Tasmanian poet Tim Thorne, dead at 77, remembered as a ‘master’ with an ‘immeasurable’ legacy

Tim Thorne, regarded as one of Australia’s finest poets, has died aged 77. His friends have remembered him as an ‘incisive’ writer who made a ‘profound impact’ on the Tasmanian arts community.

One of Tasmania’s most revered poets, Tim Thorne, has been remembered as a master of his craft who leaves behind an “almost immeasurable legacy”.

The Launceston-based Mr Thorne died on Thursday after battling an illness. He was 77.

A key figure in the Australian poetry scene, Mr Thorne – who was a former columnist for the Mercury – founded the Tasmanian Poetry Festival in 1985.

Sixteen years later, he handed the reins to fellow poet Cameron Hindrum. Mr Hindrum described Mr Thorne as a mentor and someone who was “always a huge champion of Tasmanian writing”.

“He was a master of form,” Mr Hindrum said. “So he was a big one for metered rhymes – so lines of a certain length with a certain metre.”

“And he was very, very powerful at being able to co-ordinate that into really quite long and involved poetic work. He was also very incisive. He absolutely had his finger on the political pulse.”

Launceston Author Portrait Tim Thorne

“His work very much held a kind of mirror up to society, if that’s not a cliche. It sort of showed people their good parts and bad parts in equal measure. He didn’t pull any punches. He wasn’t afraid to land a bit of a heavy blow when he felt there was one needed.”

Mr Thorne was also a leading member of TAP Into a Better Tasmania, a group formed in opposition to the Tamar Valley Pulp Mill.

Mr Hindrum said Mr Thorne was among Australia’s finest poets.

“There’s no doubt that he leaves an enormous, almost immeasurable legacy and an impossible hole to fill, quite frankly,” he said.

Bass Labor MHA Michelle O’Byrne paid tribute to Mr Thorne in state parliament on Thursday evening, saying the arts community would be mourning his death.

“I’ve known Tim for a very long time,” she said. “He’s omnipresent in my life, he’s always been around.”

“He has had a profound impact on the Tasmanian arts community and a profound impact on those who met him.”