View source for David Rowbotham

{{Short description|Australian poet and journalist}}

{{FOR|the English musician|Dave Rowbotham}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=August 2015}}

{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| name        = David Rowbotham
| image       = 
| caption     = 
| image_size  =
| pseudonym   =
| birth_name  = David Harold Rowbotham
| birth_date  = {{birth date|df=yes|1924|08|27}}
| birth_place = [[Toowoomba, Queensland]], Australia
| death_date  = {{death date and age|df=yes|2010|10|6|1924|08|27}}
| death_place = [[Brisbane]], [[Queensland]], Australia
| occupation  = Poet and journalist
| period      = 1946-2010
| subject     =
| movement    =
| influences  =
| influenced  =
| signature   =
| website     =
| awards      = 2007 [[Patrick White Award]]
}}

'''David Harold Rowbotham''' {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (27 August 1924 – 6 October 2010) was an Australian poet and journalist.<ref name=Austlit>{{cite web|title= Austlit — David Rowbotham |publisher= Austlit|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A35832|access-date= 18 June 2025}}</ref>

==Early life==
Rowbotham was born in the [[Darling Downs]] of [[Queensland]], in the city of [[Toowoomba, Queensland|Toowoomba]].<ref>[http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/2005/content/standard.asp?name=RowbothamD David Rowbotham] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061004195716/http://www.brisbanewritersfestival.com.au/2005/content/standard.asp?name=RowbothamD |date=4 October 2006 }} (Brisbane Writers' Festival) Accessed: 30 January 2007.</ref> He attended [[Toowoomba Grammar School]] and later studied at the [[University of Queensland]] and the [[University of Sydney]].<ref name="ReferenceA">''Australian Verse: An Illustrated Treasury'', edited by Beatrice Davis, State Library of New South Wales Press, 1996</ref> During the [[Second World War]], he served on the Pacific front.<ref name=Austlit />

==Literary career==

Rowbotham worked as a journalist for the [[Toowoomba Chronicle]] and [[Brisbane Courier-Mail]] from 1955 to 1964.<ref name=apl>{{cite web|title=David Rowbotham|url=http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/rowbotham-david|publisher=Australian Poetry Library|accessdate=17 January 2014}}</ref> He lectured in English at the University of Queensland between 1965 and 1969, then became the literary critic for the ''Brisbane Courier-Mail'' from 1969 to 1980, and later its literary editor from 1980 to 1987.<ref name="ReferenceA" />

Though lyrical in form, Rowbotham's poems often focus on history. After [[Penguin Books|Penguin]] published his ''Selected Poems'' in 1994, which covered fifty years of work, Rowbotham entered a productive late period that culminated in the well-received ''Poems for America'' in 2002. In 2005, Picaro Press's [[Wagtail]] series published a chapbook of Rowbotham's titled ''The Brown Island''.<ref>{{cite web|title= David Rowbotham - Bibliography |publisher= Austlit|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A35832?mainTabTemplate=agentWorksAbout|access-date= 18 June 2025}}</ref>

==Later life==

A friend and mentor to many Australian writers, Rowbotham also maintained wide international connections.<ref name=Austlit />

He died on 6 October 2010.<ref>{{cite web|title="Poet's late flowering crowned a life's work" |publisher= The Australian, 8 October 2010, p14|url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/756814860|access-date= 18 June 2025|id= {{ProQuest|756814860}}}}</ref>

==Awards and recognition==

Rowbotham was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1991 for his service to literature.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/869897|title=David Harold Rowbotham|last=|first=|date=|website=honours.pmc.gov.au|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211205751/https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/869897 |archive-date=11 December 2019 |access-date=2019-12-11}}</ref>

In 2007, he received the [[Patrick White Award]], which was presented to him on 9 November 2007 in [[Brisbane]].<ref>{{cite web|title= Austlit — Patrick White Award - Past Winners |publisher= Austlit|url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/v617?mainTabTemplate=awardWorksAndAgents|access-date= 18 June 2025}}</ref>

==Bibliography==
* ''Ploughman and Poet'' (1954)
* ''Inland'' (1958)
* ''[[All the Room]]'' (1964)
* ''Bungalow and Hurricane'' (1967)
* ''The Makers of the Ark'' (1970)
* ''The Pen of Feathers'' (1971)
* ''Maydays'' (1980)
* ''Selected Poems'' (1994)
* ''The Ebony Gates'' (1996)
* ''Poems for America'' (2002)
* ''The Brown Island'' (2005)
* ''The Cave in the Sky'' (2005)
* ''The Star of Engelmeer'' (2006)
* ''Rogue Moons'' (2007)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [http://www.qct.com.au/rowbotham/ David Rowbotham: A Chronicle]
* [http://www.ipoz.biz/Titles/PA.htm Reviews of ''Poems for America'']
* {{cite web|title=David Rowbotham|url=http://www.poetrylibrary.edu.au/poets/rowbotham-david|publisher=Australian Poetry Library}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rowbotham, David}}
[[Category:1924 births]]
[[Category:2010 deaths]]
[[Category:Australian journalists]]
[[Category:People from Toowoomba]]
[[Category:Writers from Queensland]]
[[Category:Patrick White Award winners]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian poets]]
[[Category:Australian male poets]]
[[Category:People educated at Toowoomba Grammar School]]
[[Category:20th-century Australian male writers]]
[[Category:Members of the Order of Australia]]


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