Timoshenko Aslanides (24 December 1943 – 6 January 2020) was an

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal ...

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 ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wr ...

Biography

Timoshenko Aslanides was born on Christmas Eve, 1943, in the

Crown Street Women's Hospital Crown Street Women's Hospital (now-closed) was once the largest maternity hospital in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It was located at 351 Crown Street (corner of Crown and Albion Streets), Surry Hills. The hospital was one of several ...

, in Sydney, to John Paul Aslanides (1901–1962), a 1925 immigrant to Australia from the

Pontic Greek Pontic Greek ( pnt, Ποντιακόν λαλίαν, or ; el, Ποντιακή διάλεκτος, ; tr, Rumca) is a variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, ...

community in Kerasus (on the

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coast) and Olive Emma Browne (1910–1993), daughter of a

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family from

Lockhart, New South Wales Lockhart is a town in the Riverina Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the location of the Lockhart Shire Council offices. At the 2016 census, Lockhart had a population of 818 people. History Lockhart was named after C.G.N. Lockhart ...

. Aslanides graduated BA (Music) from the

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

in 1967 and B.Ec from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

in 1976. He began writing poetry after he moved to Canberra in 1972, where he joined the

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. His first book of poems, ''The Greek Connection'', won him the British Commonwealth Poetry Prize for 1978 for the best first book of poetry in

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published the previous year in the British Commonwealth excluding England; he was the first Australian to win this prize. He produced 16 books of poetry. His fourth book of poetry, ''Australian Things'', was awarded joint second prize in the 1988 bicentennial poetry awards for book-length collections. This book was inspired by a remark, in a conversation with his mentor, by

Judith Wright Judith Arundell Wright (31 May 191525 June 2000) was an Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award. Biography Judith Wright was born in Armidale, N ...

, who had written to him in November 1979, inviting him to lunch at her bush-cottage retreat near Braidwood, in southern New South Wales. Aslanides regarded the subsequent and enduring friendship with Judith Wright as both an apprenticeship as well as a rewarding artistic relationship for both poets. Because he was Australian-born and Australian-focussed and, since July 1985, a full-time professional Australian poet, he did not identify as an "ethnic" poet; nor did he write "multicultural" poetry.Timoshenko Aslanides, "On My Australian Poetry", '' Quadrant'', May 2018, pp. 103–8. Though he felt that most, if not all of his poetry has its origin in love, the context of this affection is the celebration of the natural and built environments of Australia, and the history and imaginative genius of the people. Timoshenko Aslanides worked as a full-time, professional poet from July 1985, when he resigned from the

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Awards

* British Commonwealth Poetry Prize, 1978. * Australian Bicentennial Literary Awards, (joint second prize), 1988 * The Canberra Times Artist of the Year, 2002.

Publications

*''The Greek Connection'', The author, Canberra 1977. 52pp. *''Passacaglia and Fugue'', The author, Canberra 1979 and 1980 (two editions). 50pp *''Goulburn and Environs: A comprehensive guide'' with Jenny Stewart, Canberra, Olive Press, 1983. 152pp. *''One Hundred Riddles'',

Angus and Robertson Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...

, 1984. 72pp. *''Canberra and the Australian Capital Territory'', with Jenny Stewart, Kenthurst, N.S.W., Kangaroo Press, 1988 *''Australian Things'', Ringwood, Victoria,

Penguin Penguins ( order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adapt ...

, 1990. 72pp. *''Australian Alphabet'', Springwood, N.S.W.: Butterfly Books, 1992. 78pp. *''AnniVersaries: 366 Linked Poems, one for every day of the Australian year'', Rose Bay, N.S.W., Brandl & Schlesinger, 1998. 454pp. *''A Calendar of Flowers: Selected Poems 1975-2000'', Wollongong, N.S.W.: Five Islands Press, 2001. 114pp. *''Occasions for words: poems for birth, marriage, death and much between'', Adelaide, SA: Wakefield Press 2006. 196pp. *''Ruminations: Two Books of Lyric Mysticism'', Port Adelaide, S. Aust.: Ginninderra Press, 2008. 72pp. *''Collected Sonnets, 1974-2004'', Port Adelaide, S. Aust.: Ginninderra Press, 2010. 86pp. *''Stop Words'', Ormond, Vic.: Hybrid Publishers, 2011. 87pp. *''Versatility or, a justification for poetry'', Ormond, Vic.: Hybrid Publishers, 2013. 30pp. Includes CD of first performance. *''Temperament: twenty-four love poems, one in each key'', Ormond, Vic.: Hybrid Publishers, 2013. 38pp. *''Letterature: Verse letters from Australian women'', Ormond, Vic.: Hybrid Publishers, 2014. 80pp. *''Troubadour: poetry and original music for violin'', Ormond, Vic.: Hybrid Publishers, 2016. 77pp.

References

External links

Official website
at Thylazine {{DEFAULTSORT:Aslanides, Timoshenko 1943 births Australian poets Australian people of Greek descent 2020 deaths