Rae Desmond Jones (11 August 1941 – 27 June 2017) was 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 writte ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire to ...

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

writer and

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

. Jones was born in the mining town of

Broken Hill Broken Hill is an inland mining city in the far west of outback New South Wales, Australia. It is near the border with South Australia on the crossing of the Barrier Highway (A32) and the Silver City Highway (B79), in the Barrier Range. It is ...

in the far West of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

. Although many of his poems and stories are concerned with urban experience, he always felt that desert landscapes were central to his language and perception. He wrote in colloquial language, which sometimes exploded in powerful narratives packed with ambiguous sexual and violent imagery, especially in his earlier poems and some of his novels. He was involved with the

Poets Union Australian literature is the written or literary work produced in the area or by the people of the Commonwealth of Australia and its preceding colonies. During its early Western history, Australia was a collection of British colonies; as such, ...

. He became a popular mayor of Ashfield, an inner

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 ...

Municipality, from 2004 to 2006, and during that period held together a broad coalition of Labor Party,

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...

and Independent representatives. He said that for him "poetry and politics are mutually contradictory, and he finds consolation from each in the arms of the other."

Bibliography

Poetry * ''Orpheus With A Tuba'', Makar Press, 1973. * ''The Mad Vibe'', Saturday Centre, 1975. * ''Shakti'', Makar Press, 1977. * ''The Palace of Art'', Makar Press, 1981. * ''Blow Out'', Island Press, 2008. * ''Baygone and other poems'', Picaro Press, 2011. * ''Thirteen Poems from the Dead'', Polar Bear Press 2011. * ''Decline and Fall'', Flying Islands Press, 2011. * ''The Selected Your Friendly Fascist'', (as editor), Rochford Press, 2012. * ''It Comes From All Directions: New and Selected Poems'', Grand Parade Poets, 2013. * ''The End of the Line'', Rochford Press, 2019. Novels * ''The Lemon Tree'', Angus & Robertson, 1990. * ''Wisdom'', Blackwattle Press, 1995. Short stories * ''Walking The Line'', Red Press, 1979. Video/DVD * ''Rae Jones: Poet With A Tuba'', Vanguard 1985.

External links

Author Page
at Australian Literary Resources
Interview
at Stylus Poetry
note left under a magnet on a fridge door in a field
Poem
Review of Thirteen Poems for the Dead

References

* "The Mad Vibe - An Interview With Rae Desmond Jones", ''Makar Magazine'', Vol 10, Number 2, September 1974. * "The Shield of Achilles", '' Southerly'' Vol. 65 Number 3. 2005. 1941 births 2017 deaths 20th-century Australian novelists Australian male novelists 20th-century Australian poets Australian male short story writers Mayors of Ashfield Writers from Sydney Australian male poets 21st-century Australian poets 20th-century Australian short story writers 21st-century Australian short story writers 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian male writers Politicians from Sydney {{Australia-mayor-stub