Editing David Rowbotham

{{Short description|Australian poet and journalist}}

{{FOR|the English musician|Dave Rowbotham}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2015}}
'''David Harold Rowbotham''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (27 August 1924 – 6 October 2010) was an Australian poet and journalist.

==Early life==
Rowbotham was born in the [[Darling Downs]] of [[Queensland]], in the city of [[Toowoomba, Queensland|Toowoomba]].<ref>[http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/2005/content/standard.asp?name=RowbothamD David Rowbotham] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004195716/http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/2005/content/standard.asp?name=RowbothamD |date=4 October 2006 }} (Brisbane Writers' Festival) Accessed: 30 January 2007.</ref> He attended [[Toowoomba Grammar School]] and studied at the [[University of Queensland]] and the [[University of Sydney]].<ref name="ReferenceA">''Australian Verse: An Illustrated Treasury'', edited by Beatrice Davis, State Library of New South Wales Press, 1996</ref> He served in the [[Second World War]] on the Pacific front.

==Literary career==

Rowbotham worked as a journalist for the [[Toowoomba Chronicle]] and [[Brisbane Courier-Mail]] (1955–64).<ref name=apl>{{cite web|title=David Rowbotham|url=http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/rowbotham-david|publisher=Australian Poetry Library|accessdate=17 January 2014}}</ref> He lectured in English at the University of Queensland (1965–1969) and became the literary critic of the Brisbane Courier-Mail (1969–1980), and its literary editor (1980–1987).<ref name="ReferenceA" />

Though lyrical in form, Rowbotham's poems are often concerned with history. After the publication of his ''Selected Poems'' by Penguin in 1994, covering a period of fifty years, Rowbotham entered a startling late period of productivity which culminated in the publication of the much-lauded ''Poems for America'' in 2002. In 2005 the [[Wagtail]] series from [[Picaro Press]] published a chapbook of Rowbotham's called ''The Brown Island''.

==Later life==

A friend and mentor to many other Australian writers, Rowbotham also maintained extensive international connections, travelling frequently to the United States.

He died on 6 October 2010.

==Awards and recognition==

Rowbotham was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1991 in recognition of his service to literature.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/869897|title=David Harold Rowbotham|last=|first=|date=|website=honours.pmc.gov.au|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211205751/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/869897 |archive-date=11 December 2019 |access-date=2019-12-11}}</ref>

In 2007 Rowbotham received the [[Patrick White Award]]; the presentation was made 9 November 2007, in [[Brisbane]].

==Bibliography==
* ''Ploughman and Poet'' (1954)
* ''Inland'' (1958)
* ''[[All the Room]]'' (1964)
* ''Bungalow and Hurricane'' (1967)
* ''The Makers of the Ark'' (1970)
* ''The Pen of Feathers'' (1971)
* ''Maydays'' (1980)
* ''Selected Poems'' (1994)
* ''The Ebony Gates'' (1996)
* ''Poems for America'' (2002)
* ''The Brown Island'' (2005)
* '' The Cave in the Sky'' (2005)
* ''The Star of Engelmeer'' (2006)
* ''Rogue Moons'' (2007)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.qct.com.au/rowbotham/ David Rowbotham: A Chronicle]
* [http://www.ipoz.biz/Titles/PA.htm Reviews of ''Poems for America'']
* {{cite web|title=David Rowbotham|url=http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/rowbotham-david|publisher=Australian Poetry Library}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowbotham, David}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian journalists]]
[[Category:People from Toowoomba]]
[[Category:Writers from Queensland]]
[[Category:Patrick White Award winners]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian poets]]
[[Category:Australian male poets]]
[[Category:People educated at Toowoomba Grammar School]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian male writers]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of Australia]]


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