Vicki Viidikas was a twentieth century Australian poet

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...

 and prose

Prose

Prose is the most typical form of written language, applying ordinary grammatical structure and natural flow of speech rather than rhythmic structure...

 writer

Writer

A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....

.

Vicki Viidikas was born and grew up 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...

, Australia. Dropping out of school, she encountered the Balmain

Balmain, New South Wales

Balmain is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain is located slightly west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....

 New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

 poetry

Poetry

Poetry is a form of literary art in which language is used for its aesthetic and evocative qualities in addition to, or in lieu of, its apparent meaning...

 scene in the late 1960s. There she encountered, among others, Ken Bolton

Ken Bolton

Ken Bolton is an Australian poet and art critic.Bolton was born in Sydney and studied fine arts at the University of Sydney, where he also tutored. In the late 70s he edited the poetry magazine Magic Sam and began the small press Sea Cruise Books with Anna Couani. His first book of poems, Four...

, John Forbes

John Forbes (poet)

-Life:John Forbes was born in Melbourne, Australia, but during his childhood his family lived in northern Queensland, Malaya and New Guinea. He went to Sydney University and his circle of friends included the poets Robert Adamson, Martin Johnston, and John Tranter...

, Martin Johnston

Martin Johnston

Martin Johnston was an Australian poet and novelist.Martin Johnston was born in Sydney in November 1947, son of the writers George Johnston and Charmian Clift. His early childhood was spent in London and Sydney. In 1954 the family moved to Greece...

 and John Tranter

John Tranter

John Ernest Tranter is an Australian poet, publisher and editor. He has a long list of achievements in writing, publishing and broadcasting...

. The ‘counter culture

Counter Culture

Counter Culture is a 2005 compilation double album by English folk/rock singer-songwriter Roy Harper featuring 25 classic Roy Harper songs, cherry picked according to his mood in April 2005. This collection spans 35 years of song writing and is intended as an introduction for anyone who's not sure...

’ and her travels in Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, especially India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, are recurrent subjects in her poetry. Her untimely death was much mourned in Australia's poetry community.

Works

Poetry

• Condition Red. (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...
  
  , 1973) ISBN 0-7022-0884-1
• Knabel. (Sydney: Wild & Woolley
  Wild & Woolley
  Wild & Woolley is an Australian book publisher founded in 1974 by Michael Wilding and Pat Woolley. The first books published by the firm were Zimmer's Essay and Wrappings by Vicki Viidikas....
  
  , 1978) ISBN 0-909331-56-1
• India Ink: A collection of prose poems written in India. (Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1984) ISBN 0-86806-093-3
• The Relationship.

Short stories

• Wrappings. (Sydney : Wild & Woolley, 1974) ISBN 0-909331-00-6

External links

• One day in the life of Vicki Viidikas by Stephen Oliver