Margaret Scott (poet)

Margaret Scott (1934 - August 29, 2005) was an Australian poet author, comedian, educator, and public intellectual.

Life
Margaret, her first husband, Michael Boddy, and her first son, Daniel, migrated to Tasmania from the United Kingdom in 1959. Two further children, Kate and Marcus, were born in Tasmania.

From 1979 she lived with the Legal scholar Michael Scott and had her final child Sarah as well as becoming the step mother to Jane, Christian and Katherine Scott. In 1978 Margaret received her PhD from the University of Tasmania, and was head of the English department at the University until 1989. She worked at the University for over 25 years but left to devote herself full-time to her writing career.

Her publications include four books of poetry, two novels, a libretto and numerous articles. She became well known in Australia in the 1990s as a regular guest on the television show Good News Week. She was also known for her activism on environmental issues and human rights. She died of emphysema.

Recognition
In 1995 a portrait of Margaret Scott by the painter Geoffrey Dyer was a finalist in the Archibald Prize. The prize is awarded for a painting, "preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters, Science or Politics".

In 2005 she was selected for the inaugural Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women and received the Australia Council Writers Emeritus Award.

Publications
Margaret Scott publications available at the State Library of Tasmania include:


 * The Baby Farmer (1990)
 * The Black Swans (1988)
 * Changing Countries : on moving from one island to another (2000)
 * Collected Poems (2000)
 * Convict Trail : Tasman Peninsula and Port Arthur (2000?)
 * Family Album : a novel of secrets and memories (2000)
 * In the shadows [previously published as The Baby Farmer] 2001
 * Port Arthur: a story of strength and courage (1997)
 * Tricks of Memory: poems (1980)
 * Visited (1983)
 * "Uneasy Eden" : peace and conflict in a rural community [pamphlet] (1997)

Anthologized
Margaret's poetry has been featured in a number of anthologies including:
 * The best Australian poetry 2004 (2004)
 * Effects of light: the poetry of Tasmania (1985)
 * New music: an anthology of contemporary Australian Poetry (2001)
 * River of Verse: A Tasmanian Journey 1800-2004 (2004)
 * A writer's Tasmania. Vol.1 (2000)

Audio/video

 * The nature of gardens [four Australian writers explore what gardens mean] - ABC sound cassette (2001)
 * That beauty is better than brains : the debate - ABC sound cassette (1994