Dorothy Featherstone Porter (26 March 1954 – 10 December 2008) was an Australian poet. She was a recipient of the

Christopher Brennan Award The Christopher Brennan Award (formerly known as the Robert Frost Prize) is an Australian award given for lifetime achievement in poetry. The award, established in 1973, takes the form of a bronze plaque which is presented to a poet who produces w ...

for lifetime achievement in poetry.

Early life

Porter was born in Sydney. Her father was barrister Chester Porter and her mother, Jean, was a high school chemistry teacher. Porter attended the

Queenwood School for Girls Queenwood School for Girls, often abbreviated as Queenwood, is a multi-campus independent non-denominational Christian co-educational primary and secondary day school for girls, located in the suburb of Mosman, on the Lower North Shore of Sydne ...

. She graduated from the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

in 1975 with a Bachelor of Arts majoring in English and History.

Works and awards

Porter's awards include

The Age Book of the Year ''The Age'' Book of the Year Awards were annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's ''The Age'' newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. After 1998, they were presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival. Initially, two awa ...

for poetry, the National Book Council Award for ''The Monkey's Mask'' and the FAW

for poetry. Two of her verse novels were shortlisted for the Miles Franklin Award: ''What a Piece of Work'' in 2000 and '' Wild Surmise'' in 2003. In 2000, the film ''

The Monkey's Mask ''The Monkey's Mask'' is an international co-production 2000 thriller film directed by Samantha Lang. It stars Susie Porter and Kelly McGillis. Porter plays a lesbian private detective who falls in love with a suspect (McGillis) in the disappeara ...

'' was made from her verse novel of the same name. In 2005, her libretto '' The Eternity Man'', co-written with composer Jonathan Mills, was performed at the Sydney Festival. Porter's last book published during her life was ''El Dorado'', her fifth verse novel, about a serial child killer. The book was nominated for several awards including the inaugural Prime Minister's Literary Award in 2007 and for Best Fiction in the

Ned Kelly Awards The Ned Kelly Awards (named for bushranger Ned Kelly) are Australia's leading literary awards for crime writing in both the crime fiction and true crime genres. They were established in 1996 by the Crime Writers Association of Australia to rewar ...

."Dorothy Porter dies"
by Matthew Buchanan, ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', 10 December 2008 Two other works have been published

posthumously Posthumous may refer to: * Posthumous award - an award, prize or medal granted after the recipient's death * Posthumous publication – material published after the author's death * ''Posthumous'' (album), by Warne Marsh, 1987 * ''Posthumous'' (E ...

: her poetry collection ''The Bee Hut'' (2009), as well as has her final completed work, an essay on literary criticism and emotions, entitled ''On Passion''. Porter, who found many outlets for writing, including fiction for young adults and libretti for chamber operas, was working on a rock opera called ''January'' with

Tim Finn Brian Timothy Finn (born 25 June 1952) is a New Zealand singer and musician. His musical career includes forming 1970s and 1980s New Zealand rock group Split Enz, a number of solo albums, temporary membership in his brother Neil's band Crowd ...

at the time of her death.

Personal life

Porter was an open lesbian and in 1993 moved to Melbourne to be with her partner, fellow writer Andrea Goldsmith. The couple were coincidentally both shortlisted in the 2003 Miles Franklin Award for literature. In 2009, Porter was posthumously recognised by the website Samesame.com.au as one of the most influential gay and lesbian Australians. Porter was a self-described pagan, committed to pagan principles of courage, stoicism and commitment to the earth and beauty.

Death

Porter had been suffering from breast cancer for four years before her death, but "many thought she was winning the battle," according to journalist Matt Buchanan. In the last three weeks of her life she became very sick and was admitted to hospital, where she was in intensive care for the final 10 days. She died aged 54 on 10 December 2008. On 21 February 2010, actress Cate Blanchett read excerpts from Porter's posthumously published short work on literary criticism and emotions in literature, ''On Passion'', at the

Malthouse Theatre, Melbourne Malthouse Theatre is the resident theatre company of The Malthouse building in Southbank, part of the Melbourne Arts Precinct. In the 1980s it was known as the Playbox Theatre Company and was housed in the Playbox Theatre in Melbourne's CBD. A ...

."Blanchett delivers Porter's 'Passion'"
by Frances Atkinson, ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory ...

'', 22 February 2010

Brett Dean Brett Dean (born 23 October 1961) is an Australian composer, violist and conductor. Biography Brett Dean was born, raised and educated in Brisbane. He started learning violin at the age of eight, and later studied viola with Elizabeth Morgan ...

dedicated the first movement of his "Epitaph for string quintet (viola quintet) (2010)" in memory of Dorothy Porter.

Bibliography

;Poetry collections *''Little Hoodlum'' (1975) *''Bison'' (1979) *''The Night Parrot'' (1984) *''Driving too Fast'' (1989) *''Crete'' (1996) *''Other Worlds: Poems 1997–2001'' (2001) *''Poems January–August 2004'' (2004) *''The Bee Hut'' (2009, Posthumous) *''Love Poems'' (2010, Posthumous) ;Libretti (with composer Jonathan Mills) *''The Ghost Wife'' (2000) *'' The Eternity Man'' (2005) ;Verse novels *''Akhenaten'' (1992) *''The Monkey's Mask'' (1994) *'' What a Piece of Work'' (1999) *'' Wild Surmise'' (2002) *''El Dorado'' (2007) ;Fiction for young adults *''Rookwood'' (1991) *''The Witch Number'' (1993) ;Lyrics *'' Before Time Could Change Us'' (2005), music by

Paul Grabowsky Paul Atherstone Grabowsky (born 27 September 1958) is an Australian pianist and composer. Biography Born in Lae, Papua New Guinea, Grabowsky is a pianist and composer of music for film, theatre and opera. His father Alistair had lived in Pap ...

, performed by the Paul Grabowsky/

Katie Noonan Katie Anne Noonan (born 2 May 1977) is an Australian singer-songwriter. In addition to a successful solo career encompassing opera, jazz, pop, rock and dance, she was the singer in the band George and remains the singer in the band Elixir; perf ...

Quintet ;Literary criticism *''On Passion'' (2010, posthumous)

References

Dorothy Porter, by Gig Ryan, The Age, 20 December 2008

External links

Australian Literature Resources website
contains information on many Australian writers, including Porter
Dorothy Porter at the Poetry International websiteDorothy Porter wikispaces includes many references and collection of resources Vale Dorothy Porter
article and interview in ''Cordite Poetry Review'', by poet Peter Minter {{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Dorothy 1954 births 2008 deaths Australian opera librettists Deaths from breast cancer Australian lesbian writers LGBT writers from Australia University of Sydney alumni Deaths from cancer in Victoria (Australia) Australian musical theatre librettists Australian LGBT novelists Australian women novelists Australian women poets Australian women dramatists and playwrights Women opera librettists 20th-century Australian poets 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian women writers Australian writers of young adult literature Women writers of young adult literature 20th-century LGBT people 21st-century LGBT people