Eric Rolls

Eric Charles Rolls AM (1923–2007) was an Australian writer. On his return from the war, he took up land in 1946 in the north-west of New South Wales (east of the Pilliga and later at "Cumberdeen", Baradine) and farmed and wrote, whom he met when she came to work for him in 1985 as his research assistant, "Miss Strawberry's Purse" was his most popular verse.

Publications (incomplete) Poetry 1967 – Sheaf tosser and other poems 1977 – The green mosaic : memories of New Guinea Books 1981 – A million wild acres : 200 years of man and an Australian forest 1984 – The river : a chronicle of life on the land / illustrated by Marianne Yamaguchi. 1984 – They all ran wild : the story of pests on the land in Australia (13 editions) 1984/1998 – Celebration of the senses 1992/1993 – Sojourners : the epic story of China's centuries-old relationship with Australia : flowers and the wide sea 1996 – Citizens : flowers and the wide sea : continuing the epic story of China's centuries-old relationship with Australia 2002 – Visions of Australia : impressions of the landscape 1642–1910 2011 – A million wild acres : 200 years of man and an Australian forest/ foreword by Les Murray

Eric Rolls Memorial Lecture Funded by his widow, Elaine van Kempen, the Eric Rolls Memorial Lecture was inaugurated in 2010 as a biannual lecture.

2010: "Fire in 1788: The closest ally" by Bill Gammage

2012: "A Meander Down a River or Two: How Water Defines Our Continent and Its Future" by Richard Kingsford

2014: "The Landscape Behind the Landscape" by Nicholas Rothwell

2016: "Gifts from China" by Nicholas Jose

2018: "Mother Earth" by Bruce Pascoe

Honours Member of the Order of Australia (AM), 1992 Centenary Medal, 2001