Bertram Stevens (critic)
Bertram Stevens | |
|---|---|
| Born | Bertram William Mathyson Francis Stevens 8 October 1872 Inverell, New South Wales |
| Died | 14 February 1922 (aged 49) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
| Language | English |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Years active | 1874-1921 |
| Notable works | An Anthology of Australian Verse |
Bertram William Mathyson Francis Stevens (8 October 1872 – 14 February 1922) was Australian journal editor (Single Tax; Native Companion; Art in Australia; Lone Hand); literary and art critic; and anthologist (An Anthology of Australian Verse [which contained five poems by Henry Lawson]; The Golden Treasury of Australian Verse).[1]
Stevens was born at
Inverell, New South Wales, the eldest child of William Mathison Stevens and his wife Marian, née Cafe, from Queanbeyan.[1] By 1882 Stevens moved with his family to Newtown, Sydney where he was educated at public schools. Stevens was an avid reader and developed a wide knowledge and culture. In 1895 he began a fifteen-year period as a solicitor's clerk and it was intended that he should study law. During this time Stevens worked as a freelance journalist, coming into contact with a number of literary figures, he edited My Sundowner and other Poems (1904) by John Farrell with a memoir. Stevens prepared An Anthology of Australian Verse (1906), in which he was hampered by copyright restrictions, but he had a much freer hand in The Golden Treasury of Australian Verse (1909), the first anthology of Australasian verse of any importance. In the same year he had the difficult task of succeeding Alfred Stephens as editor of the 'Red Page' of The Bulletin. David Scott Mitchell
gave him access to his library of Australiana.
At the end of 1911 Stevens became editor of the
Lone Hand and conducted this journal for seven years. In 1916 Stevens was one of the founders and joint-editor (with Sydney Ure Smith) of Art in Australia until his death. He also did literary criticism for The Sydney Mail
and other journals, published editions of Australian poets, prepared other anthologies, and edited books on leading Australian artists. Much of his literary work is listed in Serle's Bibliography of Australasian Poetry and Verse and Miller's Australian Literature.
Stevens campaigned for the land policies of
Edwin Brady's property at Mallacoota, Victoria
.
Stevens died suddenly of cerebral haemorrhage and chronic nephritis at Sydney, on 14 February 1922.Mitchell library, Sydney.
Bibliography
Poetry anthologies
- An Anthology of Australian Verse (1907)
- The Australian Birthday Book : Passages Selected from Australia and New Zealand Poetry (1908)
- The Golden Treasury of Australian Verse (1909)
- Selections from the Australian Poets (1913)
- The Children's Treasury of Australian Verse (1913)
- A Book of Australian Verse for Boys and Girls (1915)
- The Australian Soldiers' Gift Book (1916)
- The Bulletin Book of Humorous Verses and Recitations (1920)
Selected work
- My Sundowner and Other Poems by John Farrell (1904)
- Wine and Roses by Victor J. Daley (1911)
- Oswald Watt, Lieut.-Colonel A.F.C., O.B.E., Legion of Honour, Croix de Guerre : a tribute to his memory by a few of his friends edited with Ernest Watt and Ure Smith(1921)
References
- ^ MUP, 1990, pp 77-78. Retrieved 10 March 2010
- Stevens, Bertram. "Stevens, Bertram William (Bert) (1872–1922)". ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
External links
- Works by Bertram Stevens at Project Gutenberg
- Works by or about Bertram Stevens at Internet Archive
- Works by Bertram Stevens at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)
