Announcing The Inaugural Mercedes Webb-Pullman Poetry Award

New Zealand/Australian writer Mercedes Webb-Pullman died in Kapiti in July 2023. Our family has decided to use future royalties from her published works to fund an annual poetry award in her name, which in 2024 will be $500 NZD.

For this inaugural award, and in honour of Mercedes’ revolutionary spirit, entries are invited from writers resident in New Zealand and Australia of one previously-unpublished poem per entrant, on the topic of REBELLION. The word count should not exceed 430 words.

Closing date for entries is 14 June, 2024, two weeks before the 262nd anniversary of the overthrow of Russian Tsar Peter III in which 18-year-old Yekaterina Romanovna Dashkova took part.

The inaugural award will be made on the first anniversary of Mercedes death at a celebration of Mercedes’ life and work at St Peters Village Hall, Paekakariki, NZ from 1-4pm, Sunday 28 July 2024.

Five finalists will be selected and advised by Saturday 20 July, and invited to present their work during this event, in person or by proxy. All finalists will receive a copy of one of Mercedes’ books.

In addition to the main award of $500, there will be a second prize - a copy of Yekaterina’s autobiography Memoirs of the Princess Daschkaw.

All poems entered for the award remain confidential, anonymous, and internal during the judging process.

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