A dangerous excitement is building contagiously across the inner city tonight as the announcement of the inaugural winner of the Sydney Poetry Prize draws near.

The winner will be announced during the course of tonight’s poetry reading event at Sappho Books in Glebe Point Road, one of the regular series of poetry events organised at that venue by Toby Fitch

This latest landmark in the ever-accumulating series of awards for poetry in Australia and round the world is the brainchild of Adrian Wiggins, Redfern-based poet and proprietor of the Sydney Poetry website cum virtual meeting place for local poets, poetasters and poetry addicts.   The site boasts 586 members, including a raft of well-known names, and an everflowing stream of posts and poems of all shades of quality and style.

The 2012 Sydney Poetry Prize will be awarded to the best poem posted to the Sydney Poetry website in the last 12 months, as judged by Kate Middleton, who enjoys the grand title of official Sydney City Poet.

Pitt Street Poetry is (as usual) humble yet proud to be the principal sponsor of the Sydney Poetry Prize.   The more so as our first ever publication is still a few tantalising weeks away.

See you there tonight!