Val Vallis Award


Named in honour of the Queensland poet Val Vallis, Val Vallis was a lyric poet who lectured in English and Philosophy at the University of Queensland. In 2002 the then Arts Minister, Matt Foley, announced "...the naming of a major poetry award, the first Arts Queensland Val Vallis Award for Unpublished Poetry to commemorate Val’s contribution to poetry in Queensland."
Bronwyn Lea the former poetry editor of University of Queensland Press then "designed and implemented the award" in 2003 and it today it is administered and managed by Queensland Poetry Festival on behalf of Arts Queensland.

Entry to the Val Vallis

Entry can be submitted from Australia wide as part of Queensland Poetry Festival's annual Poetry Awards. Submissions usually open in May/June each year.
Arts Queensland Val Vallis Award currently offers $2000 in total prizes for an unpublished poem or suite of poems for Australian emerging poets including the winner and r/up as well as support from Queensland Writers Centre. The prize is managed by and presented as a part of the Queensland Poetry Festival.

Winners

2003 Jaya Savige
2004 Judy Johnson
2005 Ynes Sanz, Quandamooka Suite
2006 Nathan Shepherdson, The easiest way to open a door is to turn the handle
2007 Andrew Slattery, Frameworkers
2008 Anna Krien
2009 Andrew Slattery
2010 Michelle Cahill
2011 Rachael Briggs, Tough Luck
2012 Chloe Wilson, Not Fox Nor Axe
2013 B.R. Dionysius, Protein Gradients
2014 Chloe Wilson, The Heads of Holofernes
2015 Andrew Last, Precedent
2016 Caitlin Maling, Conversion
2017 Bronwyn Lovell Quietly, on the way to Mars