David Rowbotham

For the English musician, see Dave Rowbotham.

David Harold Rowbotham 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.^[1] He attended Toowoomba Grammar School and studied at the University of Queensland and the University of Sydney.^[2] 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).^[3] 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).^[2]

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.^[4]

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)