Ron Pretty

Ron Pretty is an Australian poet, publisher and teacher.

He has taught writing in the University of Wollongong and Melbourne University as well as in schools, colleges and a broad variety of community organisations. For a twenty year period he ran Five Islands Press publishing some 230 books of poetry and mentored many Australian poets. He edited the magazines Scarp:New Arts and Writing and Blue Dog:Australian Poetry for a number of years.

Ron Pretty was instrumental in establishing the Poetry Australia Foundation. He was awarded the NSW Premier's Award for Poetry and and was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to Australian literature.

Reviews
Reviews for Ron Pretty's most recent book What the Afternoon Knows include:
 * John Upton in Cordite Poetry Review 'He’s on top of his craft, shrewdly observant, witty, practical rather than flashy, never tired.'
 * Les Wicks in the Rochford Street Review 'there is a deep humanity in his observations and as you would expect, the deft hand of a master craftsman.'
 * Geoff Page in the Canberra Times 'it’s refreshing to read a collection where the poems are direct and emotionally engaged, while still possessing the linguistic and intellectual subtlety we rightly demand of poetry.'