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| Les Murray, Australia’s Unofficial Poet Laureate, Is Dead at 80 | Les Murray, Australia’s Unofficial Poet Laureate, Is Dead at 80 |
| (about 16 hours later) | |
| SYDNEY, Australia — Les Murray, an Australian poet with an international reputation and an extraordinary intellect whose verse ruminated on death, his native bushland and his own turbulent life, died on Monday in Taree, New South Wales. He was 80. | SYDNEY, Australia — Les Murray, an Australian poet with an international reputation and an extraordinary intellect whose verse ruminated on death, his native bushland and his own turbulent life, died on Monday in Taree, New South Wales. He was 80. |
| His agent, Margaret Connolly, confirmed the death but did not specify a cause. | His agent, Margaret Connolly, confirmed the death but did not specify a cause. |
| Considered Australia’s unofficial poet laureate and for years discussed as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Mr. Murray published nearly 30 volumes; his last, “Collected Poems,” released last year, contains more than 700 poems. | Considered Australia’s unofficial poet laureate and for years discussed as a candidate for the Nobel Prize in Literature, Mr. Murray published nearly 30 volumes; his last, “Collected Poems,” released last year, contains more than 700 poems. |
| Mr. Murray possessed “a fierce moral vision and a sensuous musicality,” the poet Meghan O’Rourke wrote in The New York Times Book Review in 2011, and “in his most intimate poems, reminds us of the power of literature to transubstantiate grievance into insight.” | Mr. Murray possessed “a fierce moral vision and a sensuous musicality,” the poet Meghan O’Rourke wrote in The New York Times Book Review in 2011, and “in his most intimate poems, reminds us of the power of literature to transubstantiate grievance into insight.” |
| Mr. Murray was a voracious reader, a self-taught translator of many languages, a genial conversationalist and a walking dictionary. His mother died suddenly when he was young, and his life was marked by poverty and bouts of depression, but he found joy in poetry, nature’s splendor and Roman Catholicism, to which he converted in his mid-20s. | Mr. Murray was a voracious reader, a self-taught translator of many languages, a genial conversationalist and a walking dictionary. His mother died suddenly when he was young, and his life was marked by poverty and bouts of depression, but he found joy in poetry, nature’s splendor and Roman Catholicism, to which he converted in his mid-20s. |
| “He was an extraordinary mixture of a sort of slightly autistic bloke from the bush and, at the same time, one of the most intelligent and creative people that you’d ever known,” one of his publishers, Michael Duffy, said in a telephone interview. | “He was an extraordinary mixture of a sort of slightly autistic bloke from the bush and, at the same time, one of the most intelligent and creative people that you’d ever known,” one of his publishers, Michael Duffy, said in a telephone interview. |
| Mr. Murray’s renown spread outside Australia in the 1990s. He won the prestigious T. S. Eliot Prize in Britain in 1996 for his collection “Subhuman Redneck Poems” and was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 1998. (He found that honor funny, given his longtime advocacy for Australia’s departure from the Commonwealth.) | Mr. Murray’s renown spread outside Australia in the 1990s. He won the prestigious T. S. Eliot Prize in Britain in 1996 for his collection “Subhuman Redneck Poems” and was awarded the Queen’s Gold Medal for Poetry in 1998. (He found that honor funny, given his longtime advocacy for Australia’s departure from the Commonwealth.) |
| He stirred hostility in Australia’s left-leaning literary circles after defending the anti-immigration politician Pauline Hanson in a poem published in 1999. He was also for many years a poetry editor of the conservative Australian magazine Quadrant. He dedicated many of his books to “the glory of God,” a somewhat provocative statement in Australia’s largely secular arts crowd. | He stirred hostility in Australia’s left-leaning literary circles after defending the anti-immigration politician Pauline Hanson in a poem published in 1999. He was also for many years a poetry editor of the conservative Australian magazine Quadrant. He dedicated many of his books to “the glory of God,” a somewhat provocative statement in Australia’s largely secular arts crowd. |
| But those who knew Mr. Murray — and even those who butted heads with him — said pigeonholing him as right-wing was simplistic. | But those who knew Mr. Murray — and even those who butted heads with him — said pigeonholing him as right-wing was simplistic. |
| “Les took the position always contrary,” the Australian poet John Kinsella, who would often argue with Mr. Murray about politics, said in a telephone interview. | “Les took the position always contrary,” the Australian poet John Kinsella, who would often argue with Mr. Murray about politics, said in a telephone interview. |
| Peter F. Alexander, the author of “Les Murray: A Life in Progress” (2000), wrote that Mr. Murray was always “on the side of the outcast: the poor, the powerless, the odd, the unemployed, the unfashionable.” | Peter F. Alexander, the author of “Les Murray: A Life in Progress” (2000), wrote that Mr. Murray was always “on the side of the outcast: the poor, the powerless, the odd, the unemployed, the unfashionable.” |
