“Portraits of Drowning” wins Five Islands Poetry Prize
Madeleine Dale has been announced as the winner of the 2025 Five Islands Prize for her debut poetry collection Portraits of Drowning (UQP).
The judges described the book as, “a thrilling, moving and thought-provoking collection of poems, meticulously researched but always empathic and intimate. She has a remarkable dexterity with form and theme… Literary allusions and deep research sit alongside an adventurous, rangy, slightly wild approach to form, structure and poetic composition. We congratulate Madeleine on this assured and singular book, we know it will find a wide readership.”
Dale said, “The work of poetry is fraught and often tenuous – but in an increasingly fragmented and distracted world, the work is vital. I’m so grateful for the support and encouragement that this prize offers to poetry and to debut poets.”
Dale was previously awarded the 2023 Thomas Shapcott Poetry Prize for her manuscript The Water-Bearers.
The winner will receive $3000 and the publisher will receive $1200. Organisers said, “This is the only literary prize in Australia that acknowledges and awards a prize to the publisher along with the author.”
Shortlisted books were also given honours:
Highly commended
- Bathypelagia (Debbie Lim, Cordite)
Commended
- The Infant Vine (Isabella G Mead, UWAP)
- Past & Parallel Lives (Kaya Ortiz, UWAP).
More information is available on the prize website.
Category: Local news
