Peter Kocan
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Peter Raymond Kocan (born Peter Raymond Douglas, 4 May 1947) attempted to assassinate Opposition Leader
Arthur Calwell Arthur Augustus Calwell (28 August 1896 – 8 July 1973) was an Australian politician who served as the leader of the Labor Party from 1960 to 1967. He led the party to three federal elections. Calwell grew up in Melbourne and attended St J ...
on 21 June 1966. He fired a shot at point-blank range through a car window, but Calwell escaped with only minor facial injuries from broken glass. Kocan, 19 years old at the time, was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was transferred to the Morisset Mental Hospital and released in 1976. He began writing in prison and has published several volumes of poetry. After his release from prison he continued to write poetry and novels.


Early life

Kocan was born Peter Raymond Douglas on 4 May 1947 in
Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...
. His father, an engineer, was killed in a car accident three months before his birth. When he was five years old, his mother married Ludowit Kocan and the family moved to Melbourne. The marriage did not last and they moved on to Sydney, but Peter retained his step-father's surname. His mother later stated that his step-father had rejected him and that he had "never known the affection of a father". Kocan left school at the age of 14, and according to his mother gave up sport and spent most of his time reading. During his teenage years he worked as a labourer and station-hand in the country, before later returning to Sydney. He wrote a letter to the headquarters of the
Australian National Socialist Party The Australian National Socialist Party (ANSP) was a minor Australian Neo-Nazi party that was formed in 1962. It merged into the National Socialist Party of Australia, which was originally a splinter group, in 1968. Formation The Australian ...
in which he stated that he "admired Hitler because he had killed himself at the right time". According to Sydney Rowe, a psychiatrist who examined him, Kocan became fixated on death and suicide, and had fantasies about imitating
Lee Harvey Oswald Lee Harvey Oswald (October 18, 1939 – November 24, 1963) was a U.S. Marine veteran who assassinated John F. Kennedy, the 35th president of the United States, on November 22, 1963. Oswald was placed in juvenile detention at the age of 12 fo ...
. When asked about his motive, Kocan told police "I had to do something to set me aside from all the other nobodies".


Assassination attempt on Calwell

On the evening of 21 June 1966, while campaigning for the 1966 federal election, Arthur Calwell addressed an anti-
conscription Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
rally at
Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...
Town Hall in Sydney. After Calwell left the meeting, just as his car was about to drive off, Kocan approached the passenger side of the vehicle, aimed a sawn-off rifle at Calwell's head and fired at point-blank range. The closed window deflected the bullet, which lodged harmlessly in Calwell's coat lapel. Calwell sustained only minor facial injuries from broken glass. Kocan was tried and found guilty of attempted murder. He was sentenced to life imprisonment and was detained first at
Long Bay jail The Long Bay Correctional Complex, commonly called Long Bay, is a correctional facility comprising a heritage-listed maximum and minimum security prison for males and females and a hospital to treat prisoners, psychiatric cases and remandees, loc ...
in Sydney. In late December 1966, Kocan was transferred to Ward 21 for the Criminally Insane in Morisset Mental Hospital, at Morisset, south of
Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area in Australia, named after Newcastle ...
. Calwell visited Kocan there, and forgave him for the incident.


Writing career

During his years in prison and hospital, Kocan immersed himself in history, literature and poetry after a chance remark by another inmate led him to discover the writing of
Rupert Brooke Rupert Chawner Brooke (3 August 1887 – 23 April 1915)The date of Brooke's death and burial under the Julian calendar that applied in Greece at the time was 10 April. The Julian calendar was 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. was an En ...
. Between 1967 and 1969, the poet
Michael Dransfield Michael Dransfield (12 September 1948 – 20 April 1973) was an Australian poet active in the 1960s and early 1970s who wrote close to 1,000 poems.
corresponded and exchanged poems with Kocan. These letters, which comprise drafts of poems by Dransfield, quotes of poems by other poets, and recommendations for books Kocan should read, are now held in the collection of the Academy Library of the
University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...
. Kocan began to write poetry in 1967. Two selected works of poetry, ''Ceremonies for the Lost'' (1974) and ''The Other Side of the Fence'' (1975), were published while he was at Morisset. He was released on licence from Morisset in August 1976, and began to write about his experiences. Two autobiographical novellas, ''The Treatment'' (1980) and ''The Cure'' (1983), told of his life in the asylum. ''The Cure'' won the 1983 NSW Premier's Literary Award for Fiction. His other works include the poetry volumes ''Freedom to Breathe'' (1985), ''Standing with Friends'' (1992) and ''Fighting in the Shade'' (2000), the joint collection ''Primary Loyalties'' (1999), and the science-fiction novel ''Flies of a Summer'' (1988). The novel ''Fresh Fields'' (2004), is a fictionalised account of his youth. His most recent novel, ''The Fable of All Our Lives'' (2010), is based on his life after his release from Morisset.''The Fable of All Our Lives''
/ref> Kocan lived for many years at Tuggerawong on the Central Coast of New South Wales, teaching and writing one act plays, poetry and fiction. He acted in twenty plays, and directed four for the Wyong Drama Group from 1981 to 2002. He gained public recognition for his work, receiving regular support from the Literary Board of the
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 ...
, and has won various literary prizes. He graduated from the University of Newcastle in 1998 with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), and obtained a master's degree. He moved to
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
in 2003.


Awards and nominations

* 1977: Commonwealth Institute of London Prize for ''The Other Side of the Fence'' (poetry collection) * 1982: Mattara Poetry Prize for ''From the private poems of Governor Caulfield'' * 1983:
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...
, Christina Stead Prize for fiction for ''The Cure'' * 2005:
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...
, shortlisted for Christina Stead Prize for fiction ''Fresh Fields'' (semi-autobiographical novel) * 2005:
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 ...
, shortlisted for Best Fiction Prize for ''Fresh Fields'' * 2010:
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 ...
Writer's Emeritus Award


Bibliography


Poetry


Collections

*''Ceremonies for the Lost'' (1974) *''The Other Side of the Fence'' (1975) *''Freedom to Breathe'' (1985) *''Standing with Friends'' (1992) *''Primary Loyalties'' (1999) *''Fighting in the Shade'' (2000)


List of poems


Fiction

*''The Treatment'' (1980) *''The Cure'' (1983) *''Flies of a Summer'' (1988) *''Fresh Fields'' (2004) *''The Fable of All Our Lives'' (2010)


One Act Plays

*''The Card Players'' (1981) *''Who Do You Think You Are?'' (1981) *''The Walking Stick of the Desert'' (1981) *''Home Fires Burning'' (1983) *''The Plot Sickens'' (1986) *''Lady Chatterly's Bunyip'' (1988) *''The Mummy's Comb'' (1993) *''Sold to the Gypsies'' (1995) (all unpublished, dates given are the dates of their first live performance)Wyong Drama Group: Show Programmes, 1981–2002, Unpublished


References


External links


Papers of Michael Dransfield (UNSW Library at ADFA)
Interview with Peter Kocan

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"Failed assassin Peter Kocan wins top literary award"
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The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...
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"Arthur Calwell & Peter Kocan"
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The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...
'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Kocan, Peter 1947 births Living people 1966 crimes in Australia 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists Australian male novelists Australian male poets Australian memoirists Australian poets Australian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Failed assassins People convicted of attempted murder People from Newcastle, New South Wales People paroled from life sentence Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by New South Wales Quadrant (magazine) people 20th-century Australian male writers 21st-century Australian male writers