John Tranter
Encyclopedia
John Ernest Tranter is an Australian poet
, publisher and editor
. He has a long list of achievements in writing, publishing and broadcasting. His achievements include publishing more than twenty books of poetry; devising, with Jan Garrett, the long running ABC
radio program Books and Writing; and founding in 1997, the internet quarterly literary magazine Jacket
which he published and edited until 2010, when he gave it to the University of Pennsylvania.
Tranter's significance to Australian poetry has been recognised by the Australia Council
, which awarded him a Creative Arts Fellowship in 1990, and by fellow poets "who acknowledge his role as innovator and experimentalist".
and attended country schools, then took his BA
in 1970 after attending university sporadically. He has worked mainly in publishing, teaching and radio production, and has travelled widely, making more than twenty reading tours to venues in the U.S.
, Britain and Europe since the mid-1980s. He has lived in Sydney
, Melbourne
and Brisbane
in Australia, and overseas in London
, Cambridge
, Singapore
, Florida
, and San Francisco. He now lives in Sydney, where he is a company director (with his wife Lyn) of Australian Literary Management, a leading literary agency. He is married to Lyn, with adult children Kirsten and Leon, and is presently (2008) in the final year of a doctoral programme at the University of Wollongong
.
, a program format which was still going strong thirty years later. During 1987 and 1988 John Tranter was in charge of the ABC Radio National weekly two-hour arts program Radio Helicon, and from 1990 to 1993 he was the poetry editor of the Sydney-based business/ arts weekly The Bulletin
.
He has received many fellowships and other grants, and has been a visiting scholar at various institutions, from Visiting Fellow in the Faculty of Arts at the Australian National University
to writer-in-residence at Rollins College
in Winter Park, Florida
and at Cambridge University
in England. He has published over twenty volumes of poetry, including a Selected Poems (Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1982) and a Urban Myths: 210 Poems: New and Selected University of Queensland
Press in 2006.
John Tranter's Urban Myths: 210 Poems: New and Selected, published by the University of Queensland
Press, won the Victorian Premier's Prize for poetry in 2006, the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Kenneth Slessor Prize in 2007, the South Australian Premier's Awards John Bray prize for poetry in 2008 and the South Australian Premier's Awards Premier's Prize for the best book overall (2006 and 2007) in 2008, his Under Berlin, published by the University of Queensland
Press, won the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry
(the New South Wales State Literary Award for Poetry) in 1989, and At The Florida won the Melbourne Age 'Book of the Year' award for poetry in 1993. Other recent books are The Floor of Heaven (Harper Collins, 1992), a book-length sequence of four verse narratives, the poetry collections Late Night Radio (Polygon, Edinburgh
, UK, 1998), Heart Print (Salt, Cambridge, UK, 2001), Different Hands (Folio/ Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Cambridge and Western Australia, 1998), a collection of seven experimental computer-assisted prose pieces, Borrowed Voices (Shoestring Press, Nottingham, 2002), a dozen reinterpretations of poems by other poets, Studio Moon and Trio (both Salt Publications, UK, 2003).
He compiled and edited The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry
with Philip Mead in 1991. Earlier anthologies include the controversial The New Australian Poetry (Makar, Brisbane, 1979), and a selection of ninety-four poems from the Australian bicentennial poetry competition in 1988, published by ABC Books as The Tin Wash Dish.
In 2004 he built a free prototype internet site that presented biographical and bibliographical information about over seventy Australian poets as well as poems, book reviews and interviews. In 2005 he handed the project over to a consortium consisting of the University of Sydney
English Department, the University of Sydney
Library and the Copyright Agency Limited. In 2006 the consortium was granted half a million dollars by the Australian Research Council
to further extend the work as a research project as the Australian Poetry Research Internet Library (APRIL) with an internet site hosted by the University of Sydney
Library, at http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/. The project was launched at State Government House, Sydney, on 25 May 2011, by which time it featured over 42,000 poems by Australian poets from 1800 to the present.
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
, publisher and editor
Editing
Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, and film media used to convey information through the processes of correction, condensation, organization, and other modifications performed with an intention of producing a correct, consistent, accurate, and complete...
