Tamworth students and schools have emerged as major winners in the 2026 Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards, securing several top honours in the national competition.
Tamworth High School student Lily Prendergast, 15, won the Senior Secondary section for her poem The Voice Beneath My Feet, while Tamworth Public School was named the overall Primary School Award winner.
Tamworth Public School student Adele Rankmore, 11, also won the primary Kurrumbede Award for Autumn Dancers.
While Tamworth High School student Lillian Smith, 14, won the secondary Kurrumbede Award for My Name.
Now in its 42nd year, the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards aim to encourage school-aged children across Australia to develop their creative writing skills through poetry while celebrating the legacy of Dorothea Mackellar, best known for her poem My Country.
This year, judges Kristin Martin, Jackie Hosking and Joel McKerrow assessed almost 8,000 entries from 5,500 students aged five to 18 from 480 schools across Australia.
Students, particularly those in the primary sections, embraced the optional theme The Traveller.
“The Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards provide an excellent opportunity for budding young writers. A very high quality of work was achieved by the award-winning entries, which is testament to the fact that there is an abundance of youthful writing talent in Australia. We congratulate the students for their efforts, and their dedicated teachers and parents who have devoted so much time and care into the awards”, said Rebecca Ryan, President of the Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society.
Ryan said the strong Tamworth showing was particularly exciting.
“While the competition attracts an Australian-wide field of entries and local poets are recognised through the Kurrumbede Award, it was very exciting to see a poet from nearby Tamworth awarded top prize in the Senior Secondary section and for Tamworth Public School to win the Primary School Award.”
A presentation ceremony for regional winners was held in Gunnedah on today, September 4, coinciding with the release of a virtual ceremony to schools across Australia.
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