Dorothea Mackellar was an iconic Australian poet and an Eastern Suburbs treasure – and now, she is finally recognised as such by her very own ‘sunburnt country’.
Dorothy Mackellar, author of famed poem, My Country, has a new memorial marking her Waverley Cemetery gravestone thanks to fellow poet Libby Hathorn, who was shocked to see Dorothea’s once modest grave describe her only as ‘Keith’s sister’.
‘I was doing a seven-minute for a documentary for State Library NSW on three Australian poets and the filmmaker suggested visiting the grave. When I read that Dorothea’s grave just recorded her name, I was indignant,’ she told the Wentworth Courier.
‘It was shocking. On Henry Lawson’s it says he was a great poet, but on Dorothea’s, nothing.’ Ms Hathorn, a member of The Society of Women Writers NSW, took her plight to the Society’s committee, and approached the cemetery as managers of the heritage grave, as well as Dorothea’s agent. They started fundraising within the Society and raised more than half of the $4,000 cost for a new marble etched grave – one that quotes the much-loved poet’s most famous lines, honouring her contribution to our country.
It quotes, ‘I love a sunburnt country, a land of sweeping plains, of ragged mountain ranges, of droughts and flooding rains,’ the Centennial Park author said. ‘Waverley Mayor John Wakefield came along to do the launch of the new marble etched grave tablet with about 50 people. It was so thrilling. One darling old couple came all the way from Manly on their walking sticks and they were so sweet – my granddaughter read the poem and there wasn’t a dry eye in the house.’
Mackellar was born in Point Piper and lived in Darling Point, where her house still stands. After an accomplished writing career, she died in a Randwick nursing home in 1968 at the age of 82.
‘I wanted to do something for Australian literature, and particularly women in Australian literature,’ Ms Hathorn said. ‘Dorothea worked for the Red Cross, and she was filled with energy and zest. She put a lot of her energy into women’s causes. We had a woman write to us to say she jogged past the spot every morning and she was absolutely thrilled to see the new memorial. She also brings her class once a year to look at the poets and the kids had commented, ‘why is her name so small’? Other people have called and emailed to say they are so glad that it’s happened. It should be honoured and not forgotten.’
At Last Poetic Justice, Wentworth Courier 17 Jan, 2018
Page: 5 | Section: News
PRESS RELEASE
Dorothea Mackellar Poet’s New Memorial at Waverley Cemetery
On the 24” November, 2017, the Society of Women Writers of NSW, along with donors to the memorial, will gather in Waverley Cemetery at 6pm to ‘unveil’ the substantial marble plaque. This honours the poet, Dorothea Mackellar (1885-1968) with the 8 lines of her most famous stanza from her poem, My Country, there for all to see in perpetuity. Her gravesite is close by the ‘jewel sea’ of the Pacific Ocean she so lovingly describes.
Given hundreds of tourists and especially school groups visit this site, the Society of Women Writers is proud to be thus honouring an Australian woman writer in this way.
I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel sea,
Her beauty and her terror
The wide brown land for me.
My Country
Background
The line I love a sunburnt country is a familiar one to countless Australians though some may not necessarily know, it was penned as part of a poem of several verses in 1908 by the young writer and poet, Dorothea Mackellar.
The poem Core of my Heart, re-named My Country, has been published continuously since then. Thousands upon thousands are still able to quote word perfect that memorable second stanza, as attested to by the recent announcement Dorothea Mackellar has been added to the Australian register of the UNESCO National Memory of the World.
Spoken, sung, performed, recited, painted, studied and loved just short of 110 years and yet … Dorothea’s resting place at Waverley Cemetery (unlike her male poet counterparts) did not attest to this well-loved poem as her finest achievement.
When local author and poet Libby Hathorn was completing some videos for the State Library of NSW on the lives of the poets, she was struck by the absence of any acknowledgment to Dorothea Mackellar’s writing life when she visited the family plot where Dorothea’s modest headstone only described her, beneath the substantial headstone of her brother Keith, as ‘his sister’.
Libby made approaches to the Cemetery Management for permission for an application so that the memorial could be added with lines from the famous poem My Country; Dorothea’s agent for her estate at Curtis Brown for permission for her poem; and The Society of Women Writers NSW, where Libby is a committee member, with the idea of fundraising for a memorial with her poetry inscribed.
The SWW then began arduous fundraising. As a small society, this took over a year and involved seeking donations at monthly luncheon meetings at the NSW State Library, personal efforts for fundraisers at workshops and retreats and a crowdfunding project that raised enough to have the work finally undertaken.
On advice to Libby, monumental masons, Heritage Memorials was enlisted to make the memorial sympathetic to the marble already in place. With discussions as to its appearance and several visits to the gravesite re placement, the work was completed. A replanting of hardy gazania in the plot was added and a ‘launch’ date decided upon.
On the 24th November, 2017, Libby Hathorn is proud to announce that the Society of Women Writers, along with donors to the memorial, will gather in Waverley Cemetery at 6pm to ‘unveil’ the substantial marble plaque. This honours the poet, Dorothea Mackellar with the 8 lines of her most famous stanza from her poem My Country, there for all to see in perpetuity. Her gravesite is close by the ‘jewel sea’ of the Pacific Ocean she so lovingly describes.
Given hundreds of tourists and especially school groups visit this site, the Society of Women Writers is proud to be thus honouring an Australian woman writer in this way.
Libby Hathorn
October 2017
