Ron Pretty
Ron Pretty OAM | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 1940 |
| Occupation(s) | Teacher, poet |
| Known for | Poetry |
Ron Pretty OAM (born 1940) is an Australian poet, publisher and teacher.
Early life
Ron Pretty was born in 1940.[1]
Career
He has taught writing in the University of Wollongong and Melbourne University as well as in schools, colleges and a broad variety of community organisations. For a twenty-year period he ran Five Islands Press, publishing some 230 books of poetry[2] and mentored many Australian poets. He edited the magazines Scarp: New Arts and Writing and Blue Dog: Australian Poetry for a number of years.[3][4][5]
Pretty was instrumental in establishing the Poetry Australia Foundation,[1] which led to the Australian Poetry Centre,[5] one of two organisations which merged in 2011 to form Australian Poetry.[6]
Recognition
He was awarded the NSW Premier's Award for Poetry and was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to Australian literature in 2002.[1][7]
Selected works
Poetry
Collections
- The habit of balance. Five Islands Press. 1988.
- Bald Hill with Gliders. Five Islands Press 1991
- Halfway to Eden. Hale & Ironmonger 1996
- Of the Stone: New and Selected Poems. Five Islands Press 2000
- Where the Heart Is. Picaro Press 2009
- Postcards from the Centre. Profile Poetry 2010
- Grace Notes and other poems. PIcaro Press 2012
- What the Afternoon Knows. Pitt Street Poetry 2013
Poems
- "What the house knows" (2014)[8]
Non-fiction
- Creating Poetry. Five Islands Press 1987, 2001
- Nicole: another chance at life. (with Kaye Bowden). Five Islands Press 1993
- Practical Poetics. Five Islands Press 2003
As editor
- Outlook: an anthology of poems for senior students. Longman Cheshire 1992
- Anthology of the Illawarra. Five Islands Press 1994
- Cry Out! An anthology of street poetry (with Ann Davis). Five Islands Press 1996
- The Argument from Desire: the 1999 Newcastle Prize Anthology. Five Islands Press 1999
- Blue Like Tea: an anthology of poems from the Wollongong workshop. Five Islands Press 2000
- Wild About the Roof. Wollongong Poetry Workshop 2001
- Poems for all Occasions. Five Islands Press 2002
- Two Spaces of Poetry: poems from Australia & West Bengal 2006
- The Road South: an anthology of contemporary Australian poetry. Kolkata: Bengal Creations 2007
Reviews
Reviews for Ron Pretty's most recent book, What the Afternoon Knows [9] include:
- John Upton in Cordite Poetry Review: "He’s on top of his craft, shrewdly observant, witty, practical rather than flashy, never tired."[10]
- Les Wicks in the Rochford Street Review: "...there is a deep humanity in his observations and as you would expect, the deft hand of a master craftsman."[11]
- Geoff Page in the Canberra Times: "...it’s refreshing to read a collection where the poems are direct and emotionally engaged, while still possessing the linguistic and intellectual subtlety we rightly demand of poetry."[12]
References
- ^ a b c "Ron Pretty". AustLit.
Major source: Gina Mercer, 'What the Dance looks Like: A Conversation With Ron Pretty', LINQ 28.1 (May 2001): 9-16
- ^ "five islands press about page".
- ^ "Australian Poetry" (PDF). Metabolism, members anthology. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
- ^ "Welcome". Poetry Australian Foundation. University of Melbourne. Archived from the original on 27 December 2004.
- ^ a b Ommundsen, Wenche; Jacklin, Michael (July 2008). "Mapping literature infrastructure in Australia: A report to the Australia Council for the Arts' literature board". University of Wollongong Research Online Research Online. Australia Council for the Arts andUniversity of Wollongong.
- ^ "Governance and constitution". Australian Poetry. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ "Associate Professor Ronald Keith Pretty". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
- ^ Pretty, Ron (Autumn 2014). "What the house knows". Meanjin. 73 (1): 141.
- ^ "Google Books". What the Afternoon Knows. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
- ^ Upton, John. "Cordite Poetry Review". Review Short. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
- ^ Wicks, Les. "Rochford Street Review". So Honest, So Textured, So Real. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
- ^ Page, Geoff. "Canberra Times" (PDF). A Pretty view of life and time. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
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