Page 17 - eMuse Vol.9 No.10_Neat

You are invited to be part of the
2021 Blackened Billy

Verse Competition

The 31st Annual Competition continues the legacy of Tamworth
Poetry Reading Group (TPRG). Since 1991, thousands of entries Stories of haunted theatres exist all around the world. For in-
have been submitted, recording many aspects of Australian coun- stance, “The Phantom of the Opera” has been popular for decades.
try and character. Past Award winners provide exemplary guid- Even here in Australia we have few good yarns of our own.
ance for writers seeking rhyme and metre mastery. In the macabre setting of a dark and stormy night story tellers
“The Blackened Billy Verse competition has encouraged writers to like to challenge their listeners with the tale of Frederick Federici
put pen to paper to produce the most incredible range of rhyming (above), the often-sighted backstage spirit of Melbourne’s Princess
verse, over the years honing their skills to now produce some of Theatre. His legend begins on opening night in 1888, with Federici
the best bush poetry ever written, as good as, if not better than in the role of Mephistopheles in Charles Gounod’s opera Faust. The
Paterson or Lawson.” - Jan Morris, on behalf of the Tamworth play concludes with Mephistopheles and Faust descending into hell
Poetry Reading Group (November 2019). through a trapdoor in the stage.
Competition Founder Jan remains a guiding force. The 2021 Billy is Opening night was curtains for poor Frederick, whose ghost is
in the kiln. Made in the hills of Moonbi, by two blokes who play with said to haunt Melbourne’s Princess Theatre. “They disappeared
clay above where the fibreglass chook is perched to attract tourists down in puffs of smoke down underneath the stage, and when
and draw attention to the poultry industry. Ian and Fred have been Federick landed, he was dead,” said Richard Davis, author of 2016’s
crafting the unique and hard-won Billy trophy annually since 1991. “Great Australian Ghost Stories.”
The Billy plaque will be custom-curved and engraved in Tam- Ever since that fateful night over a century ago, performers, the-
worth – as it has always been. The winner’s trophy plaque will atre staff and patrons have reported eerie lights, strange noises and
be engraved and attached in the community hosting the awards inexplicable occurrences.
ceremony. The minor question is where will that ceremony be? “Even some quite famous people,” Mr Davis said. “Rob Guest,
The more inviting question is ‘Will your name make it onto the June Bronhill, Stuart Wagstaff — a whole lot of people have claimed
Trophy Plaque?’ to see the ghost of Federici.”
According to Jacqueline Travaglia, director and owner of Lantern
The 2020 Awards Ceremony was celebrated as part of the Banjo Ghost Tours, which operates award-winning ghost tours around
Paterson Australian Poetry Festival. It is anticipated the Awards
for the 31st Billy will be announcing during the 2021 Festival, Australia, one of the theatre’s cleaners often felt someone or
something behind her.
currently estimated to run from 13-20 February. Covid times add “It would touch her hair, shoulders and sometimes even back,”
question, and Festival organisers will not decide for some time Ms Travaglia said.
yet about happenings. Late October at earliest. In the interim, “Many people who have never heard of the Federici story have
entrants should submit the BB2021 entries prior to the 30 Novem-
ber closing date. claimed to see a ghostly figure in evening dress at the theatre.”
While Federici’s Victorian era ghost takes out the poltergeist
In 2020, the Blackened Billy Verse Writing Competition was popularity prize, he is far from alone in generating tales of an Aus-
warmly welcomed by locals, poets and media, with newspaper tralian afterlife.
and television tuning in to capture and share advice of the win- Both Mr Davis and Ms Travaglia point to countless other spooky
ners. The success of previous poetry events in Orange has lured an happenings, including at Sydney’s Q Station, Adelaide Gaol and
Australian Performance Poetry Championship to Orange for 2021. Brisbane City Hall, and regional destinations including Port Arthur
Excited to see what opportunities are realised, as the Covid-19 loom large in both of Mr Davis’s collections.
saga unfolds. Entrants for the 2021 Blackened Billy Verse Competi- “I think the scariest stories come from old properties in remote
tion may submit entries via postal or electronic means. parts of Australia, for example, a wonderful house called Monte
Publication of future Tribute Books containing Blackened Billy Cristo Homestead in Junee (NSW),” he said.
Winners is likely. Will you be in it? Best-selling author and podcaster Karina Machado has been lis-
$1000 Prize Pool tening to ordinary Australians confiding paranormal experiences
First Prize $500 plus Trophy and Certificate for the past 12 years. Her debut book on the subject, Spirit Sisters,
was re-released this year to mark its 10-year anniversary and in-
Second Prize $250 plus Certificate
Third Prize $150 plus Certificate cludes the story of Amy Shepherd, who saw a colonial family at a
sleepover when she was eight years old.
Highly Commended 5 x $20 plus Certificate “Amy got up, went to the loo and came back. As she was get-
Commended 5 x Certificate
ting comfortable … she turned around and there were three people
Entries are to be typed, on an A4 sized page, using 12-point clear standing in front of her,” Ms Machado said.
typeface (e.g. Arial or Times New Roman), 1.5 line spacing. “It was clearly a family: the dad, mum and a little boy. They were
Entry Fee ($10 per poem, or 3 for $25). just staring at her like she was the prize exhibit at the zoo. She just
Critique Fee(s) $10 per poem stared back and it became a bit of a standoff.”
Eventually the little boy reached out to touch Amy, at which
There is no limit to the number of entries. Electronic submission point she did what most of us would do: hid under the sheets.
closes at midnight AEST on 30 November 2020. Postal entries
must be postmarked no later than 30 November 2020. “It’s one of my favourite stories, because it draws on an idea I
love, which is who’s haunting who,” Ms Machado said. “I spoke to a
Enquiries to Lux@blackenedbillyversecompetition.com or post to medium only recently who said very often (spirits) have an expres-
BB2021, P O Box 644, Gladstone Qld 4680. sion of extreme astonishment, like ‘You can see me?’”
October 2020 eMuse 17