Patrick Macgillicuddy Alexander (20 March 1940 – 21 September 2005) was an Irish-born poet who settled in Australia. Alexander was the son of Hugh Alexander, the Anglo-Irish mathematician famed for his work on the German Enigma machine at Bletchley Park during World War II. Born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...

, Dublin (County), Ireland he studied to be an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (RADA) in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

and moved to Melbourne, Australia in 1960. He remained there, except for nine years in Sydney in the late sixties and early seventies. During his time in Sydney he began submitting to magazines. His publications include ''Thrown Shadows'' (1976); five short poems, re-edited as one appeared in ''Poetry London (''London, 1979); ''Effects of Remembrance'' (1994); ''Images Reflections Gathering Tributes''(1995), amongst others. He gave several readings of Blake, of the pre-Raphaelites, and of Japanese Poetry in Translation at the National Gallery of Victoria. Alexander was renowned as a

performance poet Performance poetry is a broad term, encompassing a variety of styles and genres. In brief, it is poetry that is specifically composed for or during a performance before an audience. During the 1980s, the term came into popular usage to describe ...

. He was from 1983 to 2004 the only artist to produce an event for every

Melbourne Fringe Festival The Melbourne Fringe Festival is an annual independent arts festival in Melbourne, Australia, usually over three weeks from late September to early October. Held since 1982, the Festival includes a wide variety of art forms, including theatre, com ...

. The relationship of the voice and the written word in poetry was an abiding interest for him. In honour of his contribution, the Festival has named the spoken performance prize the Patrick Alexander Memorial Award. He died in

Fitzroy Fitzroy or FitzRoy may refer to: People As a given name *Several members of the Somerset family (Dukes of Beaufort) have this as a middle-name: **FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan (1788–1855) ** Henry Charles FitzRoy Somerset, 8th Duke of Beau ...

, Victoria. His papers are held by the

State Library of Victoria State Library Victoria (SLV) is the state library of Victoria, Australia. Located in Melbourne, it was established in 1854 as the Melbourne Public Library, making it Australia's oldest public library and one of the first free libraries in the ...

, and include two travel diaries belonging to the writer Una Maud Lyle Smyth.

References

* http://www.austlit.edu.au/run?ex=ShowAgent&agentId=A%2BSL * https://web.archive.org/web/20071019171754/http://www.thegroggysquirrel.com/articles/2006/09/29/2006-fringe-festival-reviews/fringe-festival-awards/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20080124044555/http://www.thylazine.org/directory/directa/ * https://web.archive.org/web/20071021194021/https://www.yarracity.vic.gov.au/Publications/Yarra%20News/pdf/Yarra%20News%20October%202006.pdf * http://beta.worldcat.org/archivegrid/collection/data/859134641 * http://divan.bhtafe.edu.au/divan1/poetbios.htm#alexander
Papers of Patrick Alexander: manuscript, typescript, printed, photographs, 1905-2005. State Library Victoria
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Patrick Irish poets 1940 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets 20th-century Australian male writers Irish emigrants to Australia