. He has a long list of achievements in writing, publishing and broadcasting. His achievements include publishing more than twenty books of poetry; devising, with Jan Garrett, the long running ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
radio program Books and Writing; and founding in 1997, the internet quarterly literary magazine Jacket
Jacket (magazine)
Jacket is an on-line literary periodical edited by the Australian poet John Tranter. The first issue was in October 1997.Each new number of the magazine is posted at the Web site piece by piece until the new issue is full, when the next issue starts. Past issues remain posted as well...
which he published and edited until 2010, when he gave it to the University of Pennsylvania.
Tranter's significance to Australian poetry has been recognised by the Australia Council
Australia Council
The Australia Council, informally known as the Australia Council for the Arts, is the official arts council or arts funding body of the Government of Australia.-Function:...
, which awarded him a Creative Arts Fellowship in 1990, and by fellow poets "who acknowledge his role as innovator and experimentalist".
Life
Tranter was born in Cooma, New South WalesCooma, New South Wales
-Education: is Cooma's only public high school, it serves the town and seven of the neighbouring rural towns and villages such as Berridale, Jindabyne, Nimmitabel, Bredbo and Dalgety....
and attended country schools, then took his BA
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
in 1970 after attending university sporadically. He has worked mainly in publishing, teaching and radio production, and has travelled widely, making more than twenty reading tours to venues in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Britain and Europe since the mid-1980s. He has lived in Sydney
Sydney
Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
in Australia, and overseas in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, and San Francisco. He now lives in Sydney, where he is a company director (with his wife Lyn) of Australian Literary Management, a leading literary agency. He is married to Lyn, with adult children Kirsten and Leon, and is presently (2008) in the final year of a doctoral programme at the University of Wollongong
University of Wollongong
The University of Wollongong is a public university located in the coastal city of Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia, approximately 80 kilometres south of Sydney...
.
Literary career
In 1975 he co-designed the first Books & Writing radio program for the Australian Broadcasting CorporationAustralian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
, a program format which was still going strong thirty years later. During 1987 and 1988 John Tranter was in charge of the ABC Radio National weekly two-hour arts program Radio Helicon, and from 1990 to 1993 he was the poetry editor of the Sydney-based business/ arts weekly The Bulletin
The Bulletin
The Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
.
He has received many fellowships and other grants, and has been a visiting scholar at various institutions, from Visiting Fellow in the Faculty of Arts at the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...
to writer-in-residence at Rollins College
Rollins College
Rollins College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college located in Winter Park, Florida , along the shores of Lake Virginia....
in Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park is a suburban city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 24,090 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 28,083. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area...
and at Cambridge University
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a public research university located in Cambridge, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest university in both the United Kingdom and the English-speaking world , and the seventh-oldest globally...
in England. He has published over twenty volumes of poetry, including a Selected Poems (Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, 1982) and a Urban Myths: 210 Poems: New and Selected University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
Press in 2006.
John Tranter's Urban Myths: 210 Poems: New and Selected, published by the University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
Press, won the Victorian Premier's Prize for poetry in 2006, the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Kenneth Slessor Prize in 2007, the South Australian Premier's Awards John Bray prize for poetry in 2008 and the South Australian Premier's Awards Premier's Prize for the best book overall (2006 and 2007) in 2008, his Under Berlin, published by the University of Queensland
University of Queensland
The University of Queensland, also known as UQ, is a public university located in state of Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1909, it is the oldest and largest university in Queensland and the fifth oldest in the nation...
Press, won the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry
The Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry is awarded annually as part of the New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards for a book of collected poems or for a single poem of substantial length published in book form...
(the New South Wales State Literary Award for Poetry) in 1989, and At The Florida won the Melbourne Age 'Book of the Year' award for poetry in 1993. Other recent books are The Floor of Heaven (Harper Collins, 1992), a book-length sequence of four verse narratives, the poetry collections Late Night Radio (Polygon, Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, UK, 1998), Heart Print (Salt, Cambridge, UK, 2001), Different Hands (Folio/ Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Cambridge and Western Australia, 1998), a collection of seven experimental computer-assisted prose pieces, Borrowed Voices (Shoestring Press, Nottingham, 2002), a dozen reinterpretations of poems by other poets, Studio Moon and Trio (both Salt Publications, UK, 2003).
