Nancy Keesing (7 September 1923 – 19 January 1993) was an Australian poet, writer, editor and promoter of Australian literature.

Early life

Nancy Keesing was born in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and attended school at Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School (SCEGGS) and the

Frensham School Frensham School is an independent non-denominational comprehensive single-sex preschool, primary, and secondary day and boarding school for girls, located at Mittagong, in the Southern Highlands region of New South Wales, Australia. Estab ...

(Mittagong). During WW2 she worked as a naval account clerk on Garden Island in Sydney Harbour. After the war she enrolled in social sciences at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's si ...

, and then worked as a social worker at the

Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children The Children's Hospital at Westmead (formerly Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children) is a children's hospital in Western Sydney. The hospital was founded in 1880 as "The Sydney Hospital for Sick Children". Its name was changed to the "Royal Alex ...

, Camperdown (1947–1951).

Literary career

From about 1952 she worked full-time as a writer and researcher with The Bulletin magazine. She mainly worked with

Douglas Stewart Douglas Stewart may refer to: *Douglas Stewart (poet) (1913–1985), Australian poet *Edward Askew Sothern (1826–1881), English actor who was sometimes known as Douglas Stewart * Douglas Stewart (equestrian) (1913–1991), British Olympic equestri ...

, particularly to research and collect historical Australian songs and bush ballads. She was active in a number of literary associations, most notably the

Australian Society of Authors The Australian Society of Authors (ASA) was formed in 1963 as the organisation to promote and protect the rights of Australia's authors and illustrators. The Fellowship of Australian Writers played a key role it its establishment. The organisat ...

. She edited the ASA journal ''The Australian Author'' from 1971 to 1974. She was chair of the Literature Board,

Australia Council The Australia Council for the Arts, commonly known as the Australia Council, is the country's official arts council, serving as an arts funding and advisory body for the Government of Australia. The council was announced in 1967 as the Austra ...

, 1974–1977. She was also active in the English Association and the Australian Jewish Historical Society. She became a council member of the Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education. Her literary career covered several fields, including poetry, literary criticism, editing, children's novels and biography. One of her most well known works is ''Shalom'', a collection of Australian Jewish stories. She wrote or edited 26 volumes. She wrote two memoirs: ''Garden Island People'', about her work on Garden Island, and ''Riding the Elephant'', mainly about her literary career.

Personal life

She married Dr Mark Hertzberg, a chemical engineer with CSR, and they had two children. They lived next to

Kylie Tennant Kathleen Kylie Tennant AO (; 12 March 1912 – 28 February 1988) was an Australian novelist, playwright, short-story writer, critic, biographer, and historian. Early life and career Tennant was born in Manly, New South Wales; she was educate ...

and her family for 20 years in Hunters Hill.

Awards and legacy

Keesing was made a

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(AM) in the 1979 Australian Day Honours for service to literature. The annual Nancy Keesing Fellowship was founded by her husband in her honour. It is for research on aspects of Australian life and culture using the resources and archives of the

State Library of New South Wales The State Library of New South Wales, part of which is known as the Mitchell Library, is a large heritage-listed special collections, reference and research library open to the public and is one of the oldest libraries in Australia. Establish ...

Bibliography

Poetry Fiction Non-fiction

References

External links

2 poems

Nancy Keesing Fellowship

Poem {{DEFAULTSORT:Keesing, Nancy 1923 births 1993 deaths Australian memoirists Jewish Australian writers Australian women memoirists Australian women poets 20th-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian poets Jewish women writers Members of the Order of Australia University of Sydney alumni People educated at Frensham School 20th-century memoirists