bubnic was named the winner of the 2010 Patrick White Playwrights' Award for her play 'Beached' – 'a comic drama about an obese man whose battle to lose weight is followed by a reality TV show'.

The Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards is the oldest and largest poetry competition for school students in Australia. The poetry awards aim 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. It is a unique national event, giving Australia's young people a voice and an opportunity to strive for excellence in literature. The awards are hosted by the Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society which is based in Gunnedah, north-west NSW. Guidelines and application details and poetry writing tips are all online: www.dorothea.com.au. The Awards optional theme for the 2011 competition is 'Making Pictures' - celebrating the vivid images poetry creates as we read and ponder the written verse. The closing date is 30 June 2011. Good Luck!

Applications are now open for the 2011 NSW History Fellowship and the 2011 Archival Research Fellowship. The NSW History Fellowship is offered annually by the NSW Government to assist a person living in NSW to research and produce a work on a subject of historical interest relating to NSW. It is valued at $20,000. The NSW Archival Research Fellowship is offered annually by the NSW Government to assist a person living in New South Wales to complete an innovative and quality research project that makes substantial use of the records collection of State Records NSW. It is valued at $15,000. Guidelines and Application Forms are available from the Arts NSW website:

*History Fellowship: http://www.arts.nsw.gov.au/index.php/funding-and-support/for-individuals/fellowships-scholarships-awards/nsw-history-fellowship

*Archival Research Fellowship: http://www.arts.nsw.gov.au/index.php/funding-and-support/for-individuals/fellowships-scholarships-awards/nsw-archival-research-fellowship/

The closing date for applications is 5pm, Tuesday, 14 June 2011.

And the winners are: • Aminatta Forna wins Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2011 Best Book for The Memory of Love • Craig Cliff wins Commonwealth Writers' Prize 2011 Best First Book for A Man Melting • Defining books "of our time", say judges.

The 2011 Commonwealth Writers' Prize were announced in Sydney. The judges praised The Memory of Love for its risk taking, elegance and breadth. A poignant story about friendship, betrayal, obsession and second chances – the novel is an immensely powerful portrayal of human resilience. The judges concluded that The Memory of Love delicately delves into the courageous lives of those haunted by the indelible effects of Sierra Leone's past and yet amid that loss gives us a sense of hope and optimism for their future. Forna has produced a bold, deeply moving and accomplished novel which confirms her place among the most talented writers in literature today. Read more about the awards here: http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/NewsArticle.aspx?articleID=158

Philip Roth is the winner of the fourth Man Booker International Prize. Roth was chosen from a list of 13 eminent contenders. The Man Booker International Prize, worth 60,000 pounds, is awarded for an achievement in fiction on the world stage. It is presented once every two years to a living author for a body of work published either originally in English or widely available in translation in the English language. Philip Roth is a literary giant and one of the world's most prolific, celebrated - and controversial - writers. Born in March 1933 in New Jersey, Roth is best known for his 1969 novel Portnoy's Complaint, and for his late-1990s trilogy comprising the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Pastoral (1997), I Married a Communist (1998), and The Human Stain (2000). Read more here: http://www.themanbookerprize.com/news/stories/1502

The winners of the 2011 NSW Premier's Literary Awards were announced at a gala dinner at the Sydney Opera House. Some of the countries leading writers and luminaries were at the event, including ABC TV presenter Jennifer Byrne (as MC), NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell and former Prime Minster of Australia, Malcolm Fraser. One of Australia's best-loved writers, Alex Miller, was awarded the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction for Lovesong. Alex has received numerous awards for his writing,including twice winning the prestigious Miles Franklin Award. Miller also won The People's Choice Award. Former Prime Minister of Australia, Malcolm Fraser, along with Margaret Simons, were awarded the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction for Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs. It also took out Book of The Year. The judges described it as an engaging work that demonstrates how literary craft can transcend the usual limitations of political autobiography. The NSW Premier's Literary Awards, established in 1979, were Australia's first premier's awards. In their 32 year history, they have honoured many of the nation's greatest writers, including David Malouf, Shaun Tan and Jane Campion. Over the course of the evening, $315,000 in prizes were given out over 13 categories. Author Libby Gleeson, AM, received a Special Award for her numerous contributions to the children's book industry. Jennifer Maiden won the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry for her collection Pirate Rain, making her the first poet to win the prize three times. For the full list of winners go to www.pla.nsw.gov.au Congrats to all.