He compiled and edited The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry
The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry
The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry is a major anthology of twentieth century Australian poetry. Edited by poets Philip Mead and John Tranter it was published by Penguin Australia in 1991...
with Philip Mead in 1991. Earlier anthologies include the controversial The New Australian Poetry (Makar, Brisbane, 1979), and a selection of ninety-four poems from the Australian bicentennial poetry competition in 1988, published by ABC Books as The Tin Wash Dish.
In 2004 he built a free prototype internet site that presented biographical and bibliographical information about over seventy Australian poets as well as poems, book reviews and interviews. In 2005 he handed the project over to a consortium consisting of the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
English Department, the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
Library and the Copyright Agency Limited. In 2006 the consortium was granted half a million dollars by the Australian Research Council
Australian Research Council
The Australian Research Council is the Australian Government’s main agency for allocating research funding to academics and researchers in Australian universities. Its mission is to advance Australia’s capacity to undertake research that brings economic, social and cultural benefit to the...
to further extend the work as a research project as the Australian Poetry Research Internet Library (APRIL) with an internet site hosted by the University of Sydney
University of Sydney
The University of Sydney is a public university located in Sydney, New South Wales. The main campus spreads across the suburbs of Camperdown and Darlington on the southwestern outskirts of the Sydney CBD. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and Oceania...
Library, at http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/. The project was launched at State Government House, Sydney, on 25 May 2011, by which time it featured over 42,000 poems by Australian poets from 1800 to the present.
Awards
- 2011: Arts Queensland Judith Wright Calanthe Award for a poetry collection for Starlight: 150 Poems
- 2011: The Age Book of the YearThe Age Book of the YearThe Age Book of the Year Awards are annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's The Age newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. Since 1998 they have been presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival...
Award for Poetry for Starlight: 150 Poems - 2009: Civitella Ranieri Foundation Fellowship (six-week residency in Umbria)
- 2008: South Australian Premier's Awards Premier's Prize for the best book overall 2006 and 2007 for Urban Myths: 210 Poems: New and Selected
- 2008: South Australian Premier's Awards John Bray prize for poetry for Urban Myths: 210 Poems: New and Selected
- 2007: New South Wales Premier's Literary AwardsNew South Wales Premier's Literary AwardsThe New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards were established in 1979 by the New South Wales Premier Neville Wran. Commenting on its purpose, Wran said: "We want the arts to take, and be seen to take, their proper place in our social priorities...
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Urban Myths: 210 Poems: New and Selected - 2006: Victorian Premier's Literary AwardVictorian Premier's Literary AwardThe Victorian Premier's Literary Awards were created by the Victorian Governmentwith the aim of raising the profile of contemporary creative writing and Australia's publishing industry....
C. J. Dennis Prize for PoetryC. J. Dennis Prize for PoetryThe C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry is awarded annually as part of the Victorian Premier's Literary Awards, for a significant selection of new work by a poet published in a book. It is named after the early twentieth century vernacular poet C. J...
Prize for Urban Myths: 210 Poems: New and Selected - 1993: The Age Book of the YearThe Age Book of the YearThe Age Book of the Year Awards are annual literary awards presented by Melbourne's The Age newspaper. The awards were first presented in 1974. Since 1998 they have been presented as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival...
Award for Poetry for At the Florida - 1989: New South Wales Premier's Literary AwardsNew South Wales Premier's Literary AwardsThe New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards were established in 1979 by the New South Wales Premier Neville Wran. Commenting on its purpose, Wran said: "We want the arts to take, and be seen to take, their proper place in our social priorities...
Kenneth Slessor Prize for Under Berlin - 1988: Grace Leven Prize for PoetryGrace Leven Prize for PoetryThe Grace Leven Prize for Poetry is an annual award given in the name of Grace Leven who died in 1922. It was established by William Baylebridge who "made a provision for an annual poetry prize in memory of 'my benefactress Grace Leven' and for the publication of his own work"...
for Under Berlin
Selected bibliography
- 19701970 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* May – "La nuit de la poésie", a poetry reading in Montreal bringing together poets from French Canada to recite before an audience of more than 2,000 in the Théâtre du Gesu, lasting until 7...
