Judith Wright is known as a distinguished Australian poet. Wright received several awards, including Grace Leven Prize (1950), Australia-Britannica Award (1964), Robert Frost Memorial Award (1977), Australian World Prize (1984), and Queen’s Medal for Poetry (1992). In 1973 and 1974 she was a member of the Australia Council. Wright was also friend of Aboriginal poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal [oo-jer-oo noo-knuckle] (formerly Kath Walker), who’s work Wright helped her to get published. In the early 1960s Wright helped to found the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland. Originally from Armidale, Wright spent her formative years in Brisbane and Sydney. In the late 1940s she worked at the University of Queensland as a research officer. Wright left Brisbane to live with poet and philosopher Jack McKinney and the couple married the on 13 June 1962 at the Brisbane General Register Office.

Impact On Brisbane Society

Judith Wright’s impact is difficult to summate at a local level. Her impact was enormous for Australian literature. Wright was an Australian icon for a period of time. How much Wright was appreciated in Queensland is difficult to assess. The Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts has been only a recent development for Brisbane. The world of poetry no longer has the reach it once had with popular audiences.

Citations

Arnott, Georgina. The Unknown Judith Wright, UWA Publishing, Australia Council for the Arts, Crawley WA, 2016.

Evans, Raymond. A History of Queensland, Cambridge University Press, Port Melbourne, Vic, 2007.

Fitzgerald, Ross; Megarrity, Lyndon; Symons, David. Made in Queensland : a New History, Special Q150 commemorative edition, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, Qld, 2009.

Geetha, T. S. Voicing the Voiceless: Judith Wright and the Aborigines, New Delhi, India Authorspress, 2016.

Griffiths, Tom. ‘Truth and fiction: Judith Wright as historian’, Australian Book Review no.283, August 2006, pp. 25-30.

Hope, A. D. (Alec Derwent). Judith Wright, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1975.

McKinney, Meredith; Clarke, Patricia. The Equal Heart and Mind: Letters between Judith Wright and Jack McKinney, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, Qld, 2004.

Wright, Judith; Clarke, Patricia. Half a Lifetime, Text Publishing, Melbourne, 1999.

Wright, Judith; Devenport, Rhana. Judith Wright: Conversations, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, New Zealand, 2007.

Image Citation

Judith Wright. Photographer: Romu2345 [https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63050064]