John Streeter Manifold (21 April 1915 – 19 April 1985) was an Australian poet and critic. He 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 met ...

, into a well known Camperdown family. He was educated at

Geelong Grammar School , motto_translation = 1 Corinthians 1:30: "For us, Christ was made wisdom"( 1 Corinthians 1:30: Christ, who has been made for us in wisdom) , city = Corio, Victoria , country = Australia , coordinates = , ...

, and read modern languages at

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

. While in Cambridge he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain. He was involved in an attempt to create a successor (''Poetry and the People'') to ''Left Review'', when the latter folded in 1938. He then worked in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, in publishing. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, he served in intelligence in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

, in the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

and

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. He was a published

war poet A war poet is a poet who participates in a war and writes about their experiences, or a non-combatant who writes poems about war. While the term is applied especially to those who served during the First World War, the term can be applied to a p ...

; ''Trident'', with

Hubert Nicholson Hubert is a Germanic masculine given name, from ''hug'' "mind" and ''beraht'' "bright". It also occurs as a surname. Saint Hubertus or Hubert (c. 656 – 30 May 727) is the patron saint of hunters, mathematicians, opticians, and metalworkers. ...

and David Martin, was published by

Randall Swingler Randall Carline Swingler MM (28 May 1909 – 19 June 1967) was an English poet, writing extensively in the 1930s in the communist interest. Early life and education His was a prosperous upper middle class Anglican family in Aldershot, with an ...

's Fore Publications in 1944. In 1949, he returned to Australia, settling in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, and the third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of approximately 2.6 million. Brisbane lies at the centre of the South ...

. He was a founder in 1950 of the Realist Writers Group. He then worked and published mostly on Australian songs and music, reciting

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

s at arts festivals. In the

1984 Australia Day Honours The 1984 Australia Day Honours were announced on 26 January 1984 by the Governor General of Australia, Sir Ninian Stephen. The Australia Day Honours are the first of the two major annual honours lists, announced on Australia Day Australia ...

, he was made a

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

(AM) for "service to literature as a poet and musician". He died in Brisbane.

Bibliography

Poetry collections

* ''Verses 1930-1933'' (1933) * ''The Death of Ned Kelly and Other Ballads'' (1941) * ''Trident'' (1944) * ''Selected Verse'' (1946) * ''Nightmares and Sunhorses'' (1961) poems * ''Poems'' (1967) * ''Op 8 : poems 1961-69'' (1971) * ''Six Sonnets on Human Ecology'' (1974) * ''Sonnets and Sundries'' (1977) * ''Collected Verse'' (1971) * ''On My Selection'' (1983)

Compiler

* ''Bandicoot Ballads'' (1955) *'' The Penguin Australian Song Book'' (1964)

Non-fiction

* ''The Amorous Flute : An unprofessional handbook for recorder players and all amateurs of music'' (1948) * ''The Violin, the Banjo and the Bones: An Essay on the Instruments of Bush Music'' (1957) * ''Who Wrote the Ballads?: Notes on Australian Folksong'' (1964) * ''The Changing Face of Realism'' (1971)

Individual poems

* " The Tomb of Lt. John Learmonth, AIF"

References

*Rodney Hall (1978), ''John Manifold: an introduction to the man and his work'' *Ian Hamilton (editor) (1994), ''The Oxford Companion to Twentieth-Century Poetry in English'', p. 338.
''Some versions of Manifold: Brisbane and the 'myth' of John Manifold''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manifold, John 1915 births 1985 deaths Australian people of English descent Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge People educated at Geelong Grammar School 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets 20th-century Australian male writers Members of the Order of Australia British Army personnel of World War II