Vale Bruce Bennett*
Professor Bruce Bennett, a great writer and distinguished scholar of Australian literature passed away in April 2012. Professor Bennett taught at UNSW Canberra, from 1993 until his retirement. He wrote widely on Australian literature, culture and society, and was still working in his final weeks.
Bruce Bennett was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for services to education and Australian literature in 1993. He is the author of Homing In: Essays on Australian Literature and Selfhood (2006) and Australian Short Fiction: A History (2002), which was shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier's Award. Other books by Bruce Bennett include The Oxford Literary History of Australia (1998), Dorothy Hewett: Selected Critical Essays (1995), the award-winning Spirit in Exile: Peter Porter and his Poetry (1991) and An Australian Compass: Essays on Place and Direction in Australian Literature (1991). Bruce will be greatly missed by his colleagues, family and the Australian literature community.
*This article contains corrections to inaccurate biographic references made in some published versions of the recently distributed Alumni newsletter.