Laurence Collinson migrated to Australia in 1930 with his family. He was educated at primary and secondary schools in Melbourne, Sydney, Dalby and Brisbane. After completing a secondary teaching diploma at Merrer House, Melbourne, and teaching mathematics and English at Melbourne secondary schools between 1955 and 1961, he worked as the editor of a teachers' journal, The Educational Magazine, until 1964.
In 1964 he returned to London to pursue a career in freelance writing, regarding himself as much a playwright as a poet. He was also a painter of note. Collinson wrote plays for radio, television and stage. His stories and poems have been included in many journals and anthologies, and his plays for stage, television and radio have been produced both in Australia and England.
He was a member of the editoral board for the Australian magazine Overland (q.v.) for many years, and in the 1940s he founded Barjai, a literary magazine for youth, which he co-edited with Barrett Reid (q.v.). Collinson returned to England in 1964. In his later life Collinson became interested in transactional analysis therapy (TA) and worked as a counsellor. He died in London on 10 November 1986. His year of death is incorrectly given as 1987 or 1989 in some sources.
