Poet wins at Tamworth

A Peninsula poet has won $40 as a finalist in the Tamworth Bush Poetry Competition, which was held as part of the Tamworth Country Music Festival.

Peter Mace was chosen as a finalist in the original poetry section, winning $40 for this achievement.

His original poem was entitled "The poor poet".

The finals of the competition attracted an audience of around 600.

Two other regular performance poets from Woy Woy's Troubadour Folk Club, Vic Jefferies and Shirley Hotchkiss, also competed for the Golden Damper Award.

Performance poetry heats were held each morning over three days, with the finals held on Saturday, January 22.

There were two sections featuring established and original poems.

Vic Jefferies performed in both the established and original sections.

He presented Edward Harrington's poem "Banjo" about the death of AB Paterson, and then presented his own poem "The very first", about the first fleet.

In front of an audience of 300, Shirley Hotchkiss performed "A Peninsula kind of love", the poem she wrote to oppose the destruction of native bushland on Catholic land in Hillview St, Woy Woy.

In the traditional section, Peter Mace presented a poem by Bill Kearns titled "Waiting for a train".

Letter, February 3 Shirley Hotchkiss