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!

With five themed days of activity, WRITE, BUY, SHARE, LIVE and CELEBRATE Australian poetry, the week aims to raise awareness, appreciation and participation of the Australian community with this engaging, but often overlooked, art form. Share the joy of Australian poetry in all its forms: at work, at home, at play, with friends, in a library, on a blog...

Here is a poem for you by Kandos poet Leanne Wicks:

Lady Capertee

I

Gentle-breasted mountains

blue infused valleys

undulate lovingly,

jewelling over ancient land.

II

Industrial phallusy gangs

at nape of gorge,

thrusting hydraulic maw.

Devouring. Deflowering.

Keen to hack black soul.

Gaia now prostrate and open cut.

Pseudo mounds desecrate,

pouting brothel-best as promises

penned in peripheral portfolios authorise

unscheduled mastectomy.

III

Redeem her! Arise and protect.

Restore the Promised Land.

Cape her tealed vales,

cherish her beauty,

chide her captors.

Lest decades of naked disgrace

change the pace of our

charmed hamlets.

Cafe Poet Leanne Wicks will be hosting a poetry reading at Cafe Louee, 82 Louee Street, Rylstone on Saturday 17 September from 2 - 3pm. Everyone is welcome to come along and you are invited to bring your own work to recite or a favourite poem to share. Cafe Poet is supported by Australian Poetry. Thank you Leanne.

What a great way to start Poetry Week - with a Poetry Slam in Forbes! Congrats to Keith Rawsthorne, of Forbes, and Ted Webber, of Young, (pictured wearing a hat) the two winners from the Australian Poetry Slam held at Forbes as part of the Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival on Sunday. Host Miles Merrill is pictured announcing Keith as the winner. Keith was quite modest in his acceptance speech joking that his grandchildren were judges in the audience.

Five poets performed their works on the Festival's Main Stage in front of large audience on the Lake Forbes Foreshore.

Judges, selected at random from the audience during the afternoon, scored Keith first place with Ted not far behind for their bush poet inspired performances.

The scores were very close for the other three contestants, Glenn Couchman, of Orange, Dulcie Mclean of Orange, and young Marisha Downey, of Forbes. Miles is pictured with Ted, Dulcie, Glenn, Marisha, and Keith. Both winners now have the opportunity to compete in the Australian Poetry Slam State Final to be held at the Sydney Theatre Company, Walsh Bay, Sydney on Friday 4th November, 2011.

Host Miles Merrill also had a great time performing and was impressed by the poets and enthusiastic audience. And Ted did an encore performance of another bush poem about farm machinery (pictured). Stay tuned for more images from the Festival. Loud applause and cheers to all involved.

Poetry Slam is coming to Forbes and you're invited! In the lead up to the Poetry Slam we will be hosting a free workshop with Miles Merrill and there are still places available. It is part of the Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival:

Australian Poetry Slam Free Workshop at 11am in the Reading and Writing Tent, Lake Forbes Foreshore. Please book your place at Forbes Library on 6852 1463

Then it is all action and fun for the Australian Poetry Slam. It is not a poetry reading though. It's more like a howling literary campfire with verbal voodoo, breathless rhythms and sweat breaking nerves. Anyone can get up and have a go or be in the audience and you could be a judge!

**Please note new start time**

Australian Poetry Slam Forbes Heat - Main Stage 12 noon, Sign up 11.30am Lake Forbes Foreshore along Buck Bentick Walk, via Lachlan Street, Forbes

Check out www.riverartsfestival.org.au and www.australianpoetryslam.com

AP members are invited to submit poems for the inaugural members anthology. Please note submission close 16 September 2011. Australian Poetry Ltd is producing an annual members anthology that will provide benefits to members by offering them a further opportunity to be published and to be acknowledged for their work in the poetry community. The anthology also acts as a professional development opportunity by involving members in the publication process. The inaugural volunteer anthology editorial team is David Adès, Libby Hart, Heather Taylor Johnson, Vanessa Jones, Danny Lovecraft, Tim Metcalf, John Pfitzner, Susie Utting, Lyn Vellins and Oliver Quinn Walnn. The Australian Poetry Members Anthology will be available as both an eBook and print-on-demand publication. More details about the format of the anthology will be made available soon. http://australianpoetry.submishmash.com/submit

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.

Imagine two minutes in the spotlight. No props. No music. Judged by the audience. Just you... and your story.

