Thomas William Shapcott (born 21 March 1935) is an Australian poet, novelist, playwright, editor, librettist, short story writer and teacher.

Biography

Thomas William ShapcottIt's an Honour
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Ipswich, Queensland Ipswich () is a city in South East Queensland, Australia. Situated on the Bremer River, it is approximately west of the Brisbane central business district. The city is renowned for its architectural, natural and cultural heritage. Ipswich p ...

, and attended the Ipswich Grammar School with his twin brother, who was born on the previous day (20 March 1935). (The writer is left-handed, but his twin is right-handed.) He left school at 15 to work in his father's accountancy business, but completed an accountancy degree in 1961. In 1967 he graduated in arts from the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

. His first artistic impulse was to be a composer. By age 19, he had written a number of works, but he turned away from music when he discovered a string quartet he had written unconsciously plagiarised a chamber work by

Ernest Bloch Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. As well as producing music ...

. He then worked as a tax accountant, a profession that he pursued for 27 years. He was director of the

Australia Council The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austr ...

's Literature Board for seven years, and Executive Director of the National Book Council (1992–97). He was Professor of Creative Writing at

Adelaide University The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on ...

. He has written 15 collections of poetry and 6 novels. Thomas Shapcott was appointed an Officer (AO) of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

in 1989.

Selected list of works

Poetry collections

* '' Time on Fire'' (1961) * ''The Mankind Thing'' (1964) * ''Sonnets 1960-1963'' (1964) * ''A Taste of Salt Water : Poems'' (1967) * ''Inwards to the Sun : Poems'' (1969) * ''Fingers at Air : Experimental Poems 1969'' (1969) * ''Interim Report : some poems 1970/71'' (1971) * ''Begin with Walking'' (1972) * ''Two Voices : Poems (1973) with Margaret Shapcott * ''Shabbytown Calendar'' (1975) * ''Seventh Avenue Poems'' (1976) * ''Selected Poems'' (1978) * ''Turning Full Circle'' (1979) * ''Stump and Grape and Bopple-Nut'' (1981) * ''Welcome!'' (1983) * ''Travel Dice'' (1987) * ''Selected Poems 1956-1988'' (1989) * ''In the Beginning'' (1990) * ''The City of Home'' (1995) * ''The Sun's Waste is Our Energy'' (1998) * ''Cities in Exile'' (1998) * ''Chekhov's Mongoose'' (2000) * ''Music Circus and Other Poems'' (2004) * ''Adelaide Lunch Sonnets'' (2006) * ''The City of Empty Rooms'' (2006) * ''The Book of Hanging Gardens'' (2009) * ''Part of Us'' (2010) * ''At Marcoola'' (2011)

Novels

* ''The Birthday Gift'' (1982) * ''White Stag of Exile'' (1984) * ''Hotel Bellevue'' (1986) * ''The Search for Galina'' (1989) * ''Mona's Gift'' (1993) * ''Theatre of Darkness'' (1998)National Library of Australia Theatre of darkness : Lillian Nordica as opera
Retrieved 11 August 2013 * ''Spirit Wrestlers'' (2004)

Short story collections

* ''Limestone and Lemon Wine : Stories'' (1988) * ''What You Own : Stories'' (1991) * ''Gatherers and Hunters : Stories'' (2011)

Young Adult

* ''Holiday of the Ikon'' (1984) * ''Flood Children'' (1981)

Non-fiction

* ''Writers Interviews with the Camera'' (1989) * ''Biting the Bullet : A Literary memoir'' (1990) * ''Twins in the Family : Interviews with Australian Twins'' (2001)

Awards

* Grace Leven Poetry Prize, 1961: winner for "Time on Fire". *Myer Award for Australian Poetry, 1967: winner for A taste of salt water *C.J. Dennis Memorial Poetry Competition, Open Section, 1976: commended for The five senses *Canada-Australia Literary Award, 1978 *Officer of the

, 1989, for his services to Literature * Golden Wreath of the Struga Poetry Evenings laureate, 1990 *Wesley Michel Wright Prize for Poetry, 1996 *New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Special Discretionary Award, 1996 * Patrick White Award, 2000 * Harold White Fellowships, 2005. Note: to examine the papers of Ray Mathew *Honorary Doctorate of Literature from

Macquarie University Macquarie University ( ) is a public research university based in Sydney, Australia, in the suburb of Macquarie Park. Founded in 1964 by the New South Wales Government, it was the third university to be established in the metropolitan area of ...

References

External links

Brisbane Writers Festival Site

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shapcott, Thomas 1935 births Living people 20th-century Australian novelists University of Adelaide faculty Australian male novelists Australian poets People from Ipswich, Queensland Officers of the Order of Australia Patrick White Award winners Australian twins Struga Poetry Evenings Golden Wreath laureates Australian male poets 20th-century Australian male writers