By Aaron Cordy
DEDICATION to the written word can be a slow burn or a raging conflagration that alights the soul. Shepparton poet, Helene Castles’ passion for writing has been a lifetime affair that saw her achieve Life Membership of the Goulburn Valley Writers Group, on Thursday, March 13.
In 1994, an excited Helene attended the Country Festival of Writing where she met other local poets and storytellers and soon joined GVWG and soon became heavily involved with the group. Over the last 30 years, Helene has volunteered in many roles at GVWG including Festival Committee for nine Country Festivals of Writing, Treasurer, Secretary and recently as Public Officer.
While undertaking her tireless work for GVWG, Helene has continued to work on her extraordinary poetry, and in 2011 she published her first poetry collection, Strings of Life with Ginninderra Press. Helene published her second book, Within the Light; a collection of playful poetry that was published in 2021.
She won first prize for the CJ Dennis Poetry Prize in 2019 for her poem Art in the Singing Garden and had eight poems published in Quadrant magazine over a six-month period. Her poem Our Dog was Highly Commended in the 2021 CJ Dennis Poetry Prize. She won 3rd prize in the Raqayyah Ibourki Ekphrastic Poetry Competition for her poem Speaking of Language.
Helene’s poetry has also appeared in many publications and anthologies – Wild and First Refuge by Ginninderra Press, Quadrant magazine, Tamba and Songbirds published by GVWG, among others.
“Helene, thank you for your dedication to the Goulburn Valley Writers Group, your diligence, your patience, your wisdom and most of all your friendship. We are delighted to offer you a Lifetime Membership Award to the GV Writers Group,” said GV Writers Group President, Suellen Drysdale.
