Michael Dransfield
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Michael Dransfield (12 September 1948 – 20 April 1973) was an Australian poet active in the 1960s and early 1970s who wrote close to 1,000 poems.Essential skills poetry workbook years 9–10
By Derek Lewis. p. 66
He has been described as "one of the most widely read poets of his generation."
Poetica. Producer/director Justine Lees. ABC National Radio. 15 April 2000.


Early life

Dransfield was born in
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
, and educated at
Sydney Grammar School Sydney Grammar School (SGS, colloquially known as Grammar) is an independent, non-denominational day school for boys, located in Sydney, Australia. Incorporated in 1854 by an Act of Parliament and opened in 1857, the school claims to offer "c ...
. He briefly studied English literature and language at the
University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW) is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was established in 1949. The university comprises seven faculties, through which it offers bachelor's, master's and docto ...
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 ...
before dropping out. He worked for some months as a clerk at the
Australian Taxation Office The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is an Australian statutory agency and the principal revenue collection body for the Australian Government. The ATO has responsibility for administering the Taxation in Australia, Australian federal taxation ...
before drifting into the counter-culture. From then on he worked intermittently, living mainly in
Paddington Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
, Balmain, and
Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city suburb in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the Ci ...
in Sydney, and in the north coast town of
Casino A casino is a facility for gambling. Casinos are often built near or combined with hotels, resorts, restaurants, retail shops, cruise ships, and other tourist attractions. Some casinos also host live entertainment, such as stand-up comedy, conce ...
, and he travelled frequently between
Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...
and
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 ...
, visiting his large group of friends and fellow poets.


Poetry

Dransfield wrote his first poem at the age of eight and began to write regularly at fourteen. He was a prolific poet, writing lyrical poems, which as his career progressed came to focus more and more on drug experiences. His poetry was first published in the mid-1960s. Dransfield's poems were published in ''
Meanjin ''Meanjin'' (), formerly ''Meanjin Papers'' and ''Meanjin Quarterly'', is one of Australia's longest-running literary magazines. Established in 1940 in Brisbane, it moved to Melbourne in 1945 and as of 2008 is an editorially independent impri ...
'', ''Southerly'', '' Poetry Australia'' and ''
Poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...
'' magazine. His first published collection was '' Streets of the Long Voyage''. He published two more books, including ''Drug poems'' (Sun Books, 1972). Between 1967 and 1969, Dransfield corresponded and exchanged poems with Peter Kocan, who had been imprisoned for attempting to assassinate federal opposition leader
Arthur Calwell Arthur Augustus Calwell King's Counsel, KC (28 August 1896 – 8 July 1973) was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Australian Labor Party, Labor Party from 1960 to 1967. He led the party through three federal elections, l ...
, and who was then a patient at the
Morisset Mental Hospital Morisset Hospital is a heritage-listed psychiatric hospital located on Silky Oak Drive (off Morisset Park Road), Morisset, New South Wales, Morisset, Greater Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia. It was designed by the New South Wales Governm ...
in
Morisset, New South Wales Morisset ( ;) is a commercial centre and suburb of the City of Lake Macquarie local government area in the Hunter region in New South Wales, Australia. Morisset is a part of the Greater Newcastle area, it is located west of the lake of Lake Ma ...
. The letters comprise drafts of poems by Dransfield, quotes of poems by other poets, and recommendations for books Kocan should read.


Themes

Dransfield's poems address "people marginalised by society" "the relationship of the creative self to the outside world" "personal identity, the family, the relationship between human beings and the natural world, poetry itself, and states of mind"


Death

In his early twenties, Dransfield was plagued by ill health. He died at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital, Sydney, on 20 April 1973, aged 24, leaving behind close to a thousand poems. Sources report conflicting causes of death, including that he died of a
heroin Heroin, also known as diacetylmorphine and diamorphine among other names, is a morphinan opioid substance synthesized from the Opium, dried latex of the Papaver somniferum, opium poppy; it is mainly used as a recreational drug for its eupho ...
overdose, infection related to drug use and a report that the coroner's finding on the cause of death was "acute
broncho-pneumonia Bronchopneumonia is a subtype of pneumonia. It is the acute inflammation of the bronchi, accompanied by inflamed patches in the nearby lobules of the lungs. citing: Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition, Copyright 2014 It is ofte ...
and
brain damage Brain injury (BI) is the destruction or degeneration of brain cells. Brain injuries occur due to a wide range of internal and external factors. In general, brain damage refers to significant, undiscriminating trauma-induced damage. A common ...
".


Legacy

Rodney Hall, who as poetry editor of ''
The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...
'' newspaper had been among the first to publish Dransfield's poetry, edited and posthumously published several collections of Dransfield's poetry during the late 1970s and early 1980s, including ''Collected Poems'' (UQP, 1987). In 2011 a poet character called "Michael" (evidently based on Dransfield) was featured in the second part of the ABC telemovie '' Paper Giants: The Birth of Cleo''. Several of Dransfield's poems were set to music by
Paul Stanhope Paul Stanhope is an Australian composer, conductor and music educator, known for his choral and instrumental music. Early life and education Stanhope was a student of Andrew Ford, Andrew Schultz and Peter Sculthorpe, and received the Charles ...
for mixed choir as ''Three Geography Songs'' in 1997. Other composers who have set his texts include
Ross Edwards Ross Edwards may refer to: * Ross Edwards (cricketer) (born 1942), Australian cricketer *Ross Edwards (composer) Ross Edwards (born 23 December 1943) is an Australian composer of a wide variety of music including orchestral and chamber music ...
,
Simon Reade Simon may refer to: People * Simon (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name Simon * Simon (surname), including a list of people with the surname Simon * Eugène Simon, French naturalist and the genus ...
, Paul-Antoni Bonetti, and Dan Walker.


Bibliography

*''Streets of the Long Voyage'' (University of Queensland Press, 1970) *''The Inspector of Tides'' (University of Queensland Press, 1972) *''Drug Poems'' (Sun Books, 1972) *''Memoirs of a Velvet Urinal'' (Maximus Books, 1975) *''Voyage into Solitude'' (University of Queensland Press, 1978), ed. Rodney Hall *''The Second Month of Spring'' (University of Queensland Press, 1980), ed. Rodney Hall *''Michael Dransfield: Collected Poems'' (University of Queensland Press, 1987), ed. Rodney Hall *''Michael Dransfield: a Retrospective'' (University of Queensland Press, 2002) selected by John Kinsella


References


External links


Papers of Michael Dransfield, UNSW Academy Library


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20060823044809/http://www.austlit.com/a/dran/jt-collected.html John Tranter reviews ''Michael Dransfield — Collected Poems''
Adam Aitken: "''Michael Dransfield's Lives'' by Patricia Dobrez: a review"


{{DEFAULTSORT:Dransfield, Michael 1948 births 1973 deaths People educated at Sydney Grammar School 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets Writers from Sydney 20th-century Australian male writers