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  New England Writers' Centre

New England Award — Yumna Kassab
Also Highly Commended in the Poetry Category

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Yumna Kassab was born and raised in Western Sydney. She completed her schooling in Parramatta, except for two formative years when she lived in Lebanon with her family. She went on to study medical science at Macquarie University and neuroscience at Sydney University. She currently teaches in the New England region.
 
Her first book, The House of Youssef, is available from Giramondo Publishing. 
 
 


Judge’s comment on the poem:
 
25 May 1870 is titled after the date of Captain Thunderbolt’s death. The poem is arranged graphically to evoke a tombstone. It makes use of short phrases to conjure a sense of finality and austerity.



25 May 1870

“Gone from sight but to memory dear”­ ­– a headstone in Uralla
 
Steady now      let it stand      the ground shakes      no      that is in my head      waters murky with suffocation      my horse lost to time      I shall clamber      I shall stand      lean      this post      this tree      it is a support      leave the roar      it is cloud rain and ground      salt of sweat and tears      one weeps      we all do      when faced with an end      there is red      it clings to my shirt      the red of dying days      the red of blood      the earth and I      comingled      from the dust      to it we return      shots      count them      they are a trail      their path      here it leads      I remember Mary      I remember another      names slip      mine will be lost      it will be buried      like the dead      they litter the land where I stand      though I do not see their bones      he will come here      he will chase      as the others chased      to a trial      to a prison      freedom      brief be your name      one evades the law      not God and fate      the dark hour falls      the sun loses its grip      it slips to its rest      here he rides      he smells blood      the sharks did too      those harbour days      evasion      once twice sixty      but not every time      my escape is cut short      like a string      the balloon flies      let loose      it belongs to the sky      my end will be a pond      it will be a creek      my horse shot      I stumble in mud      there is nothing upon which I can stand      a cane      like an old man      brought to my knees      his shadow falls      it blocks out the sky      darkness      when it falls      it is complete      pity me now      I did not mean for this      not this end      not this life      I’ll die first      the fates deem fit      a man returned to his Creator      I will fade from sight      perhaps in someone’s heart      I shall remain dear.
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  • Home
  • 2022 Summer Micro Grants
    • 2022 Summer micro grants_Kerry Moran
    • 2022 Summer micro grants_Mary McMillan
  • Unearth Your Voice
  • Illustrating Nature with Sami Bayly
  • Quick Crime with JP Pomare
  • Unleash Your Inner Illustrator
  • Rachael McDiarmid workshop
  • The Illustrated Story
  • Thunderbolt Prize for Crime Writing
  • Illustration Prize for children's picture book illustration
  • Varuna-NEWC Fellowship
  • About
    • Our Board
    • Our Sponsors
  • Membership
  • Contact Us
  • 2021 Archive
    • 2021 Illustration Prize Winners
    • Varuna Fellowship 2021
    • Thunderbolt Prize 2021 >
      • Thunderbolt Prize 2021 winning submissions
      • Thunderbolt Prize 2021 Judges Reports
    • 2021 Summer Micro Grants >
      • 2021 Summer micro grants_Trish >
        • Beetle Hunt Stories
      • 2021 Summer micro grants_James
      • 2021 Summer Micro Grants_Fiona
  • 2020 Archive
    • Thunderbolt Prize 2020 >
      • Thunderbolt Prize 2020 Judges Reports
      • Thunderbolt Prize 2020_Winning submissions
    • Illustration Prize 2020 Winners
    • Varuna Fellowship 2020
    • 2020 Historical Novel Prize >
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