Widely recognised as Australia’s most popular poet, Bruce Dawe was born in Fitzroy, Victoria, in 1930. He worked in a variety of occupations before retiring from the University of Southern Queensland in 1992 when he was appointed their first Honorary Professor.

His many awards include Myer Poetry Prize (1965), Ampol Arts Award for Creative Literature (1967), Myer Poetry Prize (1968), Grace Leven Poetry Prize (1978), Braille Book of the Year (1979), Patrick White Literary Award (1980), Christopher Brennan Award (1984), Paul Harris Fellowship of Rotary International (1990), Order of Australia (AO) for his contribution to Australian literature (1992), Inaugural Philip Hodgins Medal for Literary Excellence (1997), Australia Council for the Arts Emeritus Writers Award for his long and outstanding contribution to Australian literature (2000).
Centenary Medal (2003)