: Parallax, South Head Press - 19731973 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Canadian poet and author, Michael Ondaatje adapts his 1970 book of poetry, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, into a play which this year is first produced in Stratford, Ontario; it will appear in...
: Red Movie and other poems, Angus & RobertsonAngus & RobertsonAngus & Robertson is a bookstore chain in Australia. Its first bookstore was opened in 110½ Market Street, Sydney by Scotsman David Angus in 1884; it sold second-hand books. In 1886, he went into partnership with fellow Scot, George Robertson with whom he had worked earlier.- Bookselling history... - 19731973 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Canadian poet and author, Michael Ondaatje adapts his 1970 book of poetry, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, into a play which this year is first produced in Stratford, Ontario; it will appear in...
: The Blast Area Gargoyle Poets number 13), Makar Press - 19761976 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Two poems written in 1965 by Mao Zedong just before the Cultural Revolution, including "Two Birds: A Dialogue", are published on January 1-Works published in English:Listed by nation where the work...
: The Alphabet Murders (notes from a work in progress), Angus & Robertson - 19771977 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January – James Dickey, composed a poem he read at new United States President Jimmy Carter’s inaugural gala although not at the inauguration itself.* British publication Gay News successfully...
: Crying in Early Infancy: 100 Sonnets, Makar Press - 19791979 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Kenyon Review is restarted by Kenyon College 10 years after the original publication was closed....
: Dazed in the Ladies Lounge, Island Press (Australia)Island Press (Australia)Island Press is an Australian publisher of poetry and other interests.Island Press was founded in 1970 by Canadian poet, musician and Sydney University lecturer Philip Roberts. He lived on Scotland Island at that time, hence the name. In 1973 Philip moved to Bundeena... - 19831983 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* The Frogmore Press founded by Andre Evans and Jeremy Page at the Frogmore tea-rooms in Folkestone...
: Selected Poems, Hale & Iremonger - 19931993 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20 — Maya Angelou reads "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton* T. S...
: Under Berlin, University of Queensland PressUniversity of Queensland PressEstablished in 1948, University of Queensland Press is a dynamic publishing house known for its innovative philosophy and commitment to producing books of high quality and cultural significance... - 19931993 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20 — Maya Angelou reads "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton* T. S...
: The Floor of Heaven, HarperCollinsHarperCollinsHarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
/Angus & Robertson - 19931993 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 20 — Maya Angelou reads "On the Pulse of Morning" at the inauguration of President Bill Clinton* T. S...
: At The Florida, University of Queensland Press - 19981998 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* Samizdat poetry magazine founded in Chicago .* Skanky Possum poetry magazine founded in Austin, Texas....
: Late Night Radio Polygon Press - 20062006 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* French public notary Patrick Huet unveils Pieces of Hope to the Echo of the World in Lyon...
: Urban Myths: 210 Poems: New and Selected, University of Queensland Press - 20102010 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* January 19 - For the first time since 1949, an anonymous black-clad man, known as the Poe Toaster, failed to show up at the tomb of Edgar Allan Poe at the Westminster Hall and Burying Ground, early...
: Starlight: 150 Poems, University of Queensland Press
As editor
- 20072007 in poetryNationality words link to articles with information on the nation's poetry or literature .-Events:* March 5: a car bomb was exploded on Mutanabbi Street in Baghdad. More than 30 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded. This locale is the historic center of Baghdad bookselling, a winding...
: The Best Australian Poetry 2007The Best Australian Poetry 2007The Best Australian Poetry 2007 is an anthology of poetry published by UQP in 2007. The series editors are Bronwyn Lea and Martin Duwell; the guest editor for the 2007 anthology was John Tranter....
, guest editor, University of Queensland Press
External links
- Jacket website
- Official homepage
- Australian Poetry Library website
- John Tranter: Online Poem and bio at alittlepoetry.com
- John Tranter Interview conducted by Brian Henry appeared in The Argost Online in early 2010.