John Forbes (poet)

John Forbes (born 1950 in Melbourne ; † January 23, 1998 ibid) was an Australian poet.

Life

John Forbes was born in Melbourne, New South Wales, in 1950 and grew up in New Guinea , Malaysia and Sydney . His father was a civilian meteorologist with the Australian Air Force . Forbes began writing poetry in the late 1960s. His first manuscripts, sent to Poetry Australia in 1969 , were rejected by the magazine's editor, John Tranter. Forbes 'art matured through the 1970s, and in 1981 John Tranter published Forbes' second book, Stalin's Holidays . Forbes' interest in military history, philosophy, Catholicism, art theory and politics also flowed into his mostly ironic poems. After having worked as a furniture maker for a while, he later became a literary editor and most recently teacher of creative writing at the University of Melbourne . On January 23, 1998, he died suddenly at the age of 47 of a heart attack in his home in Melbourne.

Works

• Tropical Skiing (1976).
• Stalin's Holiday (1981).
• The Stunned Mullet (1988).