Renaissance Man

Abstract

Professor Joost Daalder taught in the English Department at Flinders University from 1976 until his retirement in 2001, mostly in the area of English Renaissance literature. Prior to that, he taught at the University of Otago (New Zealand) from 1966 to 1976. He has an impressive list of publications, including several scholarly editions of Renaissance literary texts and many journal articles, book chapters, and reviews. See http://www.flinders.edu.au/ehl/englishandcreativewriting/staff/joost-daalder-pub.cfm for acomplete list.Joost was born in the Netherlands in 1939, and studied at Amsterdam University and Edinburgh University before moving to New Zealand with his wife Truus in 1966. Joost and Truus have an interest in collecting fine arts, and in 2017 donated the Daalder Contemporary Jewellery Collection to the Art Gallery of South Australia. They also often lend art objects to other institutions for exhibitions. Truus is known for her books on the visual arts, notably her Ethnic Jewellery and Adornment (2009).I first knew Joost as a lecturer when I was studying Honours in English in the mid-1990s – he was an inspiring teacher of Shakespeare’s plays and poems. Since then we have become friends and colleagues and it seems fitting to mark his 80th birthday with an in-depth conversation about his professional career. The interview was conducted via email in September and October 2019.