Rosemary Dobson
Encyclopedia
Rosemary de Brissac Dobson AO
(born 18 June 1920) is an award winning Australia
n poet, who is also significant as an illustrator, editor and anthologist. She has published fourteen volumes of poetry, has been published in almost every annual volume of Australian Poetry and has been translated into French and other languages.
The Judges of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards in 1996 described her significance as follows: "The level of originality and strength of Rosemary's poetry cannot be underestimated, nor can the contribution she has made to Australian literature. Her literary achievements, especially her poetry, are a testament to her talent and dedication to her art."
, the second daughter of English-born A.A.G. (Arthur) Dobson and Marjorie (née Caldwell). Her father's father was Austin Dobson
a poet and essayist. Her father died when she was five years old. She attended the prestigious Frensham School
where her mother obtained work as a housemistress. Here she met Australian children's author, Joan Phipson
, who had been asked to set up a printing press. She stayed on, after completion of her studies, as an apprentice teacher of art and art history.
When she turned 21, Dobson attended the University of Sydney
as a non-degree student. She also studied design with Australian artist, Thea Proctor
. She worked as an editor and reader for the publisher Angus and Robertson with Beatrice Davis and Nan McDonald
.
She married the publisher Alec Bolton (1926–1996), whom she met while working at Angus and Robertson, in Sydney, and they had three children. During these Sydney years she became well-acquainted with other writers and artists, such as poet Douglas Stewart and his artist wife, Margaret Coen, writer and artist Norman Lindsay
, Kenneth Slessor
, and James McAuley
. They lived in London
from 1966 to 1971, during which she travelled widely in Europe and cemented her lifelong interest in art.
The Boltons moved to Canberra
in 1971 where Alec Bolton set up the Publications area of the National Library of Australia
. In Canberra they were friendly with David Campbell
, A. D. Hope
, R. F. Brissenden and Dorothy Green
. As time wore on, her local circle explanded to include younger writers such as Alan Gould
and Geoff Page
.
Her older sister, Ruth, became Australia's first woman career diplomat Ambassador.
Douglas Stewart suggested that she is "a religious person in the deepest and most important sense". In her introduction to her 1973 Selected Poems, Dobson wrote of her aims:
In addition to poetry she has produced anthologies including two, with poet David Campbell
, containing their translations of Russian poetry. She has also written prose.
Two early publications from the press, published in 1973, were a small sheet edition of some of Dobson's poems titled Three poems on water-springs and a small book of poems by David Campbell titled Starting from Central Station : a sequence of poems.
, as is the dress she wore for the portrait. Dobson sat a third time for Lindsay, at his request and wearing clothes of his suggestion. This portrait is now missing.
Artist Thea Proctor
made four drawings of Dobson while Dobson was attending Proctor's art classes.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(born 18 June 1920) is an award winning 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, who is also significant as an illustrator, editor and anthologist. She has published fourteen volumes of poetry, has been published in almost every annual volume of Australian Poetry and has been translated into French and other languages.
The Judges of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards in 1996 described her significance as follows: "The level of originality and strength of Rosemary's poetry cannot be underestimated, nor can the contribution she has made to Australian literature. Her literary achievements, especially her poetry, are a testament to her talent and dedication to her art."
Life
Rosemary Dobson was born in SydneySydney
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...
, the second daughter of English-born A.A.G. (Arthur) Dobson and Marjorie (née Caldwell). Her father's father was Austin Dobson
Henry Austin Dobson
Henry Austin Dobson , commonly Austin Dobson, was an English poet and essayist.-Life:He was born at Plymouth, the eldest son of George Clarisse Dobson, a civil engineer, of French descent. When he was about eight, the family moved to Holyhead, and his first school was at Beaumaris in Anglesey...
a poet and essayist. Her father died when she was five years old. She attended the prestigious Frensham School
Frensham School
Frensham School is an independent, non-denominational, secondary, day and boarding school for girls, located at Mittagong, south of Sydney, in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia....
where her mother obtained work as a housemistress. Here she met Australian children's author, Joan Phipson
Joan Phipson
Joan Margaret Phipson was an award-winning Australian children's writer. She lived on a farm in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales and many of her books evoke the stress and satisfaction of living in the Australian countryside, floods, bushfires, drought and all...
