Nan McDonald
Born	Nancy May McDonald ( 1921-12-25 ) 25 December 1921 Eastwood, New South Wales
Died	7 January 1974 (1974-01-07) (aged 52) Mount Ousley , New South Wales , Australia
Language	English
Nationality	Australian
Education	BA, University of Sydney
Years active	1944-1969
Notable works	Pacific Sea
Notable awards	Grace Leven Prize for Poetry

Nancy May McDonald (25 December 1921 ? 7 January 1974) was an Australian poet and editor.

Biography [ edit ]

Nancy May McDonald was born in Eastwood, New South Wales , 25 December 1921. She attended Hornsby Girls' High School (1934?38), and studied at the University of Sydney (B.A., 1943). ^[1] She worked as an editor for Angus and Robertson , where she specialized in Australian literature, with colleagues such as Alec Bolton , Beatrice Davis and Douglas Stewart . In 1953 she edited the annual Anthology of Australian Poetry . ^[2] She first published in 1947; a review of the collection, Pacific Sea , called her work "essentially Australian" and praised her "exquisite precision". ^[3] Her poems have also been called "sombre and deathward-drawn". ^[4] McDonald died aged 52 of cancer on 7 January 1974.

An [[obituary in the Australian Author noted R. D. Fitzgerald's description of McDonald as "the tranquil Australian poet". ^[5] Several sources record that McDonald's work has yet to be assessed from a critical perspective. ^{[6] [7]}

Awards and honours [ edit ]

McDonald contributed to the school magazine at Hornsby Girls' High School , twice winning the school's Ethel Curlewis (nee Turner) prize for verse.

Her first published collection of poetry, Pacific Sea (1947), won the inaugural Grace Leven Prize for Poetry .

Works [ edit ]

• Pacific Sea (1947)
• The Lonely Fire , Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1954
• The Lighthouse and Other Poems , Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1959
• Selected Poems: Nan McDonald , Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1969
• Burn to Billabong: Macdonald Clansfolk in Australia 1788-1988 , Sydney, Portofino Design Group, 1988
• For Prisoners: An Unpublished Poem , Canberra, Brindabella Press, 1995

References [ edit ]