Australian poet also wrote verse mysteries

Dorothy Porter, 54, an acclaimed Australian poet best known for crime novels set in verse, died Wednesday from complications of breast cancer in Melbourne, where she had lived since 1993, said agent and friend Jenny Darling.

Porter wrote six collections of poetry and two young adult novels in addition to her five verse novels. One of the verse novels, “The Monkey’s Mask” from 1994, was made into a film in 2001 about a lesbian private detective who falls in love with a murder suspect, played by Kelly McGillis.

Porter was born March 26, 1954, in Sydney, Australia. Her father was a criminal lawyer and her mother a chemistry teacher.

She received a bachelor’s degree in English and history from the University of Sydney and a diploma from Sydney Teacher’s College.

She taught poetry and writing while working on her own compositions, which were often erotic.