Bruce Dawe

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Donald Bruce Dawe AO (born 28 February 1930) is an Australian poet, and is considered by many as one of the most influential Australian poets.

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[edit] Biography

Dawe began writing poetry at an early age, influenced by writers such as John Milton and Dylan Thomas. Dawe's poetry revolves around Australian society, politics and culture. Dawe’s anti-war poems originate from his experiences during the time of the Vietnam War, and the horror of death is always evident in Dawe’s war poems (The Museum Attendant, Turn Again Home, Around El Salvador). Dawe often uses long sentences in his poems such as Drifters, which is only two sentences long. This is done to preserve the moment and the mood of the poem, as most of them occur over a short period of time. He caught the readers attention and their attraction to encourage others to look up to and admire him.

Dawe was born in Fitzroy, Victoria. At the age of 16, he left school to become a legal clerk, but was eventually fired for lack of attention to his work. He later worked as a salesman, laborer in a saw mill, office assistant, insurance salesman, copy boy with The Truth and The Sun newspapers, then moved to the country to work as a labourer on a dairy farm. Eventually he moved to the city and worked as a labourer in Melbourne.

During a stint in the Royal Australian Air Force, he worked as a teacher of English at Downlands College. He taught there for two years, until he was appointed as a lecturer in Literature at Darling Downs Institute of Advanced Education, and later went on to work as a professor at the University of Southern Queensland.

He continues to write, and frequently makes stories for his grandchildren, featuring them in magical adventures. His poems have frequently featured in Australia's Board of Studies annual examinations such as the NSW School Certificate (SC), the NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC), and the Australian English Competition, as well as in the the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) curriculum. He has published an anthology; aptly named 'Sometimes Gladness'.

In 1999 Dawe endowed a fund to establish the Bruce Dawe National Poetry Prize. The prize of AUD$1500 is awarded annually, administered by the Faculty of Arts in the University of Southern Queensland, and is to encourage poets in Australia and to recognise the contribution poets make to Australian culture.[1]

[edit] Awards

[edit] Bibliography

  • Beyond the subdivisions : poems (Cheshire, 1969)
  • Condolences of the season : selected poems (Cheshire, 1971)
  • Towards sunrise : poems 1979-1986 (Longman Cheshire, 1986)
  • This side of silence : poems 1987-1990 (Longman Cheshire, 1990)
  • Mortal instruments : poems 1990-1995 (Longman, 1995)
  • Sometimes Gladness: collected poems, 1954-1997, 5th Edition (Longman Cheshire, 1997)

[edit] Some of his poems

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ The Bruce Dawe National Poetry Prize. UQS Australia Faculty of the Arts. Retrieved on 2007-09-15.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Brisbane Writers Festival - Bruce Dawe". Brisbane Writers Festival. Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
  3. ^ "Modern Australian poetry - Australia's Culture Portal". Australian Government - Culture and Recreation Portal (2007-08-24). Retrieved on 2007-08-26.
  4. ^ It's an Honour. Australian Government. Retrieved on 2007-01-11.
  5. ^ Mildura Writers' Festival, Thursday 20 - Sunday 23 July 2006. Arts Festival 07 Mildura/Wentworth. Retrieved on 2007-08-04.
  6. ^ It's an Honour. Australian Government. Retrieved on 2007-01-11.

[edit] References