Vale Lorraine Marwood
Writer and poet Lorraine Marwood has died, aged 73.
The Jane Novak Literary Agency writes:
Lorraine was the author of several children’s books and poetry collections. In 2010, her novel Star Jumps [Walker Books] won the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Children’s Literature and in 2019, her verse novel Leave Taking [UQP] was joint winner of the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature.
Lorraine was a joy to work with, at our very first meeting she had more than a dozen ideas for projects – all of them wonderful. Every year I received the most beautiful handmade Christmas card and every year I wondered how she found the time. She was always working hard on something, whether it be her garden or her books – she was a bundle of energy.
She leaves behind her husband, 6 children and 13 grandchildren and an incredible body of work.
Claire Saxby writes:
I first met Lorraine in the early 2000s when we were both fairly fresh to writing for children. We’d both published poetry in literary magazines, although Lorraine much more extensively than me. We judged the Dorothea Mackellar Poetry Awards together in 2005 and 2006, revelling in the trip to Gunnedah’s award ceremony each year where we were able to meet the young poets whose work we’d most loved.
We shared unpublished works with each other and celebrated each time poems were published in The School Magazine. Lorraine wrote evocative and beautiful verse novels and in 2010 was the inaugural winner of the Prime Minister’s Literary Award for Children’s Literature.
In 2019, we sat side-by-side at the announcement of the NSW Premier’s Literary Awards Patricia Wrightson Prize for Children’s Literature. Lorraine’s verse novel Leave Taking, and Tannya Harricks’s and my picture book, Dingo [Walker Books], were both shortlisted. We were thrilled to share the award and to be able to celebrate together. I was looking forward to reading her new works, created as part of her PhD studies. I will miss her enormously.
Katrina Nannestad writes:
Lorraine Marwood was a remarkable woman and leaves a rich legacy. She was, of course, a talented poet and storyteller whose work will continue to be read and treasured for many years. But her greatest legacy is the way in which she has touched the lives of all who knew her, through the way she lived her own life – with kindness, generosity, humour and grace.
Lorraine was my dear friend, and we enjoyed spending time together. We had a lot in common – neurotic dogs, a love of craft, country backgrounds and our faith. An hour or two with Lorraine left me feeling happy, inspired, uplifted and loved. And I know from the conversations I have had with other friends and teacher-librarians these last few days that this was the effect she had on many.
When I was a new and uncertain writer, Lorraine treated me and my work with respect and introduced me to other wonderful authors as their equal. I felt a fraud, but she saw me as her peer. So generous!
Lorraine would never visit my home or meet me at a cafe without bringing “a little something” – which often amounted to many somethings – a plant she’d grown, vegetables from her garden, homemade jam or pickles, something she’d baked, a handcrafted decoration for my Christmas tree. Right now, I have one of her succulents in a pot on my veranda, hilariously kitsch salt and pepper shakers in the shape of two chefs sitting in my pantry (gifted after a conversation where I confessed my embarrassing love of such things), her beautiful verse novels on my bookshelf and, possibly, the remains of Marwood jam in my fridge. I know this generosity was shown to everyone she met.
Lorraine’s gentle influence is everywhere – in my home, my writing and my heart. I am so sad that I will never spend time with this dear friend again, but I feel so very blessed that she has been a wonderful part of my life.
Category: Obituaries
