Antigone Kefala

Antigone Kefala (28 May 1931 – 3 December 2022)[1] was an Australian poet and prose-writer of Greek-Romanian heritage. She was a member of the Literature Board of the Australia Council and is acknowledged as being an important voice in capturing the migrant experience in contemporary Australia.[2] In 2017, Kefala was awarded the State Library of Queensland Poetry Collection Judith Wright Calanthe Award at the Queensland Literary Awards for her collection of poems entitled Fragments.[3]

Life

Born in Brăila, Romania in 1931,[4] Kefala and family moved to Greece and then New Zealand after World War II. Having studied French Literature at Victoria University and obtained a MA, she relocated to Sydney, Australia in 1960.[5] There she taught English as a second language and worked as a university and arts administrator. Her poetry and prose is written in both Greek and English, with Absence: New and Selected Poems reissued in a second edition in 1998.

Her work, written in free verse, has been described as having an almost metaphysical detachment.[6] It is characterised by an austere allusiveness unusual in Australian poetry. Aside from Greek and English it has been translated into Czech and French.[7]

In 2009, Antigone Kefala: A Writer’s Journey, an anthology of reviews, essays and analytical writing of Kefala's works edited by Professor Vrasidas Karalis and Helen Nickas was published by Owl Publishing.[8] In 2021, a collection of essays on her prose and poetry titled Antigone Kefala: New Australian Modernities, edited by Elizabeth McMahon and Brigitta Olubas, was published by UWA Publishing.

In November 2022, Kefala won the Patrick White Award.[9] A week later, she died on 3 December 2022, at the age of 91.[4]

Works

Poetry

  • The Alien (Makar Press: 1973)
  • Thirsty Weather (Outback: 1978)
  • European Notebook (Hale & Iremonger: 1988)
  • Absence: New and selected poems (Sydney, Hale & Iremonger: 1992, 2nd ed. 1998)
  • Poems: A selection (Melbourne, Owl Publishing: 2000)
  • Fragments, Artarmon, N.S.W. Giramondo, 2016, ISBN 978-1-925336-19-1

Prose fiction

  • The First Journey (Wild & Woolley: 1975)
  • The Island (Hale & Iremonger: 1984)
  • Sunday Morning in The Oxford book of Australian Short Stories selected by Michael Wilding (Melbourne : Oxford University Press: 1994)
  • Summer Visit: Three Novellas (Giramondo Publishing: 2003)
  • Sydney Journals (Giramondo Publishing: 2008) ISBN 978-1-920882-41-9
  • Max: The Confessions of a Cat (Owl Publishing: 2009)

Awards and recognition

References
  1. "Antigone Kefala: Death Notice". Sydney Morning Herald. 10 December 2022. Retrieved 15 December 2022.
  2. "Antigone Kefala". Australian Poetry Library. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  3. "Winners and Finalists". Queensland Literary Awards. Archived from the original on 9 October 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  4. "Antigone Kefala obituary".
  5. "Antigone Kefala: A writer's journey". Owl Publishing. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  6. Page, Geoff (25 February 2017). "Fragments and A House by the River review: Poetry of encounters and memories". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  7. Adelaide, Debra (1988) Australian Women Writers: A bibliographic guide, London, Pandora.
  8. Evdokia, Fourkioti. "Book Launch in Melbourne Antigone Kefala: A Writer's Journey". Greek Reporter Australia. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
  9. "Minimalist poet Antigone Kefala wins the Patrick White Award for her contribution to Australian literature". University of New South Wales. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  10. "Winners of prestigious Queensland Literary Awards announced". Queensland Government. Retrieved 5 October 2017.
  11. "Kefala wins 2022 Patrick White Award". Books+Publishing. 24 November 2022. Retrieved 25 November 2022.
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