- Entry type: Person
- Entry ID: AWE6197
Pizer, Marjorie
- Married name Holburn, Marjorie Pize
- Born 3 April, 1920, Melbourne Victoria Australia
- Died 4 January, 2016, Canberra Australian Capital Territory Australia
- Occupation Poet, Psychotherapist, Publisher
Summary
Poet and publisher Marjorie Pizer founded the Pinchgut Press with her husband in 1947.
Marjorie was also a psychotherapist for more than 50 years.
Details
Marjorie Pizer attended Merton Hall, a Church of England girls’ grammar school in South Yarra, Victoria. She began writing poetry as a teenager, following her father’s death.
Despite her mother’s protests, Marjorie attended Melbourne University and there she worked on the student newspaper Farrago and was appointed co-editor to work on MUM, the literary annual. Marjorie also became an activist, joining the Labor Club and the Communist Party. After leaving university, she joined the Department of War Organisation (where she met her husband Muir Holburn) for a time, before moving on to practice psychology.
In 1945 Marjorie and her husband moved to Sydney to work on their books and together they joined the Fellowship of Australian Writers. Sadly, Muir passed away at the age of 40, leaving Marjorie to care for two young children.
Marjorie was prompted to once again write poetry after the death of her husband. Throughout her life, she edited, published and wrote 20 books of and about poetry and writing.
In addition, Marjorie volunteered for many years at Tranby College, Glebe, and the Leichhardt Women’s Community Health Centre as a psychotherapist.
Archival resources
- National Library of Australia, Manuscript Collection
- National Library of Australia, Oral History and Folklore Collection