AustLit logo

AustLit

Barbara Blackman Barbara Blackman i(A21429 works by) (birth name: Barbara Patterson) (a.k.a. Barbara Ena Blackman)
Also writes as: Barbara Blackman Veldhoven ; Barbara Patterson
Born: Established: 1928 ;
Gender: Female
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

Works By

Preview all
1 y separately published work icon [Interview with Pixie O'Harris, author and illustrator] Barbara Blackman (interviewer), Z1314213 single work interview Pixie O'Harris discusses emigration to Australia; her father; art classes; her home; May Gibbs; illustrating children's book including The Wind in the Willows and mural she painted for children's hospitals. (Libraries Australia record).
1 4 y separately published work icon All My Januaries All My Januaries : Pleasures of Life and Other Essays Barbara Blackman , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 2016 9069430 2016 selected work autobiography essay

''This island, this solitude, this rainy day, this stack of blank paper, I shall transform you, by these sorceries I have learned, into the stuff of friendship.’

'Barbara Blackman has been a muse and an iconic Australian arts identity throughout her long life. This collection of essays, All My Januaries, is both insightful and memorable. Ranging from her Brisbane childhood to her marriage to renowned artist Charles Blackman, her time in London and Paris, and her life beyond, these essays capture her love of language and her acerbic wit.

'Blind since her twenties, Barbara Blackman has been an artist’s model, broadcaster, poet, librettist and essayist. All My Januaries celebrates this remarkable journey as she reflects on food, travel, friendships, family and the many unexpected pleasures of life.' (Publication summary)

1 1 form y separately published work icon Seeing from Within : The Life of Barbara Blackman John Swindells , Barbara Blackman , ( dir. John Swindells ) Australia : More Than Illusion Films , 2015 11558832 2015 single work film/TV biography

'Writer, muse, and philanthropist, Barbara Blackman reflects back on a fascinating life of highs and lows, determined to find meaning, authentic spirituality and wholeness, uncompromised by blindness.' (Production summary)

1 1 y separately published work icon Dogs and Doggerel Barbara Blackman , Ultimo : Halstead Press , 2011 Z1834478 2011 selected work poetry
1 A Rose in London in 1963 i "The room at the top of the stairs", Barbara Blackman , 2010 single work poetry
— Appears in: There's Something About a Rose 2010; (p. 3)
1 So Much for the Sunday Roast Barbara Blackman , 2010 single work autobiography
— Appears in: The Age , 11 December 2010; (p. 19)
1 14 y separately published work icon Portrait of a Friendship : The Letters of Barbara Blackman and Judith Wright 1950-2000 Barbara Blackman , Judith Wright , Bryony Cosgrove (editor), Carlton : Melbourne University Press , 2007 Z1364947 2007 selected work correspondence
1 Sonnet i "Shall I compare thee to an aching tooth?", Barbara Blackman , 2006 single work poetry
— Appears in: Divan , no. 6 2006;
1 She Was Eighteen i "She was eighteen when she fell off the cliff", Barbara Blackman , 2005 single work poetry
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 29 January 2005; (p. 15)
1 Symptoms of Place Barbara Blackman , 2003 single work essay
— Appears in: A Place on Earth : An Anthology of Nature Writing from Australia and North America 2003; (p. 49-54)
1 Untitled i "Fire that feeds", Barbara Blackman , 2003 single work poetry
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 31 May 2003; (p. 6a)
1 Portrait of a Friendship Barbara Blackman , 2001 single work biography
— Appears in: Southerly , vol. 61 no. 1 2001; (p. 89-99)
1 4 y separately published work icon The Little Lives of Certain Chairs a Table or Two and Other Inanimates of Our Acquaintance Barbara Blackman , St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 1998 Z40502 1998 selected work prose biography

 Certain Chairs describes Barbara Blackman's life with painter Charles Blackman. The title refers to the tables and chairs and other household items the couple took with them on their travels.

1 The Displaced Chintz Sofa Barbara Blackman , 1998 single work prose biography
— Appears in: Splash 1998; (p. 261-265)
1 In 1944: How to be Happy Barbara Blackman , 1997 single work biography
— Appears in: Imago : New Writing , Autumn vol. 9 no. 1 1997; (p. 100-110)
1 15 y separately published work icon Glass After Glass : Autobiographical Reflections Barbara Blackman , Ringwood : Penguin , 1997 Z141378 1997 single work autobiography

The uncompromising and perceptive autobiography of Barbara Blackman, poet, blind woman, wife and mother. The wife of Charles Blackman and friend of Joy Hester recounts her life amid a generation of artists and free spirits revealing herself to be a woman of wisdom, humour and strength.

(Source: Trove)

1 The Fish Bowl Barbara Blackman , 1995 single work biography
— Appears in: Voices , Autumn vol. 5 no. 1 1995; (p. 17-28)
1 Brisbane in the Forties: My 'Barjai' Days Barbara Blackman , 1995 single work biography
— Appears in: Meanjin , vol. 54 no. 3 1995; (p. 531-541)
1 1 15 Edmondstone Street : A Childhood Memoir: with Salute to David Malouf Barbara Blackman , 1995 single work biography
— Appears in: Imago : New Writing , Summer vol. 7 no. 3 1995; (p. 23-35)
1 On First Looking into Blackmans' Home Life Barbara Blackman , 1995 single work biography
— Appears in: Overland , Summer no. 141 1995; (p. 12-18)
X