, who had been asked to set up a printing press. She stayed on, after completion of her studies, as an apprentice teacher of art and art history.
When she turned 21, Dobson attended the 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...
as a non-degree student. She also studied design with Australian artist, Thea Proctor
Thea Proctor
Althea Mary Proctor was, with Margaret Preston and Grace Cossington Smith, one of the most famous Australian woman artists of her time. She was born in Armidale, New South Wales, New South Wales, to solicitor and politician William Consett Proctor and his wife Katherine Louise...
. She worked as an editor and reader for the publisher Angus and Robertson with Beatrice Davis and Nan McDonald
Nan McDonald (poet)
-Biography:Born in Eastwood, New South Wales, McDonald went to Hornsby Girls' High School , and studied at the University of Sydney . She worked as an editor for Angus and Robertson, where she specialized in Australian literature, with colleagues such as Alec Bolton, Beatrice Davis and Douglas...
.
She married the publisher Alec Bolton (1926–1996), whom she met while working at Angus and Robertson, in Sydney, and they had three children. During these Sydney years she became well-acquainted with other writers and artists, such as poet Douglas Stewart and his artist wife, Margaret Coen, writer and artist Norman Lindsay
Norman Lindsay
Norman Alfred William Lindsay was an Australian artist, sculptor, writer, editorial cartoonist, scale modeler, and boxer. He was born in Creswick, Victoria....
, Kenneth Slessor
Kenneth Slessor
Kenneth Adolf Slessor OBE was an Australian poet and journalist. He was one of Australia's leading poets, notable particularly for the absorption of modernist influences into Australian poetry. The Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry is named after him.-Life:Slessor was born Kenneth Adolphe...
, and James McAuley
James McAuley
James Phillip McAuley was an Australian academic, poet, journalist, literary critic and a prominent convert to Roman Catholicism.-Life and career:...
. They lived in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
from 1966 to 1971, during which she travelled widely in Europe and cemented her lifelong interest in art.
The Boltons moved to Canberra
Canberra
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. With a population of over 345,000, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory , south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Melbourne...
in 1971 where Alec Bolton set up the Publications area of the National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
. In Canberra they were friendly with David Campbell
David Campbell (poet)
David Watt Ian Campbell was an Australian poet who wrote over 15 volumes of prose and poetry.-Life:Campbell was born on 16 July 1915 at Ellerslie Station, near Adelong, New South Wales...
, A. D. Hope
A. D. Hope
Alec Derwent Hope AC OBE was an Australian poet and essayist known for his satirical slant. He was also a critic, teacher and academic.-Life:...
, R. F. Brissenden and Dorothy Green
Dorothy Auchterlonie
Dorothy Auchterlonie AO was an English-born Australian academic, literary critic and poet.-Life:Auchterlonie was born in Sunderland, County Durham in England...
. As time wore on, her local circle explanded to include younger writers such as Alan Gould
Alan Gould
Alan Gould is a contemporary Australian novelist and poet.Born in London Alan Gould's family lived in Northern Ireland, Germany and Singapore before arriving in Australia in 1966. He completed a BA at Australian National University and a Diploma of Education at the then Canberra College of...
and Geoff Page
Geoff Page
Geoffrey Donald Page is an Australian poet, translator, teacher and jazz enthusiast.He has published over seventeen collections of poetry, as well as prose and verse novels. Poetry and jazz are his driving interests, and he has also written a biography of the jazz musician, Bernie McGann...
.
Her older sister, Ruth, became Australia's first woman career diplomat Ambassador.
Literary career
Dobson began writing poetry at the age of seven. Her first collection, In a Convex Mirror, appeared in 1944, and was followed by thirteen more volumes. Her work demonstrates her love of art, antiquity and mythology as well as her experience of motherhood. Hooton describes her work as both consistent and varied: "consistency balanced with variety, reserve with passion, past with present, tradition with innovation, ancient myth with contemporary life, domesticity with culture, and above all Australia with Europe.Douglas Stewart suggested that she is "a religious person in the deepest and most important sense". In her introduction to her 1973 Selected Poems, Dobson wrote of her aims:
"I hope it will be perceived that the poems presented here are part of a search for something only fugitively glimpsed, a state of grace which one once knew, or imagined, or from which one was turned away. Surely everyone who writes poetry would agree this is part of it - a doomed but urgent wish to express the inexpressible".
