Jennifer Rankin (18 November 1941—8 December 1979) was a 20th century Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

n poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 and playwright

Playwright

A playwright, also called a dramatist, is a person who writes plays.The term is not a variant spelling of "playwrite", but something quite distinct: the word wright is an archaic English term for a craftsman or builder...

. Rankin was born in and grew up in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 and went to Ravenswood Methodist School. She then studied English and Psychology at University of Sydney

University of Sydney

The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...

 and completed a Diploma of Education at UNE

University of New England, Australia

The University of New England is an Australian public university with approximately 18,000 higher education students. Its original and main campus is located in the city of Armidale in northern New South Wales....

 in 1968. She worked mainly in education in Australia and England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

.

She married first John Roberts and secondly the painter David Rankin

David Rankin

David Rankin is a New York-based Australian artist. He works predominantly in oil and acrylic on canvas, but also works with paper, prints, sculptures and ceramics. Rankin has held over 100 one-person exhibitions in cities across the world and his work forms part of many of the world's leading...

 (1969).

Her first surviving poems date from 1969, her first play, untitled, from 1973. Some of her plays, there are eight in all, were produced for stage and radio during her lifetime. She received an Australia Council

Australia Council

The Australia Council, informally known as the Australia Council for the Arts, is the official arts council or arts funding body of the Government of Australia.-Function:...

 Senior Literary Fellowship in 1978 and had two books of poems published. Her Collected Poems was edited posthumously by Judith Rodriguez

Judith Rodriguez

Judith Catherine Rodriguez AM is a contemporary Australian poet.- Life :Rodriguez was born Judith Catherine Green in Perth and grew up in Brisbane. She was educated at Brisbane Girls Grammar School, and graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Arts...

 and published in 1990.

External links

• Guide to the Papers of Jennifer Rankin at the Australian Defence Force Academy Library
• Bonny Cassidy 'The sounds of sight: Jennifer Rankin's poetics' JASAL 6 (2007)