Nancy Keesing

Nancy Keesing AM (7 September 1923 – 19 January 1993) was an Australian poet, writer, editor and promoter of Australian literature.

Early life

Nancy Keesing was born in Sydney, Australia and attended school at Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School (SCEGGS) and the Frensham School (Mittagong) [1] During WW2 she worked as a naval account clerk on Garden Island in Sydney Harbour. After the war she enrolled in social sciences at the University of Sydney, and then worked as a social worker at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, Camperdown (1947–1951).

Literary career

From about 1952 she worked full-time as a writer and researcher with The Bulletin magazine. She mainly worked with Douglas Stewart, particularly to research and collect historical Australian songs and bush ballads.

She was active in a number of literary associations, most notably the Australian Society of Authors. She edited the ASA journal The Australian Author from 1971 to 1974. She was chair of the Literature Board, Australia Council, 1974–1977. She was also active in the English Association and the Australian Jewish Historical Society. She became a council member of the Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education.

Her literary career covered several fields, including poetry, literary criticism, editing, children's novels and biography. One of her most well known works is Shalom, a collection of Australian Jewish stories. She has written or edited 26 volumes. She has written two memoirs: Garden Island People, about her work on Garden Island, and Riding the Elephant, mainly about her literary career.

Personal life

She married Dr Mark Hertzberg, a chemical engineer with CSR, and they had two children. They lived next to Kylie Tennant and her family for 20 years in Hunters Hill.

Awards and legacy

Keesing was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 1979 Australian Day Honours for service to literature.[2]

The annual Nancy Keesing Fellowship was founded by her husband in her honour. It is for research on aspects of Australian life and culture using the resources and archives of the State Library of New South Wales.

Bibliography

Poetry

YearTitleImprintISBN/OCLC
1951Imminent SummerLyre Bird WritersOCLC 427556527
1955Three Men and SydneyAngus & RobertsonOCLC 1063169392
1968Showground Sketchbook and Other PoemsOCLC 902707261
1977Hails and FarewellsEdwards & ShawISBN 0855510048
1993The Woman I Am: Poems (co-authored with Meg Stewart)State Library of NSW PressISBN 0730589242

Fiction

YearTitleImprintISBN/OCLC
1963By Gravel and Gum: A Story of a Pioneer FamilyMacmillanOCLC 220424979
1974The Golden DreamCollinsISBN 0001850059
1988Shalom, Australian Jewish StoriesPenguin BooksISBN 9780140112269

Non-fiction

YearTitleImprintISBN/OCLC
1965Elsie Carew: Australian Primitive PoetWentworth PressOCLC 500187268
1967Gold Fever: The Australian Goldfields 1851 to the 1890s Angus & RobertsonOCLC 458667
1969Douglas StewartOxford University PressOCLC 1014545877
1975Garden Island PeopleWentworth BooksISBN 0855870923
1977The White Chrysanthemum: Changing Images of Australian MotherhoodAngus & RobertsonISBN 0207135177
1979John Lang & "The forger's wife": A True Tale of Early AustraliaFergusonISBN 0909134197
1980The Kelly GangSummit BooksISBN 0727105159
1981History of the Australian Gold Rushes By Those Who Were There (editor)Angus & RobertsonISBN 0207133549
1985Lily on the Dustbin: Slang of Australian Women and FamiliesPenguin BooksISBN 0140066349
1977Just Look Out the WindowISBN 0140074953
1988Riding the ElephantAllen & UnwinISBN 0041500873
gollark: I wrote all of them then shipped them to you.
gollark: 7 weeks.
gollark: Too obvious. Why would they make it that clear?
gollark: Tetris?
gollark: Then it would be lirp, silly.

References
  1. Nancy Keesing (AustLit) Accessed: 23 January 2007.
  2. "KEESING, Nancy Florence". honours.pmc.gov.au. Retrieved 22 December 2018.
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