Nancy Keesing AM (7 September 1923 – 19 January 1993) was an Australian poet, writer, editor and promoter of Australian literature.
Nancy Keesing was born in Sydney, Australia and attended school at Sydney Church of England Girls' Grammar School (SCEGGS) and the Frensham School (Mittagong).[1] During WW2 she worked as a naval account clerk on Garden Island in Sydney Harbour. After the war she enrolled in social sciences at the University of Sydney, and then worked as a social worker at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, Camperdown (1947–1951).
From about 1952 she worked full-time as a writer and researcher with The Bulletin magazine. She mainly worked with Douglas Stewart, particularly to research and collect historical Australian songs and bush ballads.
She was active in a number of literary associations, most notably the Australian Society of Authors. She edited the ASA journal The Australian Author from 1971 to 1974. She was chair of the Literature Board, Australia Council, 1974–1977. She was also active in the English Association and the Australian Jewish Historical Society. She became a council member of the Kuring-gai College of Advanced Education.
Her literary career covered several fields, including poetry, literary criticism, editing, children's novels and biography. One of her most well known works is Shalom, a collection of Australian Jewish stories. She wrote or edited 26 volumes. She wrote two memoirs: Garden Island People, about her work on Garden Island, and Riding the Elephant, mainly about her literary career.
She married Dr Mark Hertzberg, a chemical engineer with CSR, and they had two children. They lived next to Kylie Tennant and her family for 20 years in Hunters Hill.
Keesing was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 1979 Australian Day Honours for service to literature.[2]
The annual Nancy Keesing Fellowship was founded by her husband in her honour. It is for research on aspects of Australian life and culture using the resources and archives of the State Library of New South Wales.[3]
Poetry
| Year | Title | Imprint | ISBN/OCLC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Imminent Summer | Lyre Bird Writers | OCLC 427556527 |
| 1955 | Three Men and Sydney | Angus & Robertson | OCLC 1063169392 |
| 1968 | Showground Sketchbook and Other Poems | OCLC 902707261 | |
| 1977 | Hails and Farewells | Edwards & Shaw | ISBN 0855510048 |
| 1993 | The Woman I Am: Poems (co-authored with Meg Stewart) | State Library of NSW Press | ISBN 0730589242 |
Fiction
| Year | Title | Imprint | ISBN/OCLC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | By Gravel and Gum: A Story of a Pioneer Family | Macmillan | OCLC 220424979 |
| 1974 | The Golden Dream | Collins | ISBN 0001850059 |
| 1988 | Shalom, Australian Jewish Stories | Penguin Books | ISBN 9780140112269 |
Non-fiction
| Year | Title | Imprint | ISBN/OCLC |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | Elsie Carew: Australian Primitive Poet | Wentworth Press | OCLC 500187268 |
| 1967 | Gold Fever: The Australian Goldfields 1851 to the 1890s | Angus & Robertson | OCLC 458667 |
| 1969 | Douglas Stewart | Oxford University Press | OCLC 1014545877 |
| 1975 | Garden Island People | Wentworth Books | ISBN 0855870923 |
| 1977 | The White Chrysanthemum: Changing Images of Australian Motherhood | Angus & Robertson | ISBN 0207135177 |
| 1979 | John Lang & "The forger's wife": A True Tale of Early Australia | Ferguson | ISBN 0909134197 |
| 1980 | The Kelly Gang | Summit Books | ISBN 0727105159 |
| 1981 | History of the Australian Gold Rushes By Those Who Were There (editor) | Angus & Robertson | ISBN 0207133549 |
| 1985 | Lily on the Dustbin: Slang of Australian Women and Families | Penguin Books | ISBN 0140066349 |
| 1977 | Just Look Out the Window | ISBN 0140074953 | |
| 1988 | Riding the Elephant | Allen & Unwin | ISBN 0041500873 |
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