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Nan McDonald

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Nan McDonald
BornNancy May McDonald
(1921-12-25)25 December 1921
Eastwood, New South Wales
Died7 January 1974(1974-01-07) (aged 52)
Mount Ousley, New South Wales, Australia
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAustralian
EducationBA, University of Sydney
Years active1944-1969
Notable worksPacific Sea
Notable awardsGrace Leven Prize for Poetry

Nancy May (Nan) McDonald (25 December 1921 – 7 January 1974) was an Australian poet and editor.

Biography

Born in Eastwood, New South Wales, McDonald went to Hornsby Girls' High School (1934–38), and studied at the University of Sydney (B.A., 1943).[1] She worked as an editor for Angus and Robertson, where she specialized in Australian literature, with colleagues such as Alec Bolton, Beatrice Davis and Douglas Stewart. In 1953 she edited the annual Anthology of Australian Poetry.[2] She first published in 1947; a review of the collection, Pacific Sea, called her work "essentially Australian" and prasied her "exquisite precision".[3] Her poems have also been called "sombre and deathward-drawn".[4] McDonald died aged 52 of cancer on 7 January 1974.

An obituary in the Australian Author noted R. D. Fitzgerald's description of McDonald as "the tranquil Australian poet".[5] Several sources record that McDonald's work has yet to be assessed from a critical perspective.[6][7]

Awards and distinctions

McDonald contributed to the school magazine at Hornsby Girls' High School, twice winning the school's Ethel Curlewis (née Turner) prize for verse.

Her first published collection of poetry, Pacific Sea (1947), won the inaugural Grace Leven Prize for Poetry.

Works

  • Pacific Sea (1947)
  • The Lonely Fire, Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1954
  • The Lighthouse and Other Poems, Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1959
  • Selected Poems: Nan McDonald, Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1969
  • Burn to Billabong: Macdonald Clansfolk in Australia 1788-1988, Sydney, Portofino Design Group, 1988
  • For Prisoners: An Unpublished Poem, Canberra, Brindabella Press, 1995

References

  1. ^ Roe, J. I. (2000). "McDonald, Nancy May (Nan) (1921 - 1974)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 2008-09-05.
  2. ^ Australian Poets and their Works, by William Wilde, Oxford University Press, 1996.
  3. ^ "Strength & Sunshine - The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) - 14 Feb 1948". Trove. Retrieved 2017-03-24.
  4. ^ Gray, Robert (2013). "McDonald, Nan". The Oxford Companion to Modern Poetry (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780199640256.001.0001/acref-9780199640256-e-712 (inactive 2017-08-27). ISBN 9780191744525.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of August 2017 (link)
  5. ^ Austlit. "Nan McDonald". www.austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 2017-03-24. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  6. ^ Austlit. "Nan McDonald". www.austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 2017-03-24. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  7. ^ Roe, J. I. (2000). "McDonald, Nancy May (Nan) (1921 - 1974)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 2008-09-05.


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