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

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 ...

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 on the corner of Albion Streets, Surry Hills. The hospital was one of several stand- ...

, in

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

Pontic Greek Pontic Greek (, ; or ''Romeika'') is a variety of Modern Greek indigenous to the Pontus region on the southern shores of the Black Sea, northeastern Anatolia, and the Eastern Turkish and Caucasus region. An endangered Greek language variety ...

community in Kerasus (on the

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coast) and Olive Emma Browne (1910–1993), daughter of a pastoralist 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. At the 2016 census, Lockhart had a population of 818 people. History Lockhart was named after C.G.N. Lockhart – a co ...

. Aslanides graduated BA (Music) from 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 ...

in 1967 and B.Ec from the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

in 1976. He began writing poetry after he moved to

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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 and nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 196 ...

, 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 Quadrant may refer to: Companies * Quadrant Cycle Company, 1899 manufacturers in Britain of the Quadrant motorcar * Quadrant (motorcycles), one of the earliest British motorcycle manufacturers, established in Birmingham in 1901 * Quadrant Privat ...

'', 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,

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, 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