Timoshenko Aslanides: Australian poet

Timoshenko Aslanides: Australian poet
1943 - 2020

Timoshenko died, of cancer, in Canberra on 6 January 2020.
His biography, below, has been left untouched, in memory of his passion, self-belief, and considerable accomplishment as a poet.
A commemorative video produced by Timeline Pictures in 2021 can be viewed here.

... taken as a whole, a major contribution to Australian literature.

-- Judith Wright, describing my work from 1975-2000

Biography

I am Australian, born in Sydney on 24 December, 1943. I graduated Bachelor of Arts from Sydney University in 1967 with majors in psychology and music (I studied composition with Peter Sculthorpe). I also studied piano with the late Ms Freda Franks, a pupil of a pupil of Leopold Godowsky. I graduated Bachelor of Economics in 1976 from the Australian National University with majors in Economics and Public Economics. I also studied Modern Greek in the University of Athens (1969/1970 academic year). I have travelled extensively overseas (four years, full-time) as well as throughout Australia.

My father, John Paul Aslanides (1901-1962), a seaman in the Australian Mercantile Marine, was Greek; born in Kerasus (the modern Goresun, in eastern Turkey). My Australian-born mother, Olive Emma Browne (1910-1993) was the daughter of David Lesley Browne (1880-1966) and Mary Chrichton (1876-1963), pastoralists from "Myall", near Wagga Wagga.

I am married to the political scientist Jenny Stewart, with whom we have one son, John Aslanides, and live in Canberra.

Since graduation from Sydney University in 1967, I have worked in the public sector: Postmaster General's Department in Sydney and then, in Canberra, in the Department of Trade and the Australian Public Service Board, from which I resigned in July 1985 to work as a full time, professional Australian poet. I am not an "ethnic" writer, and nor do I write "multicultural poetry". As a well-read dedicated professional, I eschew academic-amateur and weekend-hobbyist approaches to my art - originality and a determination to celebrate Australia and Australians characterise my work, which has won national and international acclaim.

Prizes for my work

WINNER (1978) - British Commonwealth Poetry Prize, for the best first book of poetry in English published in a British Commonwealth country other than England. (For The Greek connection)

RUNNER-UP - Darling Downs Association for Advanced Education Literature Competition (Three poems from Passacaglia and Fugue)

SECOND PRIZE (1988) - Bicentenial Literary Awards (Category 3: Book-length collections of poetry) sponsored by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and the Australian Bicentennial Authority. (For the manuscript of Australian Things, later published by Penguin Books).

JOINT WINNER (1998) - Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria Poetry Awards (For the sonnet "Cancer", later anthologised in the collection Together Alone, Text Publishing, 1998.)

WINNER (2002) - Canberra Times Artist of the Year Award.

Individual poem publication

About 200 poems in the following magazines, newspapers and periodicals from 1975 to date: Antipodes (New York), Antipodes (Melbourne), The Australian, Australian PC world, Bogong, Blast, The Canberra Times, Cosmos, Hobo, Imago, Matilda, Metre (Trinity College, Dublin), Muse, Nation Review, Northern Perspective, Otis Rush, Overland, Poet's Choice (1976, 1977, 1978 and final edition, 1979), Quadrant, Redoubt, Simply Living, Southerly, The Sydney Morning Herald, To Yiofiri (Sydney), Westerly.