Bega author Gary Lonesborough and former Brogo poet Tim Metcalf have both won major prizes in the ACT Literary Awards.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Mr Lonesborough was shortlisted in the children's older readers category for his book, 'We Didn't Think it Through'.
He said it was humbling to know audiences have resonated with his works, allowing him to receive such an award, but admitted he found it difficult to accept praise for his work.
"I never expect to be shortlisted or win awards, it's really nice but it's not in my mind when I am writing, which I think every writer would say," he said.
![Gary Lonesborough with his award. Picture supplied Gary Lonesborough with his award. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/205490442/40a8df77-d5cf-498b-b892-bfcebf1b337f.jpg/r0_512_1536_2048_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"You're just writing a story that you want to tell and you hope other people will like it, but [awards are] the farthest thing from your mind.
"The book's done really well, sold really well, and been shortlisted for heaps of awards, so to win this one blows my mind."
Now a Canberra resident, Mr Metcalf was shortlisted in the poetry category for 'The Moon the Bone: Selected Poems 1986-2022', and the win was his second since 2007.
"I was down in the Valley for 28 years, and that's where most of the winning poems were written. but we moved to Canberra about three years ago," Mr Metcalf said, having originally moved to the area to run the emergency department at the hospital.
![Gary Lonesborough in one of the many bookstores selling his award-winning book. Picture supplied Gary Lonesborough in one of the many bookstores selling his award-winning book. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/205490442/f0f87d60-b084-4ef8-a3f2-69faa86dcc37.jpg/r0_194_1440_1280_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"I work as a GP now, and about a fifth of my poems consist of things that have happened in my career, there's a couple that concern my time as a flying doctor, but I'd say 80 per cent is general poetry - all sorts of subjects and styles."
You would assume as an award-winning poet, Mr Metcalf would be typing his stories the modern way.
But he laughed as he shared how he finished pieces handwritten on paper before attending the local library to borrow its computers.
"I guess some sort of association occurs to me, some sort of relationship between two things, and I generally work hard on my poems and revise them a lot, so it usually takes one or two years," he said.
![Gary Lonesborough's ACT Literary Award certificate. Picture supplied Gary Lonesborough's ACT Literary Award certificate. Picture supplied](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/205490442/0d19174c-87f6-413a-bc26-f8ff80bc299d.jpg/r38_167_1536_2048_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"The book that won the award was of selected poems from about 36 years of work and it's actually a selection from nine books I've done."
Mr Metcalf said selecting poems for the book was "difficult but also rewarding".
The awards were presented in the Canberra Contemporary Art Space on Thursday, June 27, when guests were invited to a special evening to recognise and celebrate the achievements of writers from the ACT and surrounding regions.
The honours also included the June Shenfield National Poetry Awards, the Anne Edgeworth Fellowship Award, the MARION Fellowship, and The Marion Halligan Award.