Emily Coungeau
{{Short description|Australian poet}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2019}}
{{Use Australian English|date=April 2019}}
{{Infobox writer
| name = Emily Coungeau
| image = Emily Coungeau.jpg
| image_size =
| image_upright =
| alt = Emily Coungeau in 1930
| caption = Emily Coungeau in 1930
| birth_name = Emily Howard
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1860|05|03|df=y}}
| birth_place = Essex, England
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1936|07|26|1860|05|03|df=y}}
| death_place = Brisbane, Queensland
| occupation = poet
}}
Emily Coungeau (3 May 1860 – 26 July 1936) was an English-born Australian poet.
Biography
Although only starting to write poetry after the age of 50, Coungeau was a prolific writer whose work was widely published in Australian newspapers, and in four volumes of poetry published between 1914 and 1934.{{cite AuDB |first=Belinda |last=McKay |author-link= |title='Coungeau, Emily (1860–1936)' |volume= |edition= |year=2005 |id2=coungeau-emily-12863 |access-date=31 August 2018 }}
Her poems were published in the Brisbane Courier from early 1913.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article19873645 |title=Evolution. |newspaper=The Brisbane Courier |issue=17,181 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=5 February 1913 |accessdate=23 April 2019 |page=19 (Courier Home Circle) |via=National Library of Australia}}
Coungeau's poem, "Love's Reverie", became a song, set to music by Percy Brier in 1913.{{Citation | author1=Brier, Percy | author2=Coungeau, E. (Emily) | title=Love's reverie : song | date=1913 | publisher=[s.n] | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/8422466 | accessdate=23 April 2019 }} In 1922 she wrote the libretto for Alfred Hill's romantic opera, Auster!.Auster!
In 1935 Coungeau was awarded life membership of Society of British Authors, Playwrights and Composers. She was a foundation member of the Lyceum Club in Brisbane.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article52247485 |title=What Women Are Doing |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |volume=II |issue=39 |location=Australia |date=2 March 1935 |accessdate=23 April 2019 |page=18 |via=National Library of Australia}}
Personal
Coungeau married Naoum (Norman) Cougeau at the registry office in Richmond, Victoria on 21 February 1889. They settled in Brisbane and ran a restaurant and wine bar together. Years later they retired to Bribie Island. Coungeau died in Brisbane on 26 July 1936. Her funeral was held at St. John's Cathedral.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article181919314 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Queensland, Australia |date=27 July 1936 |accessdate=23 April 2019 |page=10 (City Final Last Minute News) |via=National Library of Australia}} Her husband died only weeks later on 6 September.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article183443718 |title=Grants of Probate |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Queensland, Australia |date=18 December 1936 |accessdate=23 April 2019 |page=7 (City Final Last Minute News) |via=National Library of Australia}} There were no children.
Works
- Stella Australis: Poems, Verses and Prose Fragments (1914)
- Princess Mona: A Romantic Poetical Drama, illustrated by D. H. Souter (1916)
- Rustling Leaves: Selected Poems (1920)
- Palm Fronds: Poems and Verse (1927)
- Fern Leaves: Poems and Verse (1934)
References
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Category:Australian women poets
Category:English emigrants to colonial Australia