Colin Roderick

Colin Arthur Roderick (27 July 1911 – 16 June 2000) was an Australian writer, editor, academic and educator.[1]

Early life and education

Colin Roderick was born in Mount Morgan, Queensland on 27 July 1911.

He attended Bundaberg State School and then, while working as a school teacher, studied through the external studies programme at the University of Queensland, graduating in 1936 with a B.A. He later graduated from the same university with a B.Ed., an M.A., an M.Ed., and finally, in 1954, with a Ph.D. for which he wrote a thesis on Australian novelist Rosa Praed. For part of this period he belonged to the Australian Army.[2]

Career

Roderick worked as editor for the Australian publisher and bookseller Angus & Robertson from 1945 through 1965 and was the firm's director in 1961–65.

During the 1950s he played an "instrumental" role in the setting up of a chair of Australian literature at the University of Sydney.[2] He also helped establish the Miles Franklin Literary Award.

In 1965 he was appointed the inaugural professor of English at the James Cook University, in Townsville, Queensland.[3] During this period he set up the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies (FALS).[4] The Colin Roderick Award, founded in 1967, is named for him.[5]

Final years

After retiring, Roderick was made emeritus professor in English at James Cook University and subsequently received an honorary Litt.D. from that university and from the Université de Caen.

Honours and awards
  • 1974: Gold Medal of the Australian Literature Society[6]

Select bibliography

As author
  • The Lady and the Lawyer, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1956.
  • John Knatchbull from Quarterdeck to Gallows, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1963.
  • Miles Franklin: Her Brilliant Career, Adelaide: Rigby, 1982.
  • Leichhardt: The Dauntless Explorer, North Ryde: Angus & Robertson, 1988.
  • Henry Lawson: A Life, North Ryde, N.S.W.: Angus & Robertson, 1991.
  • Banjo Paterson: Poet by Accident, St. Leonards, N.S.W.: Allen & Unwin, 1993.

As editor
  • The Australian Novel: A Historical Anthology, Sydney, William Brooks, 1945
  • 20 Australian Novelists, Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1947.
  • Australian Round-Up : Stories From 1790 to 1950, Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1953.
  • Henry Lawson: Collected Verse, Vol. I: 1885-1900, Sydney: Angus & Roberton, 1991.
  • Rose Paterson’s Illalong Letters (1873-1888), East Roseville: Kangaroo Press (Simon & Schuster, Australia), 2000.

Personal life

Roderick died in Townsville, Queensland on 16 June 2000.

References
  1. Monday musings on Australian literature: Who is Colin Roderick?, whisperinggums.com. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  2. Colin Roderick, austlit.edu.au. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  3. Roderick, Colin, in: William H. Wilde, Joy Hooton, and Barry Andrews, The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, 1994 (online edition 2015). Retrieved 18 October 2019.
  4. About FALS, jcu.edu.au. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  5. Colin Roderick Award, jcu.edu.au. Retrieved 21 September 2020.
  6. Peter Pierce, "Farewell to literature patriot", The Age, 17 Jun 2000, p. 19.
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