Tim Thorne: Contents page

Tim Thorne (b.1944) was born in Launceston, Tasmania, and spent from September 1967 to early 1969 exploring the poetry world in Sydney before returning to Launceston to teach and become involved in community arts and political affairs. His first book was the cleverly-titled Tense Mood and Voice (1969) followed by The What of Sane (Prism Poets, associated with New Poetry magazine, Sydney, 1971). He published six more books of poems and edited several anthologies. He has won several prizes and awards, including the Stanford Writing Scholarship, 1971; New Poetry Award, 1973; Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship for poetry, 1978; Gleebooks Poetry Sprint, 1995; grants and fellowships from the Australia Council in 1975, 1977, 1978, and 1979, and from Arts Tasmania, 1986, 1992; and the very special Grand Archer Poetry Mug (Shoalhaven Poetry Festival), 2002.

Books of poetry

Tense Mood and Voice (Lyre-Bird Writers, Sydney, 1969)
The What of Sane (Prism Books, Sydney, 1971)
New Foundations (Prism Books, Sydney, 1976)
A Nickel In My Mouth (Robin Hill Books, Flowerdale,1979)
The Atlas (Black Lightning Press, Wentworth Falls, 1982)
(as editor) Civil War/ North (Cornford Press, Launceston, 1989)
Red Dirt (Paper Bark Press, Sydney, 1990)
(as editor) I Am Here (Community Arts Network, Hobart, 1992)
(as editor) Lozenge (Cornford Press, Launceston, 1992)
The Streets Aren’t for Dreamers (Shoestring Press, Nottingham, 1996)
Taking Queen Victoria to Inveresk (Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston, 1997)
(as editor) Creative Parlance (Arts ‘R’ Access, Launceston, 2000)

Anthologies

Work included in the following anthologies:
Australian Poetry Now ed. T. Shapcott (1970)
We Took Their Orders and are Dead, eds S. Cass, R. Cheney, D. Malouf and M. Wilding (1971)
Poet’s Choice, ed. P. Roberts (1975)
Australians Aware, ed. R. Hall (1975)
Poet’s Choice, ed. P. Roberts (1978)
The New Australian Poetry, ed. J. Tranter (1979)
The Penguin Book of Modern Australian Verse, ed. H. Heseltine (1981)
Effects of Light, ed. M. Scott and V. Smith (1985)
An Inflection of Silence, ed. C. Pollnitz (1986)
Australian Writing 1988, ed. R. Adamson and Manfred Jurgensen (1988)
Penguin Book of Modern Australian Poetry, ed. State and P. Mead (1992)
The Oxford Book of Modern Australian Verse, ed. P. Porter (1996)
Along These Lines, ed. CA. Cranston (2000)
Moorilla Mosaic, ed. R. Mathison and L. Reeves (2001)

Curriculum Vitae

Left: photo of Tim Thorne in Broome, 2001
Photo by Stephanie Thorne


Awards, prizes, etc

These include Stanford Writing Scholarship, 1971; New Poetry Award, 1973; Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship for poetry, 1978; Gleebooks Poetry Sprint, 1995; grants and fellowships from Australia Council, 1975, 1977, 1978, 1979 and from Arts Tasmania, 1986, 1992; Grand Archer Poetry Mug (Shoalhaven Poetry Festival), 2002.

Residencies

Most recently: 1993 Varuna Writers’ Centre, 1994 Wagga Wagga Writers Writers, 1995-6 LHMU (Tasmania), 1996 Writer in the Community, Darwin NT, 1996 Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Launceston.

Workshops

These have been conducted for schools in Tasmania, Victoria and the UK; prisons (Junee NSW and Risdon Tasmania); Community Arts Network Youth Writing Workshops 1988-89; FAW; NSW WEA; University of Sydney, Liverpool Hope University (UK), and a variety of adult writers’ groups, including a number of Regional Arts branches around Tasmania (most recently for the West Coast branch as part of the Identity Distinct project), August 2002), a series based at the QV Museum in Launceston in 1996, and for the NT Community Writing Program, Darwin, 1996. Writer/ coordinator national project for writers with cerebral palsy, Arts ‘R’ Access 1999–2000. Editor, Launceston Longpoem (web-based community writing project) 2002.

Performances

Approx. 600 readings, including 1979 Cambridge Poetry Festival (UK), 1985 and 1995 Tasmanian Poetry Festival, 1997 National Poetry Festival, 1995 Spring Writers Festival (Sydney), 1997 Tasmanian Spring Writers’ Festival, 1996 Banjo Paterson Festival (Orange NSW), 1999 Australian Poetry Festival. Reading tour of England, March — April 1998, Shoalhaven Poetry Festival, 2002. Poems commissioned and performed for national conferences: Australian Fertiliser Services Association 1999, Cleaner Production in the Food and Beverage Industry, 1999, Australian Pig Breeders National Conference 2000, Southern Cross Television Producers’ Conference 2001.

Other information:

1989-2002, Managing Editor, Cornford Press (http://www.cornfordpress.com/)
1986-2002, weekly columnist, Hobart Mercury
1985-2002, Launceston correspondent, Overland
1985-2001, Director, Tasmanian Poetry Festival
1994-2000, Member, Launceston Festivale Committee (Chair, 1997-1999)
1997, Tutor in Creative Writing, University of Tasmania
1997, Board member, Tasmanian Writers Centre
1997, Regional coordinator, Tasmanian Spring Writing Festival
1993-96, Member, editorial board, Red Jelly (Tasmanian Arts Council)
1994, Cultural planning consultant to Launceston City Council
1988-94, Tamar Regional Community Arts Officer
1991-93, Member, Executive Committee, Tasmanian Arts Industry Council
1989-93, Community Arts Sector representative on Tasmanian Arts Industry Training Board 1987-93, Member, Board of Directors, Tasmanian Community Arts Network (Chair 1990-93)
1990-92, Convener, Network Community Writing Sub-committee
1989-91, Member, Literature Panel, Tasmanian Arts Advisory Board
1986-89, Member, Tasmanian Community Literature Officer Management Committee
1986-88, President, Northern Tasmanian branch, FAW
1986-87, Editor, Fast Track (a yearbook of poetry by Tasmanian Secondary College students).