The Kyabram and District Bush Verse Group held its annual Around the Campfire event at the Kyabram Club, featuring bush poetry and yarn spinning, with winners announced for awards like the Betty Olle Poetry Award and the Johnny Johanson Yarnspinning Award.
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The Kyabram and District Bush Verse Group held its annual Around the Campfire event on Sunday, October 19, at the Kyabram Club, celebrating Australian bush poetry and storytelling.
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The event, run in conjunction with the Lions Club of Kyabram, featured an afternoon of bush poetry and yarn spinning, with winners announced for several awards.
Les James from Shepparton entertained the crowd with guitar and mouth organ throughout the afternoon.
David Judge from Kangaroo Flat took out the Betty Olle Poetry Award open section with his poem The hands that I have seen, while Kevin Pye from Mudgee, NSW, was runner-up with It's just a matter when.
For the junior section, 10-year-old Annabelle Gervaise Yi Ling Woo from Wolli Creek, NSW, won with Great Barrier Reef, and Jensen Wills from Kyabram's P-12 school placed second with Australia's a Wonderful Place.
Baden Howe from Mooroopna claimed the Johnny Johanson Yarnspinning Award, and Mr Judge also took out the Herb McCrum Poetry Award.
David Judge from Kangaroo Flat won the Betty Olle Poetry Award open section with his poem 'The hands that I have seen', which he performed on the night.
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Kyabram and District Bush Verse Group member Mick Coventry said the competition attracted entries from across the country.
“We had 40-something entries in the junior section and 45 entries in the open section,” he said.
“They came from all over the country in both sections.”
Mr Coventry praised Mr Judge's body of work.
“David Judge figured quite often in the competition, as he had four entries and all of them were either highly commended or commended,” he said.
“He is a prolific writer and one of the best in the country.”
He explained the standard required to succeed.
“The thing with written poetry is obviously the rhythm, the meter, the syllable count, and the rhyming has to be perfect,” Mr Coventry said.
“Even though you might have a lovely poem, if it is not perfect, the judges will set it aside because there are so many that are written perfectly.”
The Betty Olle award was established in honour of a respected figure in Australian bush poetry.
A Kyabram local, Betty Olle won the prestigious Bronze Swagman award, which comes out of Winton, Queensland, and was a runner-up on another occasion in the early 1990s.
“Betty Olle passed away in 2015, and her family donated the Kyabram and District Bush Verse Group a little bit of money to kick off the prize,” Mr Coventry said.
“So, we struck this award in her honour, and that is why it is named that.”
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