Edgar George Holt (27 December 1904

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

, Lancashire, England – 11 October 1988 Sydney) was a journalist who wrote for many Australian newspapers. In 1950, he joined the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Au ...

''Federal Secretariat'' in a public relations role.

Early life

The Holt family emigrated to Brisbane in 1916. After his initial education at Brisbane High School, he joined the staff of ''

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

'', and enrolled at the newly introduced Diploma of Journalism at

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

. He edited the student newspaper '' Galmahra''.

Down south

In September 1929 Holt joined the ''

Melbourne Argus ''The Argus'' was an Australian daily morning newspaper in Melbourne from 2 June 1846 to 19 January 1957, and was considered to be the general Australian newspaper of record for this period. Widely known as a conservative newspaper for most ...

'', and later the ''Melbourne Evening Star'' until it collapsed. In 1935 Holt joined the ''

Melbourne Herald ''The Herald'' was a morning and, later, evening broadsheet newspaper published in Melbourne, Australia, from 3 January 1840 to 5 October 1990, which is when it merged with its sister morning newspaper ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' to form the '' ...

'' as a special and leader-writer. In 1940 he joined the '' Daily Telegraph'' as a journalist, and rose to be their

literary editor A literary editor is an editor in a newspaper, magazine or similar publication who deals with aspects concerning literature and books, especially reviews.

. He joined ''

Smith's Weekly ''Smith's Weekly'' was an Australian tabloid newspaper published from 1919 to 1950. It was an independent weekly published in Sydney, but read all over Australia. History The publication took its name from its founder and chief financer Sir J ...

'' in 1944, and was editor from 1947 until 1950 when it ceased publication.Holt, Edgar
AustLit He was heavily involved in

Australian Journalists' Association The Australian Journalists Association (AJA) was an Australian trade union for journalists from 1910–1992. In 1913 the Australian Journalists' Association merged with the Australian Writers' and Artists' Union. This union had been formed in 19 ...

Bibliography

* Holt and Colin Bingham, ''The Merlin Papers'', 1929. poetry, twenty-five copies. * ''Lilacs Out of the Dead Land'', Melbourne : Transition Press, 1932. poetry, three hundred copies. * ''Anzac Reunion'' (1937), a one-act play * ''Two Australian poets'' * ''Politics is people; the men of the Menzies era'', Angus and Robertson

969 Year 969 ( CMLXIX) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 969th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 969th year of the 1st millennium, the 69th ...

Audio

''Edgar Holt reads poetry''
(1960; sound recording), interviewed by Hazel de Berg
''Interview with Edgar Holt''
(sound recording), with Mel Pratt

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Holt, Edgar George People from Burnley University of Queensland alumni Australian people of English descent 1904 births 1988 deaths People educated at Brisbane State High School 20th-century Australian journalists The Herald (Melbourne) people The Argus (Melbourne) people