Margaret Scott (author)

Margaret Scott (1934 - 29 August 2005) was an Australian author, poet comedian, educator and public intellectual.

Margaret her first husband Michael Boddy and her first son Daniel, migrated to Tasmania from the United Kingdom in 1959. Two further children Kate and Marcus were born in Tasmania. From 1979 she lived with the Legal scholar Michael Scott and had her final child Sarah as well as becoming the step mother to Jane, Christian and Katherine Scott. In 1978 Margaret received her PhD from the University of Tasmania, and was head of the English department at the University until 1989. She worked at the University for over 25 years but left to devote herself full-time to her writing career. Her publications include four books of poetry, two novels, a libretto and numerous articles. She became well known in Australia in the 1990s as a regular guest on the television show Good News Week. She was also known for her activism on environmental issues and human rights.

In 1995 a portrait of Margaret Scott by the painter Geoffrey Dyer was a finalist in the Archibald Prize. The prize is awarded for a painting, "preferentially of some man or woman distinguished in Art, Letters, Science or Politics".^[1]

In 2005 she was selected for the inaugural Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women and received the Australia Council Writers Emeritus Award. She died of emphysema.

Bibliography

Margaret Scott publications available at the State Library of Tasmania include:

The Baby Farmer (1990) The Black Swans (1988) Changing Countries : on moving from one island to another (2000) Collected Poems (2000) Convict Trail : Tasman Peninsula and Port Arthur (2000?) Family Album : a novel of secrets and memories (2000) In the shadows [previously published as The Baby Farmer] 2001 Port Arthur : a story of strength and courage (1997) Tricks of Memory : poems (1980) "Uneasy Eden" : peace and conflict in a rural community [pamphlet] (1997) Visited (1983)

Margaret's poetry has been featured in a number of anthologies including:

The best Australian poetry 2004 (2004) Effects of light: the poetry of Tasmania (1985) New music: an anthology of contemporary Australian Poetry (2001) River of Verse: A Tasmanian Journey 1800-2004 (2004) A writer's Tasmania. Vol.1 (2000)

Recorded programs:

The nature of gardens [four Australian writers explore what gardens mean] - ABC sound cassette (2001) That beauty is better than brains : the debate - ABC sound cassette (1994

Notes

1. ^ "Archibald.prize 07". Art Gallery NSW. Archived from the original on 2007-07-10. http://web.archive.org/web/20070710233129/http://www.thearchibaldprize.com.au/prizes. Retrieved 2007-07-19. 

External links

• ABC obituary

The Tasmanian Honour Roll of Women 2005 (http://www.women.tas.gov.au/honour_roll/entries/scott.html)

ABC Interview - Dr Margaret Scott Profile

• http://www.abc.net.au/dimensions/dimensions_future/Transcripts/s878505.htm

Examiner Newspaper - Centenary of Federation Interview

• http://www.federation.examiner.com.au/federation/article.asp?id=48275

The Write Stuff website

• http://www.the-write-stuff.com.au/archives/vol-7/m_scott/

State Library of Tasmania (TALIS catalogue for works by Margaret)

• http://www.talis.tas.gov.au:8000/

Persondata
Name	Scott
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1934
Place of birth
Date of death	2005-08-29
Place of death