Kathleen Grattan Poetry Award

The Kathleen Grattan Poetry Award is a biennial prize for an original book-length poetry collection by a New Zealand or South Pacific permanent resident or citizen. The winner receives $10,000 and a year’s subscription to Landfall.

Entries are open and will be accepted until 31 July 2025.

The 2025 judge is New Zealand Poet Laureate Chris Tse. Entries undergo a pre-screening process by two filter judges and judging is conducted ‘blind’, without the writer’s name attached to the submission.

Results will be announced in a special edition of Landfall to mark its 250th issue in October 2025.

Conditions of entry

1. Submissions must be complete book-length collections.
2. Individual poems may have been previously published, but the collection as a whole must be unpublished.
3. Entrants must be New Zealand or South Pacific permanent residents or citizens.
4. Only one entry per person.
5. Entries will be assessed by the judging panel, which reserves the right not to award a prize.
6. Correspondence with the judges will not be entered into.
7. Otago University Press has the right of first publication for the winning entry. Other entries may also be considered for publication.
8. The name and photograph of the winning writer may be used by Landfall and/or Otago University Press for publicity purposes.
9. No current employees of Otago University Press or present editors of Landfall are eligible to enter.

Preparing your entry

• Format the manuscript in 12pt Times New Roman, 1.5 line spacing. Keep formatting simple.
• Include the title and page number on each page.
• Do not include illustrations.
• Do not include your name anywhere on the manuscript.
• Include a cover letter with your name, contact details and the manuscript title.
• Note previously published poems (and where they appeared) in the cover letter, but not in the manuscript.

How to enter

• Email your cover letter and a PDF of your manuscript to: landfall@otago.ac.nz
• And submit three hard copies (no plastic binding or covers, please). These will not be returned.

Auckland poet Kathleen Grattan, a former journalist and editor of New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, was a member of the Titirangi Poets. Her work was published in Landfall and other collections, including Premier Poets, a collection from the World Poetry Society. Her daughter, Jocelyn Grattan, also a literary enthusiast, established this award through a bequest in her mother’s memory.

Past award winners

• 2023: Jo McNeice for Blue Hour, judged by Anne Kennedy. Shortlisted: Brian Flaherty, Saradha Koirala and Wes Lee.
• 2021: Michael Steven for Night School, judged by David Eggleton. Shortlisted: Robyn Maree Pickens, Rebecca Hawkes, Nick Ascroft, Elizabeth Morton and C.K. Stead.
• 2019: Philip Armstrong for Sinking Lessons, judged by Jenny Bornholdt. Runners-up: Semira Davis, Robyn Maree Pickens, Debbie Broughton, Ben Egerton and Janet Newman.
• 2017: Alison Glenny for The Farewell Tourist, judged by Bill Manhire. Runners-up: Nick Ascroft, Tom McCone, Philip Armstrong and James Norcliffe.
• 2015: Michael Harlow for Nothing for it but to Sing, judged by Emma Neale.
• 2013: Siobhan Harvey for Cloudboy, judged by Jeffrey Paparoa Holman.
• 2011: Emma Neale for The Truth Garden, judged by Cilla McQueen.
• 2010: Jennifer Compton for This City, judged by Vincent O’Sullivan.
• 2009: Leigh Davis won posthumously for Stunning Debut of the Repairing of a Life, judged by Ian Wedde.
• 2008: Joanna Preston for The Summer King, judged by Fleur Adcock.