Background
She was born in Melbourne and educated in Queensland and Sydney.
She was born in Melbourne and educated in Queensland and Sydney.
She graduated in medicine from the University of Sydney in 1951.
Her press and magazine provided launching pads for many noted Australian poets such as Bruce Beaver, Les Murray, John Tranter and John Millett. She split her time between pediatrics and literary affairs as poet, editor, publisher. She organised poetry workshops and writing schools in Sydney.
At Berrima, where she lived in her last years, she ran a 2000-acre property and maintained an interest in stud breeding.
Perry controlled her magazine, Poetry Australia, and was committed to publishing diverse styles and subjects. Perry aimed for international significance while maintaining a strong Australian presence.
The work of many international writers, including translations, appeared in Poetry Australia. Unusually, most issues did not identify the contributors" nationalities.
International contributors included Ezra Pound, Ted Hughes, Seamus Heaney, Louis Simpson, Robert Peters and Margaret Atwood.
Translations included early Russian poets (by Rosemary Dobson and David Campbell), Laurence Springarn"s translations from Portuguese and Mark Scrivener"s translations of German classics. Poetry Australia published special issues of New Zealand, Canadian, Italian, Japanese, Dutch and Flemish, American, Gaelic, French, Austrian, Swedish and Papua New Guinean poetry.
She was a member of the American Statistical Association.