Born: 26 January 1927, Australia
Died: 3 July 1987
Country most active: Australia
Also known as: NA
Australian physician and poet Grace Amelia Perry earned her medical degree at the University of Sydney in 1951, then established a home-based medical practice at Five Dock. She also worked as a pediatrician at the Renwick Hospital for Infants and the Fairfield District and South Sydney Women’s hospitals.
Perry had three poetry collections published in her teens by Consolidated Press Ltd.: Staring at the Stars (1942), I Live a Life of Dreams (1943) and I am the Songs You Sing (1944), but gave up writing as a young adult. She resumed writing poetry in 1961, joining the Poetry Society of Australia in 1962 and becoming the editor of Poetry Magazine from 1962 to 1964. In 1964, internal drama led to a secret meeting where Perry was ousted from the society, so she started a company, South Head Press, that published a new magazine, Poetry Australia, which she edited until her death in 1967, as well as volumes of poetry by herself and others.
In 1985, Perry won a medal at the New South Wales Premier’s literary awards, and she was made a member of the Order of Australia the following year. However, after failing to receive funding for a major project, in poor health and feeling abandoned by her supporters, Perry ended her life in 1987.
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