The Australian Poetry Slam is not a poetry reading. It's more like a howling literary campfire with verbal voodoo, breathless rhythms and sweat breaking nerves. Think Hilltop Hoods mashed with Obama, a line of Paul Kelly, a few pinches of Judith Lucy, and a test tube of Les Murray all vying for audience love.

Writers need to perform well in their regional heat and place in their state final. Two finalists from each state and territory will meet in Sydney to battle with their words on the main stage of the Sydney Theatre for the Australian Poetry Slam Final National Final. One will be crowned Australia's Slam Champion.

Come and find out what it is all about at the Australian Poetry Slam Workshop:

Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival, Reading and Writing Tent, Lake Forbes Foreshore along Buck Bentick Walk, Sunday 4 September at 11am, Please book your place at Forbes Library on 6852 1463.

Then perform your poem, story, hip hop or whatever at the Australian Poetry Slam Forbes Heat:

**Please note new start time** Kalari-Lachlan River Arts Festival, Lake Forbes Foreshore along Buck Bentick Walk, Sunday 4 September, 12 noon on the main stage, please sign up from 11.30am, Hosted by Miles Merrill.

Check out these sites for more details: www.australianpoetryslam.com and/or www.riverartsfestival.org.au

We had an enthusiatic roll up to Monday night's Poetry Reading with Jane Williams and Digital Talk by David Reiter. Jane Williams read from her latest book of poetry City of Possibilities. Her work is mostly free verse poetry influenced by the Japanese style Haibun. She read the opening and closing poems in the book as well as one titled "Stars" about what she has learnt from her daughters, another about her mother evoking memories of Tupperware and school lunches and a clever poem about the local CWA shop located next to a tattoo parlour. Read more about Jane's work on her website: http://janewilliams.wordpress.com/

David Reiter is a cross-media artist and publisher with several digital works to his credit. He is also Director of Interactive Press, a Brisbane publisher and has released Your ebook survival guide. He spoke about the opportunities for writers to not ony publish books but to consider visual and audio elements as well. He answered many detailed questions from the audience as well as showcasing his own works including the Nullabor Song Cycle. For more details about IP go to the website (copy this link into your web browser): http://www.ipoz.biz/IP/IP.htm

A Central Tablelands edition of Narrator Magazine is starting up and they are calling for entries - short stories, poems and essays under 5,000 words. They hope to publish the first CT issue in September, so want entries as soon as you can send them in. The magazine is free online and prints a limited number of full colour copies. For Central Tablelands, they will be available via mail order, $12.95 including postage. For more info, please search for the Facebook Page for Narrator Magazine (copy the following link into your browser) http://www.facebook.com/l/yAQD1U98OAQCd6VJCI30U7D9FBy3W38plVjRksWNXz2TjoQ/www.narratormagazine.com or try this http://www.narratormagazine.com/

Come along to Orange City Library to meet poet Jane Williams followed by a Q & A session on digital publishing. Jane Williams was born in England 1964 and grew up in Victoria and now resides in Tasmania. Her poetry first started appearing in the early 1990's and has since been published widely nationally and internationally. City of Possibilities is her fourth poetry collection. Her first book Outside Temple Boundaries received the Anne Elder Award in 1998. Other awards include the D.J. O'Hearn Memorial Fellowship, the Bruce Dawe Poetry prize, writer residencies and grants from state and federal arts bodies. Her most recent book of poems is City of Possibilities (2011 Interactive Press) where she continues to test the boundaries of what poetry can be rather than what many people assume it is.

Readings by Tasmanian Poet Jane Williams Orange City Library, Byng Street, Orange, Monday 25 July, 5.30pm, RSVP 6393 8132.

Followed by

Retool and Remix: Get A Digital Life! with David Reiter

Come with burning questions you have about digital publishing for this Q & A session. David overviews digital projects that you can create and highlights key issues with electronic publishing.

Dr David Reiter is an award-winning author, cross-media artist and publisher with several digital works to his credit including his latest, the short film Nullarbor Song Cycle and the full length film Hemingway in Spain. He's also just released Your eBook Survival Kit, a eBook guide to finding your way around the digital space. As Director of IP, a Brisbane-based publisher, he set up the Digital Publishing Centre, which is at the cutting edge of digital publishing in Australia. IP was the first Australian publisher to send content to the Kindle and iPad and now routinely publishes eBook and print on demand versions of its major publications for global distribution.

Retool and Remix: Get A Digital Life! with David Reiter at Orange City Library, Byng Street, Orange, Monday 25 July, 5.30pm, RSVP 6393 8132. See you there!