Andrew Lansdown – December 22 2019

Andrew is an award-winning writer whose poems and stories have been published in magazines, newspapers and over 70 anthologies. In addition to his poetry and book awards, Andrew has been awarded six writer’s grants/fellowships and has been invited to read at poetry festivals around Australia. He has participated in several writers’ tours and conducted readings and creative writing workshops at numerous primary and high schools throughout Western Australia. Andrew’s published books include 10 collections of poetry, two collections of short stories and three novels. In acknowledgement of his poetic achievements, the City of South Perth included one of his poems in its Poetry Park. Andrew holds a Bachelor of Arts in English, a Bachelor of Arts (Hons) in Comparative Literature and a Graduate Diploma in Education. Among many other things, he has worked as a tutor, prisons education officer, pastor, journalist and editor.

Allsorts: poetry tricks and treats – Illustrated by Susan Lansdown
Wombat Books, 2011; ISBN 9781921633232
5+ years
In this new book of poems for young people, limericks and haiku jostle with rhymed verse and free verse to bring to life crazy critters, odd bods, fantasy worlds and the natural world. Allsorts is a collection of all sorts of poems that all sorts of people will find as colourful and sweet as a packet of liquorice allsorts. The final 70 pages of Allsorts include personal observations from the poet about the poems in the collection, a comprehensive glossary of poetic forms and techniques, and a set of seven indexes identifying the poems that employ these different forms and techniques. These pages will prove an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to learn more about the poet’s craft, including students, teachers and aspiring poets.

A Ball of Gold: poems for children – Illustrated by Susan Lansdown
Artlook Press, 1980; ISBN 08654450001
Younger readers
The title of this collection of 77 poems is taken from first line of the first poem in the book, ‘The Sun’: “The sun is a ball of gold, tied to a see-through string”. The sensitive poems in this book were written for Andrew’s two small children and delicately illustrated by his wife, Susan.
‘A Ball of Gold is a very amusing book of poems, sometimes sad, often funny …. Some of the best poems in the book are about birds …. their songs, their habits, their food and their feelings. These poems are very informative for children, combining fact with the exciting fantasy of being able to understand the birds’ thoughts.’ – Kate Julian, Children’s Reviews, The Canberra Times 1982