This website commemorates the life and works of Mercedes Webb-Pullman, who was on this earth between 1950 and 2023, and also spent some time out of it!
During this time she experienced many different aspects of a very busy and fulfilling life, from early childhood exploring the world around her, learning from her surroundings, schools, brothers and sisters, parents and friends. These experiences led to her discovering many talents – in business studies, computer programming, taxation accountancy, hotel and property management, but more significantly her skills and craftsmanship in many fields – spinning wool, weaving and knitting the yarns she created, dyeing them with natural colours and making unique clothing – followed by her love of creating in traditional headlight stained glass objects.
These processes were followed by a new type of yarn, where she used her memories, experiences and imagination when she started her writing career. After starting her poetry writing from the tiny hamlet Numeralla, just out of Cooma – communicating with poetry fora all around the world, with slow and intermittent internet connection! she gained a Master’s Degree in Creative Writing in the prestigious Bill Mannhire course at Victoria University, Wellington, Aotearoa/New Zealand. She wrote many poems, novels, a lot of essays and utilised other forms of expression through her words, deeds and travels.
We find here photos of her favourite places around New South wales – many in the Snowy Mountains, where she lived for almost 40 years, interspersed with trips to America and beyond – and examples of her favourite forms of expressing herself – poetry, stained glass artistry, and recipes for some of her favourite foods (with some poetic license evident!)
Check out the winners of the annual Poetry Award established in her memory – we intend to have available the works of the winners and near-winners each year, together with videos of the inaugural live event where the remote finalists appeared at the event by an online meeting, reading their submissions.
Our thanks go to the judging panels for the events, and we encourage you to become a poet, if you are not already involved in the creative process!
Enjoy exploring, and feel inspired to participate in the Mercedes Webb-Pullman Annual Poetry Award.
Details of the topic for the next award will be on the website shortly.