Nancy Keesing
{{Short description|Australian writer (1923–1993)}}
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{{Infobox writer
| name = Nancy Florence Keesing
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| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1923|09|07}}
| birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1993|1|19|1923|09|07}}
| death_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| occupation = Poet
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Nancy Keesing {{post-nominals|country=AUS|AM}} (7 September 1923 – 19 January 1993) was an Australian poet, writer, editor and promoter of Australian literature.{{cite book|title= Nancy Florence Keesing (1923–1993) by Elizabeth Webby |chapter=Nancy Florence Keesing (1923–1993) |publisher=Australian Dictionary of Biography|chapter-url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/keesing-nancy-florence-17853|access-date= 14 April 2025}}
Early life
Nancy Keesing was born on 7 September 1923, in Sydney, Australia, and attended school at Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School and the Frensham School (Mittagong).[http://www.austlit.edu.au/run?ex=ShowAgent&agentId=A%24na Nancy Keesing] (AustLit) Accessed: 23 January 2007. During WW2 she worked as a naval account clerk on Garden Island in Sydney Harbour. After the war she enrolled in social sciences at the University of Sydney, and then worked as a social worker at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, Camperdown (1947–1951).
Literary career
From about 1952, Keesing worked full-time as a writer and researcher with The Bulletin magazine. She mainly worked with Douglas Stewart, particularly to research and collect historical Australian songs and bush ballads.
Keesing was active in a number of literary associations, most notably the Australian Society of Authors. She edited the ASA journal The Australian Author from 1971 to 1974. She was chair of the Literature Board, Australia Council, 1974–1977. She was also active in the English Association and the Australian Jewish Historical Society. She became a council member of the Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education.
Keesing's literary career covered several fields, including poetry, literary criticism, editing, children's novels and biography. One of her most well known works is Shalom, a collection of Australian Jewish stories. She wrote or edited 26 volumes.
Keesing wrote two memoirs: Garden Island People, about her work on Garden Island, and Riding the Elephant, mainly about her literary career.
Personal life
She married Mark Hertzberg, a chemical engineer with CSR, and they had two children. They lived next to Kylie Tennant and her family for 20 years in Hunters Hill.
Awards and legacy
Keesing was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 1979 Australian Day Honours for service to literature.{{Cite web|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/870257|title=KEESING, Nancy Florence|website=honours.pmc.gov.au|access-date=2018-12-22}}
The annual Nancy Keesing Fellowship was founded by her husband in her honour. It is for research on aspects of Australian life and culture using the resources and archives of the State Library of New South Wales.{{cite archive |first= Nancy|last= Keesing|item = Nancy Keesing papers, 1913-1993 |type =manuscripts |date = 1913-1993 |series = 422939 |file =https://search.sl.nsw.gov.au/permalink/f/1cvjue2/ADLIB110320017 |box=|collection = Nancy Keesing papers, 1913-1993 |repository =Dixson Collection |institution =State Library of New South Wales |location =NSW, Aus}}
Bibliography
Poetry
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| "
! width=10%| Year !! width=20%|Title !! width=20%|Imprint !! ISBN/OCLC | |||
| 1951 | Imminent Summer | Lyre Bird Writers | {{OCLC|427556527}} |
| 1955 | Three Men and Sydney | rowspan="2"|Angus & Robertson | {{OCLC|1063169392}} |
| 1968 | Showground Sketchbook and Other Poems | {{OCLC|902707261}} | |
| 1977 | Hails and Farewells | Edwards & Shaw | {{ISBN|0855510048}} |
| 1993 | The Woman I Am: Poems (co-authored with Meg Stewart) | State Library of NSW Press | {{ISBN|0730589242}} |
Fiction
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| "
! width=10%| Year !! width=20%|Title !! width=20%|Imprint !! ISBN/OCLC | |||
| 1963 | By Gravel and Gum: A Story of a Pioneer Family | Macmillan | {{OCLC|220424979}} |
| 1974 | The Golden Dream | Collins | {{ISBN|0001850059}} |
| 1988 | Shalom, Australian Jewish Stories | Penguin Books | {{ISBN|9780140112269}} |
Non-fiction
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| "
! width=10%| Year !! width=20%|Title !! width=20%|Imprint !! ISBN/OCLC | |||
| 1965 | Elsie Carew: Australian Primitive Poet | Wentworth Press | {{OCLC|500187268}} |
| 1967 | Gold Fever: The Australian Goldfields 1851 to the 1890s | Angus & Robertson | {{OCLC|458667}} |
| 1969 | Douglas Stewart | Oxford University Press | {{OCLC|1014545877}} |
| 1975 | Garden Island People | Wentworth Books | {{ISBN|0855870923}} |
| 1977 | The White Chrysanthemum: Changing Images of Australian Motherhood | Angus & Robertson | {{ISBN|0207135177}} |
| 1979 | John Lang & "The forger's wife": A True Tale of Early Australia | Ferguson | {{ISBN|0909134197}} |
| 1980 | The Kelly Gang | Summit Books | {{ISBN|0727105159}} |
| 1981 | History of the Australian Gold Rushes By Those Who Were There (editor) | Angus & Robertson | {{ISBN|0207133549}} |
| 1985 | Lily on the Dustbin: Slang of Australian Women and Families | rowspan="2" | Penguin Books | {{ISBN|0140066349}} |
| 1977 | Just Look Out the Window | {{ISBN|0140074953}} | |
| 1988 | Riding the Elephant'' | Allen & Unwin | {{ISBN|0041500873}} |
References
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External links
- [https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/fellowships/nancy-keesing-am-fellowship/ Nancy Keesing AM Fellowship]
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Category:Jewish Australian writers
Category:Australian women memoirists
Category:Australian women poets
Category:20th-century Australian women writers
Category:20th-century Australian poets
Category:Members of the Order of Australia
Category:University of Sydney alumni