ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

I have had a few people ask me what is happening in 2021 with the Ipswich Poetry Feast - I received this notification from the Ipswich City Council this morning ....

Good morning Maureen
Your enquiry regarding the Ipswich Poetry Feast was forwarded to me for response.
Unfortunately, at this stage I am unable to provide confirmation in regards to the status of the competition. You are correct in that it usually opens in April to coincide with the Poets’ Breakfast at Walloon. We were in the process of organising a breakfast when the most recent Covid restrictions came into place. This was immediately placed on hold however we will once again start looking at how this event might go ahead in a modified Covid safe manner.
Our entire Ipswich Poetry Feast program has been under review owing to significant changes in regards to sponsorship, patrons, community involvement and of course the impact of Covid on last year’s program.
We have always greatly appreciated the support that you have shown toward the Ipswich Poetry Feast both as an entrant and through your online poetry advocacy role. As soon as I have further information on the 2021 Ipswich Poetry Feast program I guarantee that I will give you an update.
Kind regards
Carol
Carol Moore | Library Programs Coordinator

Mmm ... interesting, Maureen!

Let's hope it does go ahead. It's a competition we'd hate to lose because it provides so many opportunities for young poets.

It's not looking good Shelley - we have a new council and our main supporter,backbone and driving force of the IPF was Councillor David Pahlke - it was very much his baby, but at the moment all I am hearing is a deathly silence. .

Not looking good - just received this from David Pahlke ......

I’m not kept in the loop anymore and I would not be surprised to see ICC can it - No Councillor is championing the cause anymore

To me it seems like a foregone conclusion that we have lost it

Some time ago I decided to 'play dumb' insofar as knowing anything from this Forum, and write to them to ask about it directly. My three emails - most recently a week and half ago - have all received no response whatsoever, which says it all I guess....

There are few enough of these wonderful competitions available nowadays, so it is incredibly sad to lose this one, which I've supported for more years than I can count and is particularly good because of its many categories for young people interested in writing traditional poetry...

Thanks for the update, Catherine.

I agree, very sad to lose this competition, particularly from the point of view of young writers and novice writers. Once these competitions are lost, they are very rarely reinstated.

Cheers
Shelley

Hi Everyone...Just letting you know that I received this today, so it does indeed look as it it's as we feared - at least for now....

Unfortunately, at this stage I am unable to provide any updates on the competition. Our entire Ipswich Poetry Feast program has been under review owing to a range of factors that have had a significant impact on the Poetry Feast as a whole as well as individual events associated with this. Covid had a major impact on the program in 2020 with the Poets’ Breakfast/Official Launch having to be cancelled and our highlight event, the Awards Presentation not being able to go ahead in its usual format. We were in the process of planning our 2021 breakfast when everything was put on hold owing to the April Qld outbreak. Other external factors impacting the future direction of the Ipswich Poetry Feast relate to sponsorship and the level of local support for the competition.

We have always greatly appreciated the support that you have shown toward the Ipswich Poetry Feast and appreciate your wanting to pass this information on to other poets. I’ll make to update you when decisions have been made. In the interim, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions or concerns.

The same response that I got from Carol.

I suspect that with the death of Reg Grundy, the main sponsor, and the retirement from council of David Pahlke, the impetus for this competition has now been lost.

Time will tell I suppose but it's not looking good .... and so much hard work went into this over the years

Hi Maureen

I mysteriously received a 2020 entry form the other day.
Not sure where it came from or who sent it, I have checked out everything I can think of on my computer - but not clue.
I switched on the computer and the printer and out it popped - Must have been a computer glitch somehow?

Terry

Might have been meant to show 2021 Terry as they have just reopened the contest.