2017 ACT Writing and Publishing Awards

My book, For All The Veronicas (The Dog Who Staid), was shortlisted in the poetry category for the 2017 ACT Writing and Publishing Awards.

This is my second book and it was developed with an ArtsACT Project Grant during 2015, and the work also benefited from residencies in El Bruc, Catalonia, and at the Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres, both during 2014. I haven’t had poetry nominated for a prize previously so I was stoked to have the book make the shortlist in this ACT award and excited to have it receive a prize.

This is what the judges had to say about it:

‘Andrew Galan's collection is distinct, varied, and engaging. His poems challenge the reader, and do not allow for an easy interpretation. Some require re-readings to fathom both the narrative and metaphorical thrust. It’s a rich collection, with a clear influence drawn from performance poetry, and Galan utilizes conversational, disrupted rhythms to achieve something unique. The imagery is vivid, always inventive, and some individual lines are highly memorable, “You can look in strange places for fathers and you don't always grow out of it.” ’

Congrats to the other two shortlisted award winners, Chris Palmer with Afterlives, and Carmel Summers who edited The Last Day Before Snow, you can see the full list of awards given on the night at the ACT Writers Centre website.