In addition to poetry she has produced anthologies including two, with poet David Campbell
David Campbell (poet)
David Watt Ian Campbell was an Australian poet who wrote over 15 volumes of prose and poetry.-Life:Campbell was born on 16 July 1915 at Ellerslie Station, near Adelong, New South Wales...
, containing their translations of Russian poetry. She has also written prose.
Brindabella Press
In 1972, Dobson's husband, Alec Bolton, sent up Brindabella Press on which he worked for the rest of his life, working more actively after his retirement from the Library in 1987. Dobson had input as editorial adviser and proof-reader. Both she and Bolton enjoyed the art of the private press in a time when computer type-setting was taking over and producing a more standardised product.Two early publications from the press, published in 1973, were a small sheet edition of some of Dobson's poems titled Three poems on water-springs and a small book of poems by David Campbell titled Starting from Central Station : a sequence of poems.
Portraits
Norman Lindsay made three portraits of Dobson, the first one at the suggestion of Douglas Stewart who suggested he draw or paint Australian writers. Lindsay's first portrait of Dobson was a drawing, but it was then suggested that he do an oil painting. Lindsay asked her to wear her rose-coloured evening dress. This painting is now owned by the National Library of AustraliaNational Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
, as is the dress she wore for the portrait. Dobson sat a third time for Lindsay, at his request and wearing clothes of his suggestion. This portrait is now missing.
Artist Thea Proctor
Thea Proctor
Althea Mary Proctor was, with Margaret Preston and Grace Cossington Smith, one of the most famous Australian woman artists of her time. She was born in Armidale, New South Wales, New South Wales, to solicitor and politician William Consett Proctor and his wife Katherine Louise...
made four drawings of Dobson while Dobson was attending Proctor's art classes.
Awards
- 1948: The Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning HeraldThe Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
Poetry Prize for The Ship of Ice - 1966 Myer Award II for Australian Poetry for Cock Crow
- 1977 Australian National University Honorary Convocation Member
- 1979: Robert Frost AwardChristopher Brennan AwardThe Christopher Brennan Award is an Australian award given for lifetime achievement in poetry. The award, established circa 1976, takes the form of a bronze plaque; it recognizes a poet who produces work of "sustained quality and distinction"...
- 1984: Patrick White AwardPatrick White AwardThe Patrick White Award is an annual literary prize established by Patrick White. White used his 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature award to establish a trust for this prize....
- 1984: Grace Leven Prize for PoetryGrace Leven Prize for PoetryThe Grace Leven Prize for Poetry is an annual award given in the name of Grace Leven who died in 1922. It was established by William Baylebridge who "made a provision for an annual poetry prize in memory of 'my benefactress Grace Leven' and for the publication of his own work"...
for Best Volume of Poetry for the Year The Three Fates & Other Poems - 1985: Victorian Premier's Literary AwardVictorian Premier's Literary AwardThe Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Governmentwith the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry....
Joint Winner for The Three Fates - 1986: Association for the Study of Australian Literature Honorary Life Member
- 1987: Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)Order of AustraliaThe Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
- 1996: Australia CouncilAustralia CouncilThe 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:...
Writer’s Emeritus Award - 1996: University of SydneyUniversity of SydneyThe 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...
Honorary Doctor of Letters - 2001: The Age Book of the YearThe Age Book of the YearThe Age Book of the Year Awards are annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's The Age newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. Since 1998 they have been presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival...
Book of the Year and Poetry Awards for Untold Lives & Later Poems - 2006: NSW Alice Award
- 2006: New South Wales Premier's Literary AwardsNew South Wales Premier's Literary AwardsThe New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards were established in 1979 by the New South Wales Premier Neville Wran. Commenting on its purpose, Wran said: "We want the arts to take, and be seen to take, their proper place in our social priorities...
Special Award
External links
- http://www.austlit.com/a/dobson/2004-iv-tranter.htmlInterview, by John TranterJohn TranterJohn Ernest Tranter is an Australian poet, publisher and editor. He has a long list of achievements in writing, publishing and broadcasting...
] - Papers of Rosemary Dobson Ms 4955
- "Poetry Special: 'The Continuance of Poetry' by Rosemary Dobson", on ABC Radio National Book Show Accessed: 2008-05-15