David Rowbotham
David Harold Rowbotham AM (27 August 1924 – 6 October 2010) was an Australian poet and journalist.
Early life[edit]
Rowbotham was born in the Darling Downs of Queensland, in the city of Toowoomba.[1] He attended Toowoomba Grammar School and studied at the University of Queensland and the University of Sydney.[2] He served in the Second World War on the Pacific front.
Literary career[edit]
Rowbotham worked as a journalist for the Toowoomba Chronicle and Brisbane Courier-Mail (1955–64).[3] He lectured in English at the University of Queensland (1965–1969) and became the literary critic of the Brisbane Courier-Mail (1969–1980), and its literary editor (1980–1987).[2]
Though lyrical in form, Rowbotham's poems are often concerned with history. After the publication of his Selected Poems by Penguin in 1994, covering a period of fifty years, Rowbotham entered a startling late period of productivity which culminated in the publication of the much-lauded Poems for America in 2002. In 2005 the Wagtail series from Picaro Press published a chapbook of Rowbotham's called The Brown Island.
Later life[edit]
A friend and mentor to many other Australian writers, Rowbotham also maintained extensive international connections, travelling frequently to the United States.
He died on 6 October 2010.
Awards and recognition[edit]
Rowbotham was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1991 in recognition of his service to literature.[4]
In 2007 Rowbotham received the Patrick White Award; the presentation was made 9 November 2007, in Brisbane.
Bibliography[edit]
- Ploughman and Poet (1954)
- Inland (1958)
- All the Room (1964)
- Bungalow and Hurricane (1967)
- The Makers of the Ark (1970)
- The Pen of Feathers (1971)
- Maydays (1980)
- Selected Poems (1994)
- The Ebony Gates (1996)
- Poems for America (2002)
- The Brown Island (2005)
- The Cave in the Sky (2005)
- The Star of Engelmeer (2006)
- Rogue Moons (2007)
References[edit]
- ^ David Rowbotham Archived 4 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine (Brisbane Writers' Festival) Accessed: 30 January 2007.
- ^ a b Australian Verse: An Illustrated Treasury, edited by Beatrice Davis, State Library of New South Wales Press, 1996
- ^ "David Rowbotham". Australian Poetry Library. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
- ^ "David Harold Rowbotham". honours.pmc.gov.au. Archived from the original on 11 December 2019. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
External links[edit]
- David Rowbotham: A Chronicle
- Reviews of Poems for America
- "David Rowbotham". Australian Poetry Library.
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- 1924 births
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- Australian journalists
- People from Toowoomba
- Writers from Queensland
- Patrick White Award winners
- 20th-century Australian poets
- Australian male poets
- People educated at Toowoomba Grammar School
- 20th-century Australian male writers
- Members of the Order of Australia
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