| Emeritus Professor Julian Croft BA (NSW) MA (Newcastle) | |
| Birth Name: | Julian Charles Basset Croft |
| Birth Date: | 31 May 1941 |
| Birth Place: | Merewether, New South Wales |
| Occupation: | academic |
| Language: | English |
| Citizenship: | Australian |
| Education: | Newcastle Boys High School, New South Wales |
| Alma Mater: | University of New South Wales (BA 1961), University of Newcastle, Australia (MA 1968) |
| Genre: | biographer, anthologist and editor, poet, novelist, lyricist |
Julian Croft (born 31 May 1941) is an Australian poet and Emeritus Professor of English, University of New England. He was a founder of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature and co-edited its journal, Notes and Furphies for many years. In addition to gathering prizes for his published poems, he is known for his studies of his teacher, T. Harri Jones and Joseph Furphy (Tom Collins).[1] [2]
Julian Charles Basset Croft was born 31 May 1941 in Merewether, a beachside suburb of Newcastle, New South Wales, the son of Jack Croft and his wife Florence Helena née Champion.[3]
He was educated at Newcastle Boys' High School.[3]
He was graduated Bachelor of Arts by the University of New South Wales in 1961.[4]
From 1961 until 1962 he worked for the Australian Commonwealth Film Unit as a production assistant.[3]
Between 1964 and 1967, he was a research assistant at the University of Newcastle[3] and on 15 March 1968, he was graduated Master of Arts by the University of Newcastle[5] after he had submitted his dissertation, "The concepts of time, history, and memory in the poetry of Kenneth Slessor and R.D. Fitzgerald" to the Department of English.[6] His researches resulted in T.H.Jones (Writers of Wales, 1976), The Collected Poems of T. Harri Jones (1977, with Don Dale-Jones) and Robert D. Fitzgerald (1987, UQP Australian Authors Series).
In 1967, he married Loretta Ruth Amelia De Plevitz.[3] His first novel, Their Solitary Way (1985), tells the story of the failure of this marriage with separate versions "emphasising the innate incompatibilities of the two".[1] The marriage was dissolved in 1978.[3]
On completion of his master's degree, he travelled in Europe and Africa.[7] From 1968 to 1970, he was a lecturer at Fourah Bay College (then part of the University of Sierra Leone) in Freetown, Sierra Leone[3] [7] living on campus
"600 feet above a city which never slept. All night you could hear drums and singing, dogs barking and people calling. The sounds of wakes, weddings and births all drifted in through the window at night. And then at 0600, the sun would rise on Mount Aureol and there was Africa – not lions and giraffes – but the real Africa, a city and people, all before you. If you love Africa, you love life."[8]
In 1970, he returned to Australia and took up a lectureship at the University of New England (Armidale, NSW, Australia). He was promoted to senior lecturer in 1975 and associate professor in 1992. He was elected to a chair in 1994 when he became professor of English and communication studies, a position he held until his retirement in 2001. He was then granted the honour of Emeritus Professor in the School of English, Communication and Theatre, University of New England.[9]
In 1978 he was a foundational member of the executive committee of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature. When he left the committee in 1989, he was made a life member of the Association.[3]
Croft's study of the Australian novelist Joseph Furphy won the McCrae Russell prize in 1991.
He has one son from his first marriage and another son from his marriage on 12 December 1987 to Caroline Margaret, daughter of Robert Ruming and Kay McCumstie.[3]
He has resided in Armidale, New South Wales since the 1970s. He is a motoring enthusiast and lists his membership of the Bristol Owners' Club (Australia).[3]
A more complete bibliography is available at AustLit.