Papers of Andrew Lansdown
MSS 074

Collection Description

The papers of Andrew Lansdown include poetry, prose and correspondence.

Administrative / Biographical history

Andrew Trevor Lansdown was born 1 November 1954, in Pingelly, Western Australia and grew up in Perth. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English from the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University) in 1976, a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Comparative Literature from Murdoch University in 1978, a Graduate Diploma in Education from Edith Cowan University, and attended Baptist Theological College of Western Australia, 1977-1980.

Lansdown combines writing with Baptist pastoral work, and has worked in the Western Australian Public Service; as a tutor in Creative Writing and English at various tertiary institutions and technical colleges; as a journalist with a country newspaper, and as an Education Officer with the Western Australian Prisons Department. He began to write poetry in 1972, and his poetry, short stories and essays have been widely published since 1974, in Australian and overseas anthologies, journals and newspapers. His work has been translated into several languages, and broadcast on ABC Radio and BBC Radio and Writers Radio 5UV. He has taught creative writing courses and conducted readings at Western Australian schools; participated in several writers' tours, and been invited to read at poetry festivals.

Lansdown's writing has been recognised with the award of writer's grants and fellowships from the Literature Board of the Australia Council, and the award of numerous prizes including:
First prize Western Australian Institute of Technology Poetry Prize, 1974 for 'Rosa Glen : tree'
Joint first prize Western Australian Institute of Technology Poetry Prize, 1975 for 'Sestina : the river at night'
Winner Tom Collins Poetry Prize, 1978 for 'Concerning chickens'
First prize Artlook Grand National Poetry Stakes, 1980 for 'For Philip'
Second prize, Open Section Ballarat Begonia Festival "Esso" Literary Competition, 1981 for 'Choka'
Winner Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, 1982 for 'For Philip'
Commended Tom Collins Poetry Prize, 1982 for 'Should I fall and fail to rise'
Second prize Tom Collins Poetry Prize, 1983 for 'I do not forget'
Second prize Canning Literary Award National Poetry Section, 1984 for 'Poised on a premonition'
Australia Council Grants, Awards and Fellowships, Literature Board Grants, 1984. Note: General Writing Grant
Winner Western Australia Week Literary Award, Poetry, 1985 for Windfalls : poems
First prize Canning Literary Award National Poetry Section, 1985 for 'The horseshoe shooter'
Third prize FAW John Shaw Neilson Poetry Award, 1985
Highly commended Northern Territory Literary Awards, Red Earth Poetry Award, Open Section, 1987 for 'Into darkness'
Commended Tom Collins Poetry Prize, 1988 for 'For a good night'
Winner Tom Collins Poetry Prize, 1988 for 'Four men'
First prize Tom Collins Poetry Prize, 1989 for 'Four men' Commended Tom Collins Poetry Prize, 1989 for 'Sometimes in the dark'
Commended Australian Christian Book of the Year Awards, Children's Christian Book of the Year, 1992 for With my knife
Winner Festival Awards for Literature (SA), John Bray Award for Poetry, 1994 for Between glances
Joint winner Furphy Awards for Literature, 1994 for Between glances
Shortlisted West Australian Young Readers' Book Awards and the National Children's Book Award 1994 for With my knife
Commended Tom Collins Poetry Prize, 1996 for 'A thing or two about monkeys'
Shortlisted Western Australian Young Readers' Book Award, 1997 for Dragonfox
Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, Poetry, 2004: shortlisted for Fontanelle : a collection of poems.

Lansdown's publications include Homecoming : poems (1979)
A ball of gold : poems for children (1981)
Counterpoise : poems (1982)
Windfalls : poems (1984)
Blatant and proud : homosexuals on the offensive (1984)
The Bowgada birds & other stories (1986)
Waking and always : poems (1987)
The grasshopper heart (1991)
With my knife (1992) published in the United States as Beyond the open door (1993)
Between glances (1993)
Abiding things : poems, stories and essays (1996)
Dragonfox (1997)
The weight of the baby (1997)
Primary loyalties : poems of politics and society (Hal Colebatch, Peter Kocan and Andrew Lansdown, 1999)
Fontanelle : a collection of poems (2004)
The dispossessed & other stories (2005)
Warrior monk : 22 haiku, senryu and minipoem sequences (2005)
The red dragon (2006).

References:
Curriculum vitae
AustLit : The Resource for Australian Literature, August 2005.

Acquisition Details

Scope and Content

This is a comprehensive collection, which comprises papers relating to Andrew Lansdown's professional writing career. The collection consists of correspondence, notes, manuscript and typescript drafts and galley proofs. The papers trace the total creative development and publishing process from first notes to galley proofs, with an extensive exchange of views between author and publishers.

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