Robert Adamson (poet)



Robert Adamson (born 17 May 1943 in Sydney) is an Australian poet and publisher.

Life
Adamson grew up in Neutral Bay and spent much of his teenage years in Gosford Boys Home for juvenile offenders. He discovered poetry while educating himself in Gaol in his 20s. His first book, Canticles on the Skin, was published in 1970. He acknowledges the influence of, among others, Rimbaud, Mallarmé, Robert Duncan, and Hart Crane upon his writing.

In the 1970s and 1980s, he edited New Poetry Magazine and established Paper Bark Press in 1988 with his partner Juno Gemes.

Awards

 * 1976: Grace Leven Prize for Poetry for Selected Poems
 * 1990: C. J. Dennis Prize for Poetry for The Clean Dark
 * 1990: Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry for The Clean Dark
 * 1990: The Turnbull-Fox-Phillips Award (The National Book Council Banjo Award) for The Clean Dark
 * 1994: FAW Christopher Brennan Award for lifetime achievement in literature
 * 2004: New South Wales Premier's History Award for Inside Out
 * 2007: The Age Book of the Year Poetry Prize for The Goldfinches of Baghdad

Poetry

 * Canticles on the Skin. (Sydney: Illumination Press, 1970)
 * Cross The Border. (Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1977) ISBN 0-86806-050-X
 * Where I Come From. (Sydney: Big Smoke, 1979) ISBN 0-908201-00-1
 * The Clean Dark. (Sydney: Paper Bark, 1989) ISBN 0-9587801-2-9
 * Waving to Hart Crane. (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1994) ISBN 0-207-18347-3
 * Black Water: Approaching Zukofsky. (Sydney: Brandl & Schlesinger, 1999) ISBN 1-876040-14-9
 * Mulberry Leaves: New & Selected Poems 1970-2001. (2001) ISBN 1-876749-48-2
 * Reading the River: Selected Poems. (Bloodaxe Books, 2004) ISBN 1-85224-606-5
 * The Goldfinches of Baghdad. (USA: Flood Editions, 2006) ISBN 0-9746902-8-7

Autobiography

 * Zimmer's Essay. With Bruce Hanford (Sydney: Wild & Woolley, 1974) ISBN 0-909331-02-2
 * Wards of the State. (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1992) ISBN 0-207-17404-0
 * Inside Out. (Text, 2004) ISBN 1-920885-60-9 review