| Mr. Murray, who was bullied in his youth and saw himself as a perpetual outsider, had a lifelong abhorrence for “enforced conformity” and “intellectual gangs, particularly literary and academic ones,” Mr. Alexander wrote. | Mr. Murray, who was bullied in his youth and saw himself as a perpetual outsider, had a lifelong abhorrence for “enforced conformity” and “intellectual gangs, particularly literary and academic ones,” Mr. Alexander wrote. |
| Leslie Allan Murray was born on Oct. 17, 1938, in Nabiac, New South Wales, a little over three hours north of Sydney, the only child of Cecil and Miriam (Arnall) Murray, who were dairy farmers. He grew up in the isolated nearby valley town of Bunyah in a primitive shack with leaky shingles. | Leslie Allan Murray was born on Oct. 17, 1938, in Nabiac, New South Wales, a little over three hours north of Sydney, the only child of Cecil and Miriam (Arnall) Murray, who were dairy farmers. He grew up in the isolated nearby valley town of Bunyah in a primitive shack with leaky shingles. |
| A curious and restless boy with different colored eyes (one blue, one green), Les became fascinated with language and started hounding his mother for the meanings of words at about age 3. A few years later, he was startled to learn from her that English was not the world’s only language. He then spent the rest of his life learning all he could of the world’s words, as if the shock of that revelation never subsided. | A curious and restless boy with different colored eyes (one blue, one green), Les became fascinated with language and started hounding his mother for the meanings of words at about age 3. A few years later, he was startled to learn from her that English was not the world’s only language. He then spent the rest of his life learning all he could of the world’s words, as if the shock of that revelation never subsided. |
| By the time he began his schooling at 9, in a school with just one teacher, he had read and memorized much of his mother’s eight-volume encyclopedia. | By the time he began his schooling at 9, in a school with just one teacher, he had read and memorized much of his mother’s eight-volume encyclopedia. |
| When he was 12, his mother, who had suffered multiple miscarriages, had an ectopic pregnancy and hemorrhaged. His father called for an ambulance but would not explain her condition over the phone. “She’s having a bad turn,” he said instead, desperately hoping the doctor would understand. The doctor refused to dispatch an ambulance, and Miriam Murray died. | When he was 12, his mother, who had suffered multiple miscarriages, had an ectopic pregnancy and hemorrhaged. His father called for an ambulance but would not explain her condition over the phone. “She’s having a bad turn,” he said instead, desperately hoping the doctor would understand. The doctor refused to dispatch an ambulance, and Miriam Murray died. |
| Years later, Mr. Murray said of his father’s call, “The appeal fell into a linguistic chasm between social classes.” He also suggested that his father had been worried about the town gossip listening from the local switchboard, or that he had been incapable of discussing “women’s matters.” | Years later, Mr. Murray said of his father’s call, “The appeal fell into a linguistic chasm between social classes.” He also suggested that his father had been worried about the town gossip listening from the local switchboard, or that he had been incapable of discussing “women’s matters.” |
| Mr. Murray recalled the harrowing event in one of his angriest and most emotional poems, “The Steel”: | Mr. Murray recalled the harrowing event in one of his angriest and most emotional poems, “The Steel”: |
| and on Friday afternoon | and on Friday afternoon |
| our family world | our family world |
| went inside itself forever. | went inside itself forever. |
| After his wife’s death, Cecil Murray collapsed with grief and guilt. He stopped cooking and shaving. His vegetable garden choked with weeds. Les, barely in his teens and used to being doted on, learned to take care of his father. | After his wife’s death, Cecil Murray collapsed with grief and guilt. He stopped cooking and shaving. His vegetable garden choked with weeds. Les, barely in his teens and used to being doted on, learned to take care of his father. |
| In “Burning Want,” Mr. Murray wrote of the trauma that took root: | In “Burning Want,” Mr. Murray wrote of the trauma that took root: |
| From just on puberty, I lived in funeral: | From just on puberty, I lived in funeral: |
| mother dead of miscarriage, father trying to be dead, | mother dead of miscarriage, father trying to be dead, |
| we’d boil sweat-brown cloth; cows repossessed the garden. | we’d boil sweat-brown cloth; cows repossessed the garden. |
| Lovemaking brought death, was the unuttered principle. | Lovemaking brought death, was the unuttered principle. |
| He attended Taree High School, near Bunyah. Six feet tall with a heavy build, he was taunted for his size but rarely used his strength to retaliate. | He attended Taree High School, near Bunyah. Six feet tall with a heavy build, he was taunted for his size but rarely used his strength to retaliate. |
