Poet Susan Telfer of Gibsons has received the Gillian Lowndes Award, an annual honour accorded to an artist in any discipline who has demonstrated long-standing achievement and growth. The Chatelech Secondary School teacher's poetry has appeared in literary journals, and she is now seeking book publication.
"To be accepted in my own community as a writer is really powerful," Telfer said at an awards ceremony that followed last week's Sunshine Coast Arts Council annual general meeting. The award was particularly meaningful for Telfer as she had taught the daughter of Gillian Lowndes, a dancer who died in 1981. The Lowndes' family created the award in her memory.
Artist and sculptor Kay Bonathan, who could not be present at the meeting, was awarded the Anne and Philip Klein Visual Arts Award, given to those who have turned to art late in life. "An award like this provides much needed encouragement for all of us to believe in our artistic passions," Bonathan wrote.
