Beatriz Copello

Copello was born in Argentina, but emigrated to Australia in the 1970s. She obtained a degree in Communications from the University of Technology Sydney in 1989 and an MA in English (Creative Writing) from Sydney University in 1996. In 2003 Copello received a Doctorate of Creative Arts (Creative Writing) from the University of Wollongong.[1]

She received an Emerging Writers Grant for Poetry from the Australia Council Literature Fund in November 1996 and an Ian Reed Foundation Scholarship to study radio drama writing at the Australian Film Television & Radio School in 1998.

Her play Malinche's Fire was performed at Belvoir St Theatre and was selected to be read at the International Women's Playwright Conference in Athens, Greece, in 2000.

Aside from Women Souls and Shadows, she has published three other books of poetry: Meditations at the Edge of a Dream, Under the Gums' Long Shade and Lo Irrevocable del Halcon. As said by Magdalena Ball in her review: "Beatriz Copello’s Under the Gums' Long Shade is a beautifully written, tender collection full of rich moments. It travels along a very national route, exploring the Australian terrain, and then moves outward to a place that encompasses all of humanity."[2]

Copello has been invited to read her poetry in Argentina, Italy, Spain, United States and Indonesia. Her novel A Call to the Stars was translated into Chinese.

Copello co-organized several writers' conferences and has been part of the jury in ten literary competitions. She presented twelve literary papers at various conferences and seminars in Australia and abroad. As an editor, she worked with many authors and edited five anthologies and three books of poetry. One book entitled Evasion/Evasion by Carmen Novoa received praise for Beatriz's translation from Spanish to English in a review from Glenda Guest.[3] She has held 25 writing and publishing workshops since 1993.

She wrote reviews about dozens of authors, from Marques to Gaarder, and articles on festivals, exhibitions, dance and theatre shows.[4]

Her abstract paintings were exhibited in 2014 together with the works of three other Australian women originating from South America.[5]

Copello is the recipient of several prizes, including First Prize in the Sydney Writers' Festival "Tell Your Story" competition in 2000, with a performance poetry piece.

• Highly commended for Women, Souls and Shadows at the Xerox Fast Books Award, Wild and Wolley, 1993
• First prize for the short story Scale at Taylor Square Arts Festival in 1995
• Finalist certificate for the short story Hope in the NSW PAVE Literary Competition, 1997
• First prize in the 2000 Sydney Writers Festival Pitching Literary Competition
• Premio Internacional Una Poesia por La Vida/International Competition A Poem For Life, Edizione Universum, Italy, 2003
• Highly commended for the poem Cervantes, Spanish Society, Sydney 2003
• Second prize for the short story La Calma del Regreso, Argentinian Cultural Club, 2012
• First prize for the short story Aritmomania, Literary Group Palabras, 2013

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