Rosemary Dobson, the last of Australia's great postwar poets, has died in Canberra.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Dobson, who celebrated her 92nd birthday last Monday, produced a number of award-winning poetry collections and was part of the Canberra literary scene for more than 40 years.
Untold Lives, published when she was 80, won The Age Book of the Year Award in 2001 against all comers, regardless of genre.
Her death yesterday comes only weeks after a volume of her collected works was published and widely reviewed to acclaim.
Canberra poet and long-time friend Geoff Page paid tribute to Dobson, saying, "She was the last of a great generation of poets."
He said she had been personally supportive to a lot of younger poets and a vital member of Canberra's literary community.
Page said he had last visited Dobson, who had become completely blind, on her birthday and found her in fairly good spirits.
"Her career had a nice completeness, given that it's only a few weeks since her Collected came out and all her work is there."
Dobson is survived by her sons Robert, a journalist, and Ian, a musician, and daughter Lissant in Britain. Her husband Alec Bolton, foundation director of publications at the National Library of Australia, died in 1996.
