Bartlett Adamson

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Bartlett Adamson in 1919.

George Ernest "Bartlett" Adamson (born December 22, 1884 in Ringarooma , Tasmania , † November 4, 1951 in The Domain , Sydney ) was an Australian journalist , poet , writer and civil rights activist .

Life

Adamson was born on December 22, 1884 in Ringarooma, Tasmania. His father was the Scottish-born miner George Adamson, his mother was his English wife Jane, nee Bartlett. After attending school in Zeehan and Dundas , he became a commercial clerk in a mine. After the family settled in New Zealand , Adamson became a merchant for publishers Whitcombe and Tombs in Wellington . For health reasons, he was exempted from military service during the First World War .

In November 1917 Adamson married Mary Anne McLachlan from Scotland, with whom he had four sons. After the publication of his first volume of poetry Twelve Sonnets in 1918, he returned to Australia. In Sydney he worked as a journalist and author for the weekly newspaper Smith's Weekly until 1935 and then became a freelance journalist, including for The Sunday Times . In addition, he worked as a fruit grower and was a co-founder of a local fruit growers' association.

Adamson founded the magazine Sydneysiders that during the Great Depression insolvent went. He then worked again at Smith's Weekly from 1935 until the magazine was discontinued in 1950.

As chairman of the Fellowship of Australian Writers in 1938, Adamson convinced the Australian federal government to increase funding for the Commonwealth Literary Fund. He also campaigned for a liberal change to the Obscene and Indecent Publications (Amendment) Act of 1946. After the rise of fascism in Europe, he joined the Communist Party of Australia during World War II . With his works he advocated civil rights , among other things .

Bartlett Adamson died unexpectedly on November 4, 1951 while giving a public speech at The Domain in Sydney .

Works (selection)

  • Twelve Sonnets (1918)
  • Mystery Gold (1925)
  • These beautiful women (1932)
  • Beyond the sun (1942)
  • Frank Clune; Author and Ethnological Anachronism (1944)
  • Nice day for a murder and other stories (1944)
  • Bringer of Light: An Allegorical Fantasy (1945)
  • Comrades all and other poems for the people (1945)

literature

  • Robert Darby: Adamson, George Ernest “Bartlett” (1884–1951) . In: Australian Dictionary of Biography . tape 13 , 1993 (English, edu.au [accessed August 18, 2018]).
  • Len Fox: Bartlett Adamson . Fellowship of Australian Writers, Sydney 1963 (English, gov.au ).
  • E. Morris Miller & Frederick T. Macartney: Australian Literature . Angus & Robertson, Sydney 1956, p. 32 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William H. Wilde, Joy Hooton and Barry Andrews: The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature . OUP, Melbourne 1986, p. 17 (English).
personal data
SURNAME Adamson, Bartlett
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Adamson, George Ernest
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian journalist, poet, author and civil rights activist
DATE OF BIRTH December 22, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Ringarooma , Tasmania
DATE OF DEATH November 4th 1951
Place of death The Domain , Sydney