Don Maclennan

Don Maclennan
South African poet photographed in 1984

Donald Alasdair Calum Maclennan (December 9, 1929 – February 9, 2009) was a South African poet, critic, playwright and English professor.

He published a number of plays, short stories, collections of poems and scholarly works.

Born on December 9, 1929, in London, England, Maclennan came to South Africa as a child in 1938. He was educated at Witwatersrand University and Edinburgh University.^[1]

Maclennan's academic career included lecturing at Wits University and the University of Cape Town.^[2] He taught in both South Africa and the United States.^[3] He began teaching at Rhodes University in 1966, teaching English there for more than 40 years,^[2] although he officially retired in 1994. In later years, he continued to teach at the university, giving weekly seminars for another decade.^[4]

In his final years, he self-published a number of works of poetry.^[4] In his last decade, Maclennan had motor-neuron disease. He suffered a stroke in January 2009, although his mind was not affected by it. He died February 9, 2009, in Port Elizabeth.^[2]

Bibliography

Years link to corresponding "[year] in poetry" article for poetry; for literature, to corresponding "[year] in literature" article:

Poetry

• 1971: In Memoriam Oskar Wolberheim, A.A. Balkema, combining Maclennan's poetry and the music of Norbert Nowotny^[1]
• 1977: Life Songs, Bateleur Press^[1]
• 1983: Reckonings,^[1] New Africa Books, ISBN 9780908396955^[5]
• 1988: Collecting Darkness, Justified Press^[1]
• 1992: Letters: New Poems, Carrefour Press, ISBN 9780958317870^[6]
• 1995: The Poetry Lesson: New Poems^[1] Snailpress, ISBN 9781874923251^[7]
• 1997: Solstice: Poems, ISBN 9781874923404,^[8] winner of South Africa's Sanlam Literary Award for 1997^[1]
• 1998: Of Women and Some Men^[1] with George Coutouvidis, Firfield Poetry Press, ISBN 9781875058167 ^[9]
• 2001:
  • Notes from a Rhenish Mission,^[1] Firfield Press, ISBN 9781875058174 ^[10]
  • A Brief History of Madness in the Eastern Cape, with drawings by Siddis Firfield^[1] Firfield Press, ISBN 9781875058174 ^[1]
• Bateleur Poets, ISBN 9780620022811 ^[11]
• 2002: Rock paintings at Salem, self-published, Rhodes University GSU
• 2002: The Road to Kromdraai,^[1] Publisher Snailpress, ISBN 9781874923633^[12]
• 2003: The Dinner Party, self-published, Rhodes University GSU
• 2003: A Letter to William Blake, self-published, Rhodes University GSU
• 2003: Under Compassberg, self-published, Rhodes University GSU
• 2004: Excavations^[1], self-published, Rhodes University GSU
• 2005: Reading the Signs, Carapace
• 2006: The necessary salt, self-published, Rhodes University GSU
• 2006: Selected Poems, Quartz Press
• 2007: The owl of Minerva, self-published, Rhodes University GSU
• Through a Glass Darkly, self-published, Rhodes University GSU
• 2010: Dress Rehearsal, self-published, Rhodes University GSU

Other works

• An Enquiry into the Voyage of the Santiago, a play^[4]
• 2004: Editor, with Malcolm Hacksley, A Ruthless Fidelity: Collected Poems of Douglas Livingstone,^[1] publisher: Ad Donker, ISBN 9780868522326^[13]
• Olive Schreiner and After: Essays on Southern African Literature in Honour of Guy Butler^[1] Publisher: D. Philip, ISBN 9780908396924^[14]
• Sarah Christie, Don Maclennan, Geoffrey Hutchings, Perspectives on South African Fiction, Publisher Ad. Donker, ISBN 9780949937742^[15]

Notes

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} "Maclennan, Donald (Alasdair Calum)" article, Student Encyclopedia of African Literature, by Douglas Killam, Alicia L. Kerfoot, Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2007 ISBN 978-0-313-33580-8, retrieved via Google Books on February 13, 2009
2. ^ ^{a b c} Loewe, Mike, "Poet and playwright Maclennan dies at 79", article, February 12, 2009, Independent Online website of the Independent newspaper, article "was originally published on page 9 of Cape Argus on February 12, 2009", according to the Web page, retrieved February 13, 2009
3. ^ "Prof Don A C MacLennan" at Rhodes University website, retrieved February 13, 2009
4. ^ ^{a b c} "RIP Don Maclennan: 1929 – 2009. February 10th, 2009 by Ben – Editor", article at Book SA News website, retrieved February 13, 2009
5. ^ "Reckonings" at BookFinder.com website, retrieved February 13, 2009
6. ^ "Letters: New Poems" at BookFinder.com website, retrieved February 13, 2009
7. ^ "The Poetry Lesson: New Poems" at BookFinder.com website, retrieved February 13, 2009
8. ^ "Solstice: Poems" at BookFinder.com website, retrieved February 13, 2009
9. ^ "Of Women and Some Men" at BookFinder.com website, retrieved February 13, 2009
10. ^ "Notes from a Rhenish Mission" at BookFinder.com website, retrieved February 13, 2009
11. ^ "Bateleur Poets" at BookFinder.com website, retrieved February 13, 2009
12. ^ "The Road to Kromdraai" at BookFinder.com website, retrieved February 13, 2009
13. ^ "A Ruthless Fidelity: Collected Poems of Douglas Livingstone" at BookFinder.com website, retrieved February 13, 2009
14. ^ "Olive Schreiner and After: Essays on Southern African Literature in Honour of Guy Butler" at BookFinder.com website, retrieved February 13, 2009
15. ^ "Perspectives on South African Fiction" at BookFinder.com website, retrieved February 13, 2009

Persondata
Name	Maclennan, Don
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 9, 1929
Place of birth
Date of death	February 9, 2009
Place of death