Peter Skrzynecki

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Peter Michael Skrzynecki (often misspelled "Sheneski", among other misspellings) (IPA: /s:kɹeɪzɪˑnɛˑkɪ/ {correct pronunciation 'shez-nes-ki'}) (born April 6, 1945 in Germany) is an Australian poet of Polish origin. He came to Australia with his parents in 1949, as a refugee from "the sorrow / Of northern wars" (Crossing the Red Sea). This voyage — a four-week sea expedition on the "General Blatchford", a converted United States Navy transport ship — was the basis for many of the poems in his 1975 collection, Immigrant Chronicle.

Skrzynecki has taught various courses relating to literature, including English Studies, American Literature, Australian Literature and Creative Writing. He has received several awards for his contributions to the literature of Australia and to multicultural literature, including the Grace Leven Prize for Poetry in 1972 for Headwaters, the Captain Cook Bicentenary Poetry Prize, the Henry Lawson Short Story Award, an Order of Cultural Merit from the Polish government in 1989 and, in 2002, an Order of Australia[1]. Peter visits schools and gives lectures on the current topic area of 'Immigrant Chronicle'.

Contents

[edit] Immigrant Chronicle

Immigrant Chronicle, a collection of poems by Peter Skrzynecki, recollecting about the experiences of his family as they immigrated from post-war Poland to Australia. The family, Peter Skrzynecki and his two parents, were in transit of over 2 years from 1949-51 (either physically travelling, or in a Migrant Hostel) before they were allowed to begin their new life in Australia. The book also expounds the ongoing hardships that Skrzynecki and his parents still suffer because of their journey to Australia.

The poems included in Immigrant Chronicle are:

  • Crossing the Red Sea
  • Migrant hostel
  • Immigrants at Central Station, 1951
  • Feliks Skrzynecki
  • Leaving home
  • A drive in the country
  • Post card

Immigrant Chronicle is one of the five prescribed "Journeys" texts in the compulsory New South Wales HSC English syllabus. This core text is the main focus of the unit, and it requires students to find their own related text and compare the two texts in the form of an essay with a compulsory duration of forty minutes.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Poetry

  • There, Behind the Lids (1970)
  • Headwaters (1972)
  • Immigrant Chronicle (1975)
  • The Aviary (1978)
  • The Polish Immigrant (1982)
  • Night Swim (1989)
  • Easter Sunday (1993)
  • Time's Revenge (2000)
  • Old/New World (2007), selection from his previous eight books, plus the new collection Blood Plums

[edit] Novels

  • The Beloved Mountain (1988)
  • The Cry of the Goldfinch (1996)

[edit] Memoir

  • The Sparrow Garden (2004)

[edit] Short Stories

  • The Wild Dogs (1987)
  • Rock 'n' Roll Heroes (1992)

[edit] References

  1. ^ Peter Michael Skrzynecki. It's an Honour website (2002). Retrieved on 2008-03-09.

[edit] External links

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