Timothy Colin Thorne (25 March 1944 – 16 September 2021) was an Australian contemporary

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

Early life

Timothy Colin Thorne was born on 25 March 1944 in

Launceston, Tasmania Launceston () is a city in the north of Tasmania, Australia, at the confluence of the North Esk River, North Esk and South Esk River, South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River, Tasmania, Tamar River (kanamaluka). As of 2021, the Launc ...

Career

Thorne wrote 15 volumes of

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 ...

, his last, ''Running Out of Entropy'' (2018, Walleah Press). In 1985, he inaugurated the Tasmanian Poetry Festival, which he directed until 2001 and which incorporates his invention, the Launceston Poetry Cup, a performance poetry concept now imitated all over Australia and internationally. Thorne had been

writer-in-residence Artist-in-residence (also Writer-in-residence), or artist residencies, encompass a wide spectrum of artistic programs that involve a collaboration between artists and hosting organisations, institutions, or communities. They are programs that pr ...

with a number of organisations, including the Miscellaneous Workers Union and the

Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery The Queen Victoria Museum & Art Gallery (QVMAG) is a museum located in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia. It is the largest museum in Australia not located in a capital city. History The foundation stone for the original building to house the ...

, and had worked as a poet in schools, universities and prisons.

Activism

Thorne had an abiding interest in creating opportunities for poets and other artists with disabilities and from 1998 to 2000 he was National Secretary of DADAA (Disability and the Arts, Disadvantage and the Arts Australia). In 1999–2000, he was writer/co-ordinator for a national project for writers with cerebral palsy, conducted through Arts 'R' Access. In 2002, he was editor of the ''Launceston Longpoem'', a web-based community writing project funded through Tasmanian Regional Arts. He was also active in campaigns for peace and environmental values. He was instrumental in establishing the Vietnam Moratorium protests in Launceston in 1969, the Northern Tasmanian Unemployed Workers' Union in 1978, Now We the People (Tasmania) in 2000 and the Campaign for a Clean Tamar Valley in 2006. In 2014 he was elected President of TAP into a Better Tasmania (formerly Tasmanians Against a Pulp Mill) and National President of SEARCH (Social Education, Action and Research Concerning Humanity) Foundation.

Personal life

Thorne lived in Launceston most of his life, apart from short periods 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 ...

, New South Wales, and

Palo Alto, California Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

. He married Stephanie Lyne in 1969 and they had two daughters and two granddaughters. He died on 16 September 2021, aged 77.

Awards

Thorne was awarded a number of prizes, including Stanford Writing Scholarship, 1971; ''New Poetry'' Award, 1973;

Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship The Marten Bequest is an Australian charitable trust, from which scholarships are awarded by the Australia Council for the Arts on behalf of the trustee, Perpetual Limited. The scholarships are known as the Marten Bequest Travelling Scholars ...

for poetry, 1978, and the Gleebooks Poetry Sprint, 1995. He won the Launceston Poetry Cup in 2006 and 2008 and was a finalist in the Australian National Poetry Slam in 2009 and 2010. He was awarded the William Baylebridge Memorial Award for ''A Letter to Egon Kisch'' in 2007, the

Christopher Brennan Award The Christopher Brennan Award (formerly known as the Robert Frost Prize after American writer Robert Frost) is an Australian award given for lifetime achievement in poetry. The award, established in 1973, takes the form of a bronze plaque which is ...

in 2013 and the Gwen Harwood Poetry Prize in 2014. He also received grants and fellowships from the

Australia Council Creative Australia, formerly known as the Australia Council for the Arts and 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 announ ...

, Arts Tasmania and the Eleanor Dark Foundation.

Bibliography

15 poetry collections

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorne, Tim 1944 births 2021 deaths Australian male poets Writers from Tasmania Australian publishers (people) People from Launceston, Tasmania University of Tasmania alumni 20th-century Australian poets 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian poets 21st-century Australian male writers