Shelton Lea was an Australian poet active in the Melbourne performance poetry scene.
11 Facts About Shelton Lea
1.
2.
Shelton Lea was adopted at the age of 13 months, along with another brother and sister, into the famous Darrell Lea family in Toorak.
3.
At the hands of his adoptive mother, Shelton Lea suffered and ran away from home at the age of 12.
4.
Shelton Lea regularly performed this first poem, because like much of his work, it was autobiographical.
5.
Shelton Lea entered Pentridge Prison at 17, which he described as the nihilism of Kafka and the horror of Dante.
6.
Shelton Lea was released two months into a three-month sentence but he never really recovered.
7.
Shelton Lea was incarcerated in Long Bay and the Goulburn Prison for minor offences.
8.
Shelton Lea did not return to prison after he turned 21.
9.
Shelton Lea opened a number of bookshops, specialising in rare books.
10.
Shelton Lea was closely associated with the "Heide" Collective and mentored over thirty years by his close friend, the poet and librarian, Barrett Reid.
11.
On 13 May 2005, Shelton Lea died of lung cancer only days after the launch of his final collection.