HODGINS, Ian Philip (1959-1995)Philip Hodgins, an internationally recognised and critically acclaimed poet, grew up on his parents' dairy farm at Katandra West near near Shepparton, Victoria. He was the recipent of many awards and listed on VCE reading lists. Peter Rose in the Adelaide Review described him as
'probably the most loved (Australian) poet of his generation', noting that 'his admirers ranged from ... Alan Hollinghurst to Ron Barassi and Peter Porter to Les Murray'. Clive James ventured that 'if he had lived as long as his admired Goethe, he would probably have been Goethe' .
After his diagnosis in 1983 at the age of 24 with chronic myeloid leukaemia, he began writing poetry. He won the New South Wales Premier's Literary Award for Poetry with his first book,
Blood and Bone in 1987. He went on to publish several more collections and a verse novella. His
Selected Poems were published after his death in 1997.
He was born at Shepparton, the son of Samuel Walter Hodgins and Rhoda Cromie nee McKee, on 28 January 1959. He attended Shepparton High School before his enrolment at Geelong College as a boarder from 3 February 1972 to May 1976.
Philip died on 18 August 1995.
Awards:
1986 - Wesley Michael Wright Prize for Poetry
Bicentennial Poetry Book Award
1987 - New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry for Blood and Bone
1988 - Grace Perry Memorial Award
1993 - Grace Leven Prize for Poetry for The End of the Season
National Book Council Poetry Prize
Prairie Schooner Readers Choice USA Award
1996 - National Book Council Turnbull Fox Phillips Poetry Prize
Publications:
Blood and Bone (North Ryde, NSW.: A & R, 1986)
Down the Lake with half a chook (Crows Nest, NSW.: ABC, 1988)
Animal Warmth (North Ryde, NSW.: A & R, 1990)
A Kick of the Footy; with a foreword by Ron Barassi (Nth Ryde, NSW.: Collins/A&R, 1990)
Up on all Fours (Pymble, NSW.: A & R, 1993)
The End of the Season: Pastoral Poems (Canberra; Brindabella Press, 1993)
Dispossessed (Verse novel. Pymble, NSW A & R, 1994)
Things Happen (Pymble, NSW: A & R, 1995)
The Poetry of Philip Hodgins read by Philip Hodgins 1959-1995 (Sydney ABC Radio, 1995)
Selected Poems (Pymble, NSW.: A & R, 1997)
New Selected Poems 1959-1995 (Potts Point, NSW.: Duffy & Snellgrove, 2000)
First Light: A Selection of Poems (Brazilier, 2014
Drafts notes and correspondence concerning Hodgins published works are held in the Manuscript Collection at the The University of New South Wales (Canberra).
Sources: Ad Astra December 1995 p19;
Ten Poems about Cricket, selected and introduced by John Lucas. Nottingham Eng. Candlestick Press; The Australian 22 August 1995 (obituary); The Adelaide Review October 1995 (obituary); Clive James,
The Meaning of Recognition in Australian Book Review, September 2003..''