David Harold Rowbotham (27 August 1924 – 6 October 2010) was an Australian poet and journalist.

Early life

Rowbotham was born in the

Darling Downs The Darling Downs is a farming region on the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range in southern Queensland, Australia. The Downs are to the west of South East Queensland and are one of the major regions of Queensland. The name was generally ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, in the city of

Toowoomba Toowoomba ( ), nicknamed 'The Garden City' and 'T-Bar', is a city on the border of South East Queensland and Darling Downs regions of Queensland, Australia. It is located west of Queensland's capital, Brisbane. The urban population of Toowoom ...

. He attended

Toowoomba Grammar School Toowoomba Grammar School is an independent, non-denominational, day and boarding grammar school for boys, in East Toowoomba, Toowoomba, Toowoomba Region, Queensland, Australia. Toowoomba Grammar was established in 1875, the third school to be ...

and later studied at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

.''Australian Verse: An Illustrated Treasury'', edited by Beatrice Davis, State Library of New South Wales Press, 1996 During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he served on the Pacific front.

Literary career

Rowbotham worked as a journalist for the

Toowoomba Chronicle ''The Toowoomba Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving Toowoomba, the Lockyer Valley and Darling Downs regional areas in Queensland, Australia. As of 2016, the newspaper is owned by News Corp Australia, and forms part of their Regional Medi ...

and Brisbane Courier-Mail from 1955 to 1964. He lectured in English at the University of Queensland between 1965 and 1969, then became the literary critic for the ''Brisbane Courier-Mail'' from 1969 to 1980, and later its literary editor from 1980 to 1987. Though lyrical in form, Rowbotham's poems often focus on history. After

Penguin Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...

published his ''Selected Poems'' in 1994, which covered fifty years of work, Rowbotham entered a productive late period that culminated in the well-received ''Poems for America'' in 2002. In 2005, Picaro Press's

Wagtail Wagtails are a group of passerine birds that form the genus ''Motacilla'' in the family Motacillidae. The common name and genus name are derived from their characteristic tail pumping behaviour. Together with the pipits and longclaws they form ...

series published a chapbook of Rowbotham's titled ''The Brown Island''.

Later life

A friend and mentor to many Australian writers, Rowbotham also maintained wide international connections. He died on 6 October 2010.

Awards and recognition

Rowbotham was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1991 for his service to literature. In 2007, he received the

Patrick White Award The 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. The $25,000 cash award is given to a writer who has been highly creative o ...

, which was presented to him on 9 November 2007 in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Bibliography

* ''Ploughman and Poet'' (1954) * ''Inland'' (1958) * '' All the Room'' (1964) * ''Bungalow and Hurricane'' (1967) * ''The Makers of the Ark'' (1970) * ''The Pen of Feathers'' (1971) * ''Maydays'' (1980) * ''Selected Poems'' (1994) * ''The Ebony Gates'' (1996) * ''Poems for America'' (2002) * ''The Brown Island'' (2005) * ''The Cave in the Sky'' (2005) * ''The Star of Engelmeer'' (2006) * ''Rogue Moons'' (2007)

References

External links

David Rowbotham: A Chronicle

* 1924 births 2010 deaths Australian journalists People from Toowoomba Writers from Queensland Patrick White Award winners 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets People educated at Toowoomba Grammar School 20th-century Australian male writers Members of the Order of Australia {{Australia-writer-stub