Origins & Early Life

Peter Neville Frederick Porter OAM (16 February 1929 – 23 April 2010) was a British-based Australian poet. Porter was born in Brisbane, Australia, in 1929. His mother, Marion, died of a burst gall-bladder in 1938. He was educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School (then known as the Church of England Grammar School) and left school at 18 to work as a trainee journalist at The Courier-Mail.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

However, he only lasted a year with the paper before he was dismissed. He emigrated to England in 1951. On the boat he met the future novelist Jill Neville. Porter was portrayed in Neville's first book, The Fall Girl (1966). After two suicide attempts, he returned to Brisbane.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

Ten months later he was back in England. In 1955, he began attending meetings of "The Group". It was his association with "The Group" that allowed him to publish his first collection in 1961. He married Jannice Henry, from Marlow, Buckinghamshire, in 1961 and they had two daughters (born in 1962 and 1965). During this period he worked in advertising, and was beginning to find work in the literary press. Jannice took her life in 1974, greatly affecting Porter's work, in particular The Cost of Seriousness.

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