The Dorothea Mackellar Memorial Society Inc. was founded in 1983 by post-war immigrant Mrs Mikie Maas OAM PHF. Upon arriving in Australia, Ms Mass read “My Country” by Dorothea Mackellar and was deeply moved by the patriotism displayed in the poem.
That same year, Gunnedah celebrated the unveiling of a bronze statue of Dorothea Mackellar sitting side-saddle on a horse. The statue is in ANZAC Park Gunnedah, opposite the Mackellar Centre on South Street. The statue was the result of several years of fundraising by locals, led by Mikie Maas.
In 1984, the society established the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards – the largest children’s poetry competition in the country. The aim of the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards is to capture the imagination of every school student in Australia, inspiring them with a passion for poetry. It is a unique national project, provides Australia’s youth a voice and an opportunity to strive for excellence in literature.
The awards have grown from 300 entries in 1984 to tens of thousands of entries from school students across Australia and has a dedicated following from teachers whose support is integral to its continued success.
For more information on the competition and how to enter CLICK HERE.
The Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards is made possible by our generous Supporters and Partners:
Your content goes here. Edit or remove this text inline or in the module Content settings. You can also style every aspect of this content in the module Design settings and even apply custom CSS to this text in the module Advanced settings.