Robert Adamson (poet)

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Robert Adamson
Born(1943-05-17)17 May 1943
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died16 December 2022(2022-12-16) (aged 79)
Wahroonga, New South Wales, Australia
OccupationPoet
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAustralian
CitizenshipAustralian
SpouseJuno Gemes
Website
www.robertadamson.com

Robert Adamson (17 May 1943 – 16 December 2022) was an Australian poet and publisher.[1][2]

Biography[edit]

Born in Sydney, Adamson grew up in Neutral Bay and spent much of his teenage years in Gosford Boys Home for juvenile offenders. He discovered poetry while educating himself in gaol in his 20s. His first book, Canticles on the Skin, was published in 1970. He acknowledges the influence of, among others, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, and Hart Crane upon his writing.[citation needed] But also American poets such as Robert Duncan and Robert Creeley were important and influential contemporaries.[3]

In the 1970s and 1980s, he edited New Poetry magazine[4] and established Paper Bark Press in 1986 with his partner, photographer Juno Gemes, and writer Michael Wilding, which published Australian poetry. Wilding left the company in 1990, and Gemes and Adamson continued to run the company[5] until 2002.[6]

In 2011 he won the Patrick White Award[7] and the Blake Poetry Prize.[8]

Adamson was appointed the inaugural CAL chair of poetry at UTS (University of Technology, Sydney) in 2012.[9]

Death[edit]

Adamson died in palliative care (Neringah Hospital), Wahroonga, New South Wales[3] on 16 December 2022,[10] at the age of 79.[11][12]

Works[edit]

Poetry[edit]

  • Canticles on the Skin. (Sydney: Illumination Press, 1970)
  • Cross The Border. (Sydney: New Poetry, 1977 and Hale & Iremonger, 1982) ISBN 0-86806-050-X
  • Selected Poems. (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1977) ISBN 0-207-13515-0
  • Where I Come From. (Sydney: Big Smoke, 1979) ISBN 0-908201-00-1
  • The Clean Dark. (Sydney: Paper Bark, 1989) ISBN 0-9587801-2-9
  • Waving to Hart Crane. (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1994) ISBN 0-207-18347-3 [13]
  • Black Water: Approaching Zukofsky. (Sydney: Brandl & Schlesinger, 1999) ISBN 1-876040-14-9
  • Mulberry Leaves: New & Selected Poems 1970-2001. (2001) ISBN 1-876749-48-2 [14]
  • Reading the River: Selected Poems (Bloodaxe Books, UK, 2004) ISBN 978-1-85224-639-6
  • The Goldfinches of Baghdad. (Flood Editions, USA, 2006) ISBN 0-9746902-8-7 [15]
  • The Golden Bird: New and Selected Poems (Melbourne: Black Inc., 2008) ISBN 978-1-86395-287-3
  • The Kingfisher's Soul (Bloodaxe Books, UK, 2009) ISBN 978-1-85224-820-8
  • Empty Your Eyes. (Vagabond Press, 2013)
  • Net Needle. (Black Inc, 2015) ISBN 978-1-86395-731-1. (Flood Editions, USA, 2015) ISBN 978-0-9903407-1-3. (Bloodaxe Books, UK, 2016) ISBN 978-1-78037-301-0
  • Garden Poem
  • Reaching Light: Selected Poems (Flood Editions, USA, 2020) ISBN 978-1733273428

Autobiography[edit]

Awards[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Robert Adamson. "Poetry of Robert Adamson > Woodland Pattern Book Center". Woodlandpattern.org. Archived from the original on 16 April 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  2. ^ "Poetry International Web - Robert Adamson". Australia.poetryinternationalweb.org. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  3. ^ a b "News And Publicity | Bloodaxe Books". www.bloodaxebooks.com.
  4. ^ "New Poetry". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  5. ^ "Paper Bark Press". AustLit. 10 March 2004. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  6. ^ Lea, Bronwyn (14 May 2013). "Poetry publishing in Australia". Bronwyn Lea. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  7. ^ "Former inmate wins $18,000 poetry prize". canberratimes.com.au. 7 November 2011. Archived from the original on 7 November 2011. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  8. ^ "Blake Poetry Prize". AustLit. Retrieved 27 August 2022.
  9. ^ "Adamson named first CAL Chair in Australian Poetry at UTS". Books+Publishing. 16 January 2012. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  10. ^ "Robert Adamson Memorial Service Friday 13th January 2023, 1.15pm (AEDT) Live Streaming Details". 11 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Robert Adamson, the poet of the Hawkesbury River, dies at 79". Sydney Morning Herald. 16 December 2022. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
  12. ^ Burke, Tony (16 December 2022). "Statement on death of Robert Adamson". The Hon Tony Burke MP, Minister for the Arts. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  13. ^ Giles Hugo; Anne Kellas, eds. (9 January 2003). "Bob Adamson Waving to Hart Crane". The-write-stuff.com.au. Retrieved 4 April 2012.
  14. ^ "Editors of CrossLines Kings Cross literary magazine". Archived from the original on 16 January 2005.
  15. ^ "Peter Riley reviews Robert Adamson".
  16. ^ "Robert Adamson". Black Inc. 27 April 2009. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h "Robert Adamson". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 16 December 2022.

External links[edit]


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