Kenneth Adolf Slessor (March 27, 1901–June 30, 1971)[1] was an Australian poet and journalist. Events 196 BC - Ptolemy V ascends to the throne of Egypt. 1309 - Pope Clement V excommunicates Year 1901 ( MCMI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting Events 350 - Roman usurper Nepotianus, of the Constantinian dynasty, is defeated and killed by troops of the Usurper Year 1971 ( MCMLXXI) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1971 Gregorian calendar. For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Australia topics. He is one of Australia's leading poets, notable particularly for the absorption of modernist infuences into Australian poetry.
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Life
Slessor was born in Orange, New South Wales. Orange is a provincial city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Mitchell Highway, west of Sydney at an altitude of. [1]
Career
He made his living as a newspaper journalist, mostly for the Sydney Sun, and was a war correspondent during World War II (1940 – 1944). World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including [1] Slessor counted Norman Lindsay, Hugh McCrae and Jack Lindsay among his friends. Norman Alfred William Lindsay ( 22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist Hugh Raymond McCrae ( 4 October 1876 - 17 February 1958) was an Australian writer Robert Leeson Jack Lindsay ( October 20 1900 - 1990 was an Australian born writer who from 1926 lived in the United Kingdom, initially in
The bulk of Slessor's poetic work was produced before the Second World War. His "Five Bells", relating to Sydney Harbour, remains probably his best known poem, followed by "Beach Burial", a tribute to Australian troops who fought in World War II.
In 1965, Australian writer Hal Porter wrote of having met and stayed with Slessor in the 1930s. Harold Edward (Hal Porter ( 16 February 1911 – 29 September 1984) was a notable Australian Novelist and Playwright He described Slessor as
a city lover, fastidious and excessively courteous, in those qualities resembles Baudelaire, as he does in being incapable of sentimentalizing over vegetation, in finding in nature something cruel, something bordering on effrontery. He prefers chiselled stone to the disorganization of grass". [2]
Bibliography
Poetry Collections
- Thief of the Moon (1924)
- Earth-Visitors (1926)
- Cuckooz Contrey (1932)
- Darlinghurst Nights (1933)
- Funny Farmyard (1933)
- Five Bells: XX Poems (1939)
- One Hundred Poems, 1919-1939 (1944)
Essays/Prose
- Bread and Wine (Sydney, 1970)
Edited
- Australian Poetry (1945)
- The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Verse (Melbourne, 1961)
Notes
- ^ a b c MS 3020 Papers of Kenneth Adolf Slessor (1901-1971). National Library of Australia. Retrieved on d2007-08-31.
- ^ Porter (1965) p. 40
References
- Porter, Hal (1965) "Melbourne in the Thirties" in London Magazine, 5(6): 31-47, September 1965
External links
- Some of Slessor's songs — songhunter. com
- profile of Slessor — John Tranter
- National Library of Australia - Papers of Kenneth Adolf Slessor (1901-1971)
- Slessor, Kenneth Adolf (1901 - 1971) Australian Dictionary of Biography on-line edition (Retrieved 13 August 2007)
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Slessor, Kenneth |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Slessor, Kenneth Adolf |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Australian poet and journalist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | March 27, 1901 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Orange, New South Wales |
| DATE OF DEATH | June 30, 1971 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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