Alan Wearne

Alan Wearne
BornAlan Richard Wearne
(1948-07-23) 23 July 1948 (age 76)
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Pen nameWalker Norris
OccupationPoet, lecturer
NationalityAustralian
Alma materMonash University
Period1971 – current

Alan Wearne (born 23 July 1948) is an Australian poet.[1]

Early life and education

Alan Wearne was born on 23 July 1948[2] and grew up in Melbourne.[1] He studied history at Monash University, where he met the poets Laurie Duggan and John A. Scott.[3] He was involved in the Poets Union.[4]

Career

After publishing two collections of poetry, he wrote a verse novel, The Nightmarkets (1986), which won the Australian Book Council Banjo Award[5] and was adapted for performance with Monash University Student Theatre.[6]

His next book in the same genre, The Lovemakers, won the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry and the NSW Premier's Book of the Year in 2002,[7] as well as the Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award.[1] The first half of the novel was published by Penguin, and its second by the ABC in 2004 as The Lovemakers: Book Two, Money and Nothing and co-won The Foundation for Australian Literary Studies' Colin Roderick Award[8] and the H. T. Priestly Medal. Despite this critical success neither book was promoted properly and both volumes ended up being pulped.[9] Shearsman Press in the UK has since republished the book in a single volume.[10]

These Things Are Real was published in 2017 by Giramondo Publishing.

Wearne lectured in Creative Writing[11] at the University of Wollongong until 2016.[12]

Books

  • Public Relations (1972)
  • New Devil, New Parish (1976)
  • The Nightmarkets (Penguin, 1986) ISBN 0-14-007586-0
  • Out Here (Newcastle upon Tyne : Bloodaxe Books 1987) ISBN 0-906427-72-X
  • Kicking In Danger (Black Pepper 1997) ISBN 1-876044-20-9 review
  • The Lovemakers: Book One, Saying All The Great Sexy Things (Penguin, 2001) ISBN 0-14-024541-3
  • The Lovemakers: Book Two, Money and Nothing (ABC, 2004) ISBN 0-7333-1359-0 review review
  • Sarsaparilla A Calypso (Polar Bear Press, 2007)
  • The Australian Popular Songbook (Giramondo 2008) ISBN 978-1-920882-41-9
  • Prepare the Cabin for Landing (Giramondo 2012) ISBN 9781920882945
  • These Things Are Real (Giramondo 2017) ISBN 978-1-925336-32-0

References

  1. ^ a b c "Austlit — Alan Wearne". Austlit. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  2. ^ Maxine Beneba Clarke, "These things are real", The Saturday Paper, 3-9 February 2018, p. 30
  3. ^ McCooey, David (1 January 2001). "An Interview with Laurie Duggan" (PDF). The Literary Review: 126–137.
  4. ^ "Poets Union of New South Wales - records, 1977-2000". State Library of New South Wales. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  5. ^ "Alan Wearne". Giramondo Publishing. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  6. ^ "Guide to the Papers of Alan Wearne [MSS 334]". www.unsw.adfa.edu.au. Retrieved 16 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Winners of the NSW Premier's Literary Awards 1979–2010" (PDF). NSW Premier's Literary Awards. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 August 2011. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  8. ^ "Awards". James Cook University. Archived from the original on 27 October 2009. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  9. ^ Neil, Rosmary. Pulping our poetry (The Australian) Accessed 9-11-2009
  10. ^ ""National Literary Awards Results 2014"" (PDF). Fellowship of Australian Writers, Vic. Inc. Retrieved 12 June 2024.
  11. ^ Alan Warne - Faculty of Creative Arts (University of Wollongong) Accessed 9-11-2009. (Dead link)
  12. ^ "Alan Wearne". Centre for Stories. Retrieved 16 May 2022.

Further reading