It is with sadness we advise that our friend and colleague Thomas Thorpe has passed away, shortly after his wife Jennifer. To the family we extend our deepest sympathies.
Our poet colleague, Romanian Australian Loredana Tudor-Tomescu, knew Thomas through the literary group Poetry at Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts. This led to Thomas becoming a contributor to Mihaela Cristescu’s Romanian/Australian Anthologies along with several other SMSA members.
Distance prevented Thomas from readily attending NEW Writers’ Group Inc’s meetings, however on one memorable occasion (before the pandemic halted onsite celebrations) he came via three sets of transport to a NWG Inc Anthology dinner in Parramatta – to our delight.
Thomas had a wonderful reading voice, and we wish we had heard more. He was ever keen to promote and support other writers, bringing to poetry conviction, warmth and understanding.
Here is the brief description of himself that Thomas wrote for one of the Romanian/Australian anthologies – Between Dusk and Dawn.
‘Born and grew up in England. A geographer by training. Officer in Royal Air Force. A ‘ten quid Pom’, arrived in Australia by ship in 1962. One of the foundation staff of Australian Catholic University. A lover of poetry since school days, who occasionally puts pen to paper.’
A poem by Thomas Thorpe will be included in Street Musicians, the 7th edition of Mihaela Cristescu’s Romanian/Australian bi-lingual anthologies, by permission of his family.
Video link of Thomas Thorpe reading at Romanian Rhythm in Sydney, State Library of NSW, 2016
