Donald Bruce Dawe was an Australian poet and academic.
21 Facts About Bruce Dawe
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Bruce Dawe taught literature in universities for over 30 years.
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Bruce Dawe's mother was of Lowland Scottish ancestry - she often recited Scottish poems from her childhood.
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Bruce Dawe was the only one in his family to complete primary school.
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Bruce Dawe then worked as a clerk, a labourer, a sales assistant, an office boy in an advertising agency and a copy boy at The Truth and The Sun News-Pictorial.
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Bruce Dawe worked as a labourer in the Public Works Department, as a tailer-out in various Melbourne saw-mills and as a farm-hand in the Cann River valley.
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In 1953, Bruce Dawe completed his adult matriculation by part-time study.
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In 1956, Bruce Dawe returned to Melbourne, where he worked as a postman for two years and as a self-employed gardener.
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In 1959, Bruce Dawe joined the Royal Australian Air Force, initially as a trainee telegraphist but remustered as an education assistant.
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On commencing duties as an education assistant, Bruce Dawe was posted to RAAF Base Wagga, Victoria Barracks Melbourne and Toowoomba, Queensland.
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In 1966, Bruce Dawe was posted to Malaysia for six months.
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In 1971, Bruce Dawe was appointed as a lecturer at DDIAE.
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In 1988, Bruce Dawe received the inaugural DDIAE Award for Excellence in Teaching.
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In 1992, when DDIAE became the University of Southern Queensland, Bruce Dawe was appointed associate professor.
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In 1993, Bruce Dawe retired from full-time teaching and was appointed as the first honorary professor of USQ.
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Bruce Dawe then taught University of the Third Age classes.
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Bruce Dawe would achieve four university degrees, all completed by part-time study.
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Bruce Dawe wrote poetry about ordinary people in modern Australia, their interests in cars, novels, films and other popular items.
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Bruce Dawe wrote about abortion, environmental degradation, and the treatment of the Australian Aboriginal community.
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On 27 January 1964, Bruce Dawe married Gloria Desley Blain, Between December 1964 and July 1969, the couple had four children: Brian, twins Jamie and Katrina, and Melissa.
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Bruce Dawe died in Caloundra, Queensland, on 1 April 2020, at age 90.