Laurence James Duggan (born 1949), known as Laurie Duggan, is an Australian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, or ...

, and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

Life

Laurie Duggan was born in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a metro ...

and attended

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has ...

, where his friends included the poets

Alan Wearne Alan Wearne (born 23 July 1948) is an Australian poet. Early life and education Alan Wearne was born on 23 July 1948 and grew up in Melbourne. He studied history at Monash University, where he met the poets Laurie Duggan and John A. Scott. ...

and John A. Scott. Both he and Scott won the Poetry Society of Australia Prize (Scott 1970, Duggan 1971). He moved to Sydney in 1972 and became involved with the poetry scene there, in particular with

John Tranter John Ernest Tranter (born 29 April 1943) is an Australian poet, publisher and editor. He has published more than twenty books of poetry; devising, with Jan Garrett, the long running ABC radio program ''Books and Writing''; and founding in 199 ...

, John Forbes, Ken Bolton and

Pam Brown Pamela Jane Barclay Brown (born 1948) is an Australian poet. Career Pam Brown was born in Seymour, Victoria. Most of her childhood was spent on military bases in Toowoomba and Brisbane. Since her early twenties, she has lived in Melbourne a ...

. Duggan lectured at Swinburne College ( 1976) and

Canberra College of Advanced Education The University of Canberra (UC) is a public research university with its main campus located in Bruce, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The campus is within walking distance of Westfield Belconnen, and from Canberra's Civic Centre. UC ...

(1983). His poetry grew out of contemplation of moments and found texts.David McCooey's chapter 'Contemporary Poetry: Across Party Lines' in ''The Cambridge Companion to Australian Literature,'' Cambridge University Press, 2000. , p. 165 His interest in

bricolage In the arts, ''bricolage'' ( French for " DIY" or "do-it-yourself projects") is the construction or creation of a work from a diverse range of things that happen to be available, or a work constructed using mixed media. The term ''bricolage' ...

started early: while still at Monash he was working on a series of 'Merz poems', short poems about discarded objects, inspired by the work of

Kurt Schwitters Kurt Hermann Eduard Karl Julius Schwitters (20 June 1887 – 8 January 1948) was a German artist who was born in Hanover, Germany. Schwitters worked in several genres and media, including dadaism, constructivism, surrealism, poetry, sound, paint ...

. His book-length poem ''The Ash Range'' (1987) uses diaries, journals of pioneers, and newspaper articles in its construction of a history of

Gippsland Gippsland is a rural region that makes up the southeastern part of Victoria, Australia, mostly comprising the coastal plains to the rainward (southern) side of the Victorian Alps (the southernmost section of the Great Dividing Range). It cove ...

Awards

* 1971 – Poetry Society of Australia Award for the poem ''East''. * 1976 – Anne Elder Poetry Award for ''East: Poems 1970-1974''. * 1988 – Victorian Premier's Award for ''The Ash Range''. * 1989 – Welsey Michel Prize for ''The Epigrams of Martial''. * 2003 – Age Poetry Book of the Year for ''Mangroves''. * 2004 –

Australian Literature Society Gold Medal The Australian Literature Society Gold Medal (ALS Gold Medal) is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for "an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year." From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the ...

for ''Mangroves''. * 2007 –

Queensland Premier's Literary Awards The Queensland Premier's Literary Awards were an Australian suite of literary awards inaugurated in 1999 and disestablished in 2012. It was one of the most generous suites of literary awards within Australia, with $225,000 in prize money across ...

, Poetry Collection – Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award for ''The Passenger''. * 2012 –

Grace Leven Prize for Poetry The Grace Leven Prize for Poetry was an annual poetry award in Australia, given in the name of Grace Leven who died in 1922. It was established by William Baylebridge who "made a provision for an annual poetry prize in memory of 'my benefactress ...

for ''The Collected Blue Hills.''

Bibliography

Poetry

Collections

*''East: poems 1970-74'' (Rigmarole of the Hours, 1976) *''Under the Weather'' (Wild & Woolley, 1978) *''Adventures in Paradise'' (1982) *''The Great Divide: Poems 1973-83'' (Hale & Iremonger, 1985) *''The Ash Range'' (Picador, 1987) *''Two Epigrams from Martial'' (Catnip Press, 1989) *''All Blues : Eight Poems'' (Northern Lights, 1989) *''Blue Notes'' (Picador, 1990) *''The Home Paddock : Blue Hills 21-35'' (Noone's Press, 1991) *''New and Selected Poems 1971-1993'' (UQP, 1996) *''

Mangroves A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evolution in sever ...

'' (UQP, 2003) *''Compared to What: Selected Poems 1971-2003'' (Shearsman, 2003) *''Let's Get Lost'' (Vagabond Press, 2005) *''The Passenger'' (UQP, 2006) *''Allotments'' (Fewer and Fewer Press, 2011) *''Catnips'' (Donnithorne Street Press, 2012) *''The Pursuit of Happiness'' (Shearsman Books, 2012) *''Leaving Here'' (light-trap press, 2012) *''The Collected Blue Hills'' (Puncher & Wattmann, 2012) *''East & Under the Weather'' (Puncher & Wattmann, 2014) *''Selected Poems 1971-2017'' (Shearsman Books, 2018) *''Afterimages'' (Polar Bear, Sydney, 2018) *''Homer Street'' (Giramondo, Melbourne, 2020)

List of poems

Non-fiction

*''Ghost Nation:Imagined Space and Aust Visual Culture 1901-1939'' (UQP, 2001)

Translations

*''The Epigrams of

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

'' (Pressed Wafer, 2010)

Notes

David McCooey David McCooey (born 1967 in London), poet, critic, musician, and academic. He is Personal Chair in Literary Studies and Professional & Creative Writing at Deakin University in Geelong. Early life and education David McCooey was born in London i ...

Review of Allotments by Laurie Duggan
in Rochford Street Review
Review of The Pursuit of Happiness by Laurie Duggan
in Rochford Street Review
Review of The Collected Blue Hills by Laurie Duggan
in Rochford Street Review {{DEFAULTSORT:Duggan, Laurie 1949 births 20th-century Australian poets Living people Poets from Melbourne Monash University alumni ALS Gold Medal winners 21st-century Australian poets