Harry Hooton
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Harry Hooton (9 October 1908 - 1961) was an Australian poet.
Hooton was an Australian poet and philosopher ahead of his time. He was part of the libertarian Sydney Push in Sydney during the 1950s, with connections to many of the poets and writers active in Australian Literature of the time.
Born Henry Arthur Hooton, in Upper Doncaster, County of York. At the age of 16 he arrived in Sydney on 28 October 1924, on the ship Demosthenes as part of an Empire scheme, the Dreadnought Trust, with fifty-nine other boys. After humping his swag around much of New South Wales and Queensland through the Great Depression, in 1936, just as his first pieces of writing were being published, Hooton was introduced to the poet Marie E. J. Pitt living in Melbourne and carried on a correspondence for the next eight years.
In 1941 Hooton's first book of poetry appeared -These Poets. The book was published at his own expense in a small print run of up to 400 copies, most of which Hooton either gave away or swapped. It struck a chord with readers, receiving a wide degree of critical acclaim.
In 1943 Hooton met the authors Nettie Palmer and Miles Franklin while they were travelling through Newcastle. Through Miles Franklin he was introduced to the writings of Carl Sandburg and the American literary scene. Moving to Sydney in 1943 Hooton submitted a book of poems titled Leave Yourself Alone to a publisher without success. Later he self published Things You See When You Haven't Got A Gun. In a new magazine untitled, unpretentious and called simply No. 1., the poetry of Hooton, A. D. Hope, and Gary Lyle was featured. Hooton and Hope also featured in No. 2.
Hooton's Things You See When You Haven't Cot A Gun was reviewed by Max Harris in one line in the Ern Malley issue of Angry Penguins, 'Our anarchist bull careers madly through his intellectual fog.'
Living in Sydney after World War II Hooton moved in similar intellectual circles as Professor John Anderson, attracted to intellectual discourse and philosophical debate. Both exerted certain influences on the crowd of young intellectuals that became known as the Sydney Push.
While Hooton was living a very bohemian life in Sydney he was also connecting with literary people in Japan, India, Greece, South Africa, England, France, New Zealand, the USA. Hooton had corresponded with counter-culture figures in California, and with Tuli Kupferberg, later to form the nihilist rock group The Fugs.
Hooton never completed his philosophical treatise, titled Militant Materialism, though he did complete five of its eight chapters. His ideas were magically simple. Leave man alone, man is perfect. Concentrate instead on matter. He formulated what he called 'The Politics of Things'.
Hooton saw proof copies of his last book, It Is Great To Be Alive, published by Margaret Elliot, just before he died in 1961 of cancer.
[edit] Bibliography
Collected Poems. (Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1990)
[edit] External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Hooton, Harry |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Twentieth century Australian poet and anarchist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | October 9, 1908 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Australia |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1961 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Sydney, New South Wales, Australia |
