Reflection on Dorothy Porter (1954-2008)

Dorothy Porter never went anywhere without a volume of poetry. Whether to the local coffee shop or to Antarctica, a book of poems, and often several, travelled with her. She counted reading poetry among her greatest pleasures and her greatest blessings. It was also one of her great passions.

Dorothy lived with passion; she believed it to be an essential component of a rich and creative life. And the greatest of human passions was love. From her first collection of poetry, Little Hoodlum, published when she was just twenty-one, love presented itself as an irresistible topic.

It was love’s dark and tricky aspects that most attracted Dorothy as a writer. She had a particular fascination for the unpredictable dangers that threaten when one gives into an all-consuming passion. This is present in The Monkey’s Mask and her other verse novels; it’s there in all her work.

The poetry of Dorothy Porter strikes with punch and poignancy; it bristles with excitement and longing; it portrays passion in the most exquisite and heart-stopping way. She’s gone, but the pleasure remains for we readers.

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The comments here have drawn on prefaces Andrea Goldsmith wrote to

Dorothy Porter. The Bee Hut. Black Inc. 2009

Dorothy Porter. Love Poems. Black Inc. 2010