| After graduation, Mr. Murray received a scholarship to attend the University of Sydney, where his contemporaries included future Australian cultural luminaries like the writer Clive James, the feminist author Germaine Greer and the art critic Robert Hughes. | After graduation, Mr. Murray received a scholarship to attend the University of Sydney, where his contemporaries included future Australian cultural luminaries like the writer Clive James, the feminist author Germaine Greer and the art critic Robert Hughes. |
| He soon abandoned his lectures and spent hours reading foreign dictionaries in the university library. He failed his exams, and his scholarship was withdrawn, although it was reinstated when his marks improved. | He soon abandoned his lectures and spent hours reading foreign dictionaries in the university library. He failed his exams, and his scholarship was withdrawn, although it was reinstated when his marks improved. |
| In the early 1960s he spiraled into depression, dropped out of the university and became homeless. (He returned to finish his arts degree in 1969.) | In the early 1960s he spiraled into depression, dropped out of the university and became homeless. (He returned to finish his arts degree in 1969.) |
| Still, he wrote poetry. His work appeared in Australian journals for the first time in 1961, and critics started paying attention. | Still, he wrote poetry. His work appeared in Australian journals for the first time in 1961, and critics started paying attention. |
| Mr. Murray began hitchhiking around the country, seeing greater Australia for the first time. In 1962, he returned to Sydney, his depression lifted, and he met and married Valerie Morelli. The couple had five children, Christina, Daniel, Clare, Alexander and Peter, who survive him, along with his wife and seven grandchildren. | |
| Mr. Murray’s first book was “The Ilex Tree,” a collection of poems by Mr. Murray and Geoffrey Lehmann, published in 1965. It received positive reviews in Australia and Britain, with Mr. Murray’s poem “The Burning Truck” singled out in particular. | Mr. Murray’s first book was “The Ilex Tree,” a collection of poems by Mr. Murray and Geoffrey Lehmann, published in 1965. It received positive reviews in Australia and Britain, with Mr. Murray’s poem “The Burning Truck” singled out in particular. |
| Mr. Murray held a few jobs in his early years. He was a translator at the Australian National University in Canberra and answered mail for the prime minister, John Gorton. | Mr. Murray held a few jobs in his early years. He was a translator at the Australian National University in Canberra and answered mail for the prime minister, John Gorton. |
| He left the 9-to-5 jobs behind in 1971 and became a full-time poet, scratching together a living from his writing and readings. In later years he was known for offering blunt but encouraging feedback to emerging poets in handwritten notes. | He left the 9-to-5 jobs behind in 1971 and became a full-time poet, scratching together a living from his writing and readings. In later years he was known for offering blunt but encouraging feedback to emerging poets in handwritten notes. |
| Mr. Murray and his family left Sydney for Bunyah in 1985 to take care of his ailing father, but the return stirred up old trauma, and Mr. Murray sank into depression again. He would remain in its grip for the next eight years, a period he documented in “Killing the Black Dog” (1997), a memoir written in both verse and prose. | Mr. Murray and his family left Sydney for Bunyah in 1985 to take care of his ailing father, but the return stirred up old trauma, and Mr. Murray sank into depression again. He would remain in its grip for the next eight years, a period he documented in “Killing the Black Dog” (1997), a memoir written in both verse and prose. |
| While he wrote deftly of life’s cruelties, Mr. Murray also captured the joys of his Australian experience. He even composed an ode to short pants (“spirituality with pockets!”), “The Dream of Wearing Shorts Forever”: | While he wrote deftly of life’s cruelties, Mr. Murray also captured the joys of his Australian experience. He even composed an ode to short pants (“spirituality with pockets!”), “The Dream of Wearing Shorts Forever”: |
| Now that everyone who yearned to wear long pants | Now that everyone who yearned to wear long pants |
| has essentially achieved them, | has essentially achieved them, |
| long pants, which have themselves been underwear | long pants, which have themselves been underwear |
| repeatedly, and underground more than once, | repeatedly, and underground more than once, |
| it is time perhaps to cherish the culture of shorts, | it is time perhaps to cherish the culture of shorts, |
| — | — |
| to moderate grim vigour | to moderate grim vigour |
| with the knobble of bare knees, | with the knobble of bare knees, |
| to cool bareknuckle feet in inland water, | to cool bareknuckle feet in inland water, |
| slapping flies with a book on solar wind | slapping flies with a book on solar wind |
| or patient bare hand, beneath the cadijiput trees, | or patient bare hand, beneath the cadijiput trees, |
| — | — |
| to be walking meditatively | to be walking meditatively |
| among green timber, through the grassy forest | among green timber, through the grassy forest |
| towards a calm sea | towards a calm sea |
| and looking across to more of that great island | and looking across to more of that great island |
| and the further topics. | and the further topics. |