Ron Pretty

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Ron Pretty OAM
Ron-in-Tasmania.jpg
Born1940
OccupationTeacher, poet
Known forPoetry

Ron Pretty OAM (born 1940) is an Australian poet, publisher and teacher.

Early life[]

Ron Pretty was born in 1940.[1]

Career[]

He has taught writing in the University of Wollongong and Melbourne University as well as in schools, colleges and a broad variety of community organisations. For a twenty-year period he ran Five Islands Press, publishing some 230 books of poetry[2] and mentored many Australian poets. He edited the magazines Scarp: New Arts and Writing and Blue Dog: Australian Poetry for a number of years.[3][4][5]

Pretty was instrumental in establishing the Poetry Australia Foundation,[1] which led to the Australian Poetry Centre,[5] one of two organisations which merged in 2011 to form Australian Poetry.[6]

Recognition[]

He was awarded the NSW Premier's Award for Poetry and was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to Australian literature in 2002.[1][7]

Selected works[]

Poetry[]

Collections[]

  • The habit of balance. Five Islands Press. 1988.
  • Bald Hill with Gliders. Five Islands Press 1991
  • Halfway to Eden. Hale & Ironmonger 1996
  • Of the Stone: New and Selected Poems. Five Islands Press 2000
  • Where the Heart Is. Picaro Press 2009
  • Postcards from the Centre. Profile Poetry 2010
  • Grace Notes and other poems. PIcaro Press 2012
  • What the Afternoon Knows. Pitt Street Poetry 2013

Poems[]

  • "What the house knows" (2014)[8]

Non-fiction[]

  • Creating Poetry. Five Islands Press 1987, 2001
  • Nicole: another chance at life. (with Kaye Bowden). Five Islands Press 1993
  • Practical Poetics. Five Islands Press 2003

As editor[]

  • Outlook: an anthology of poems for senior students. Longman Cheshire 1992
  • Anthology of the Illawarra. Five Islands Press 1994
  • Cry Out! An anthology of street poetry (with Ann Davis). Five Islands Press 1996
  • The Argument from Desire: the 1999 Newcastle Prize Anthology. Five Islands Press 1999
  • Blue Like Tea: an anthology of poems from the Wollongong workshop. Five Islands Press 2000
  • Wild About the Roof. Wollongong Poetry Workshop 2001
  • Poems for all Occasions. Five Islands Press 2002
  • Two Spaces of Poetry: poems from Australia & West Bengal 2006
  • The Road South: an anthology of contemporary Australian poetry. Kolkata: Bengal Creations 2007

Reviews[]

Reviews for Ron Pretty's most recent book, What the Afternoon Knows[9] include:

  • John Upton in : "He’s on top of his craft, shrewdly observant, witty, practical rather than flashy, never tired."[10]
  • Les Wicks in the Rochford Street Review: "...there is a deep humanity in his observations and as you would expect, the deft hand of a master craftsman."[11]
  • Geoff Page in the Canberra Times: "...it’s refreshing to read a collection where the poems are direct and emotionally engaged, while still possessing the linguistic and intellectual subtlety we rightly demand of poetry."[12]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Ron Pretty". AustLit. Major source: Gina Mercer, 'What the Dance looks Like: A Conversation With Ron Pretty', LINQ 28.1 (May 2001): 9-16
  2. ^ "five islands press about page".
  3. ^ "Australian Poetry" (PDF). Metabolism, members anthology. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  4. ^ "Welcome". Poetry Australian Foundation. University of Melbourne. Archived from the original on 27 December 2004.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Ommundsen, Wenche; Jacklin, Michael (July 2008). "Mapping literature infrastructure in Australia: A report to the Australia Council for the Arts' literature board". University of Wollongong Research Online Research Online. Australia Council for the Arts and University of Wollongong.
  6. ^ "Governance and constitution". Australian Poetry. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
  7. ^ "Associate Professor Ronald Keith Pretty". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  8. ^ Pretty, Ron (Autumn 2014). "What the house knows". Meanjin. 73 (1): 141.
  9. ^ "Google Books". What the Afternoon Knows. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  10. ^ Upton, John. "Cordite Poetry Review". Review Short. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  11. ^ Wicks, Les. "Rochford Street Review". So Honest, So Textured, So Real. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  12. ^ Page, Geoff. "Canberra Times" (PDF). A Pretty view of life and time. Retrieved 17 September 2013.
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