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| From left: Self with Sarah Gubby and former Biblio Judge, artist David Frazer |
I’ve just returned from three days of sampling the varied delights of this year’s first Winter Weekend at Port Fairy in South-western Victoria. Jo Canham, Director of Blarney Books and Art had invited me to co-judge one of its main events: the 6th Biblio Art Awards. My fellow judge was local artist Essie Warmuth.
Essie and I were overwhelmed by the sheer
diversity and inventiveness of many of the entries, which made singling out a
single work as Grand Prize winner that much more challenging. In the end, however,
we chose the artist book What Katy Did, by Avril Makula.
Other award winners were Polyanna Guthrie
(Youth Award) Helen Fitzhardinge (Storytellers Award) Anne-Maree
Hunter (3D award – sponsored by Bluestone Magazine). Nine-year-old
twins Tom and Darcy Lynch also received an encouragement award
for their entry.
For more about Avril Makula’s prize-winning entry, What Katy Did, visit Moth Woman Press.
The Prize Winners were announced on
Saturday evening at the lively, crowded opening of Biblio.
On the following day at 3 pm I gave an artist talk at Blarney Books and Art. We had a full house - and what a wonderfully warm, attentive and enthusiastic audience they were.
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| Artist talk at Blarney Books and Art. Blarney Books Director Jo Canham is on the far right. |
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| After the talk I enjoyed chatting with my fellow Biblio judge, her partner Susan, and some of the audience members |
Over the course of the long weekend I met
some terrific people, caught up with several old friends and saw some stunning book art.
Somehow we also found time for sightseeing. We also managed to catch Winter Weekend's only sporting event: the thrilling Dachshund Dash, which was enormous fun (see directly below). Our old friends Jazmina and Jonas entered their dog Trouble in the Mixed Breeds race. There was no doubting Trouble's enthusiasm, but unfortunately he ran in the wrong direction - several, in fact.
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| And they're off! The Dachshund Dash |
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| Jazmina and Jonas put on brave faces following Trouble's doomed effort in the Mixed Breeds race |
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| To the lightouse: DK at Port Fairy's most famous landmark |
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| Shane admires the magnificent Port Fairy Lightouse |