Gunnedah wordsmith honoured with OAM for contribution to arts community

She says her poetry is like a mirror to the world, and it's her contribution to the arts that earned her an Australia Day honour.

Ms Knight says even though it carries her name, the Order of Australia (OAM) is more a reflection on the Gunnedah community.

"I firmly believe this is for the whole community," she said.

"I'm delighted to be honoured with an OAM, but I feel like the big thing is to be acknowledged by the community that I love."

She has dedicated her life to the written word. Inspiring the next generation of wordsmiths through her writings and the Dorothea Mackellar poetry competition.

Ms Knight was one of the founding members of the competition in the early 1980s'.

"We had a Dutch woman who came as a migrant to Gunnedah, Mikie Maas OAM, and she was the original founder of the competition," she said.

"She asked me if I would help and I was fairly busy at the time, so I said, 'No'. Then I drove home, changed my mind, drove back, and said, 'Yes', I would help."

The competition is named after Dorothea Mackellar, who wrote My Country, which was inspired by her time in Gunnedah.

Ms Knight remembers the first competition being quite small, but she has continued to see it expand and grow.

"It has grown from the first form," she said.

"We've seen the children's writing grow and advance tremendously."

But the storyteller's contributions are much broader.

She has volunteered for various organisations since the 1960s', including the Poetry Visitor Centre, Gunnedah Public School, and Gunnedah South Primary School.

And has been a regular contributor to the NSW School Magazine since the 1970s'.

Ms Knight's passion for poetry began at an early age.

"I wrote from a very young age; the first poem I published was when I was in school," she said.

"I grew up in a time when everyone knew the ballads. Everyone knew Banjo Patterson, Henry Lawson, and various other balladeers."

She said that poetry holds a special power and has given her a lot of pleasure, both in writing and reading.

"My poetry is a mirror to the world," she said.