Andrew Peter Riemer (29 February 1936 – 5 June 2020) was an Australian literary critic and author, for three decades the book reviewer of the Sydney Morning Herald.
Born in Budapest, Hungary, he moved to Sydney with his family in 1947 at the age of eleven. From 1963 he lectured in English at the University of Sydney for nearly three decades. Although he was a "fine teacher", he experienced a "sense of estrangement from academic life" due to the changes occurring on Sydney's campus and in his English department in those years.Alan Barcan, Student activists at Sydney University 1960-1967: a problem of interpretation, History of Education Review, thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 17 October 2024.Jane Grant, Samuel Louis (Sam) Goldberg (1926–1991), Australian Dictionary of Biography, adb.anu.edu.au. Retrieved 17 October 2024.Gerald Wilkes FAHA, 1927-2020, humanities.org. Retrieved 17 October 2024. He won widespread recognition for his non-fiction and literary criticism, including the Pascall Prize for critical writing in 1999.
Riemer died in 2020 at the age of 84 and was survived by his wife, Nina, a publicist and editor with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation,Nina Riemer, nla.gov.au. Retrieved 22 May 2025.Books by Nina Riemer, isbns.fm. Retrieved 22 May 2025. and his two sons, Nick, a poet and academic in English and linguistics at the University of Sydney,Dr Nick Riemer, sydney.edu.au. Retrieved 22 May 2025. and Tom, a boarding master, rugby coach and chaplain at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview."President's Report", Old Ignatians' News and Views, 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2025.
Books by Andrew Riemer Inside Outside: Life Between Two Worlds, North Ryde: Angus and Robertson, 1992 - autobiography The Habsburg Cafe, Pymble: Angus and Robertson, 1993 - autobiography and travel The Demidenko Debate, St Leonards: Allen and Unwin, 1996 - criticism Sandstone Gothic: Confessions of an Accidental Academic, St Leonards: Allen & Unwin, 1998 - autobiographyStephen Knight, "Andrew Riemer’s Sandstone Gothic: Confessions of an Accidental Academic" (review), australianhumanitiesreview.org. Retrieved 13 October 2024.John Wiltshire, "Fault Lines" (review), Eureka Street, Vol. 8, no. 10, December 1998, pages 8-41. Retrieved 13 October 2024. A Family History of Smoking, Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 2008 - autobiography
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