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'At the end of the 1920s Christina Stead had left Australia and was poised to write Seven Poor Men of Sydney. In London Miles Franklin was producing her first Brent of Bin Bin book and would soon return to Australia. Katharine Susannah Prichard was enlarging her view of black and white in outback Australia, and the team writing under the name M. Barnard Eldershaw had published its first novel and won the Bulletin prize. Gathering these writers into a network by her support and criticism was the influential Nettie Palmer. In the mid-1930s these women and other writers such as Eleanor Dark, Jean Devanny, Dymphna Cusack and Betty Roland faced the impact of fascism and another war. The platform and the writing desk had different and often conflicting appeals; and the Depression underlined the already precarious existence of the woman writer. This immensely readable work by one of Australia's most respected writers of today is a fascinating insight into the lives of these significant literary figures, and into the creative process itself.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Works about this Work
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Developing a Connective Feminine Discourse : Drusilla Modjeska on Women’s Lives, Love and Art
2015
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Coolabah , no. 16 2015; (p. 101-111) 'This paper discusses the work of the Australian writer and historian Drusilla Modjeska through a focus on the intersections between women‟s lives, love and art, which constitute the central triptych of Modjeska‟s writing. It argues that Modjeska‟s oeuvre unfolds a connective feminine discourse through a development of what the paper calls hinging tropes, discursive connectors that join life, love and art, such as weaving, folding and talking. That connective feminine discourse is indeed central to Modjeska‟s personal and sometimes idiosyncratic feminism.' (Publication summary) -
A Spy in the House of Writers
2014
single work
diary
— Appears in: Overland [Online] , May 2014; -
Animal Handlers : Australian Women Writers on Sexuality and the Female Body
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Outskirts : Feminisms along the Edge , May vol. 26 no. 2012; 'The year 2011 saw the igniting of mass protest around the issue of sexual double standards for women with numerous marches worldwide called 'SlutWalks'. Thousands of women across a range of countries including America, Europe, Britain and Australia took to the streets to defend the right of women to dress and behave freely without stigmatisation and violence. The 'SlutWalks' started in reaction to a local policeman in Toronto telling a class of college students to avoid dressing like 'sluts' if they did not wish to be victimised (SlutWalk Toronto site). The public protest in response to this incident demonstrates resistance to historically embedded discourses that demean women's sexuality and blame women for abuse and rape they suffer. Terms such as 'slut' perpetuate a virgin/whore dichotomy fundamental to the oppression of female sexual self-expression. These marches are a recent example that follows on from a tradition of mass protests for women's sexual equality and right to safety such as 'Reclaim the Night'. Drawing on writing and conversations with poets Dorothy Porter and Gig Ryan, novelists Drusilla Modjeska, Kate Grenville, Carmel Bird and Melissa Lucashenko and playwright, Leah Purcell, this article offers insights into individual creative women's responses to this theme of women's sexuality. I argue that the work and ideas of these women are examples of the unique and powerful dialogue that can happen through a focus on creativity and female stories in Australia.' (Author's introduction)
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Sex and the City : New Novels by Women and Middlebrow Culture at Mid-Century
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Australian Literary Studies , October-November vol. 27 no. 3/4 2012; (p. 1-12) 'Central to developments in Australian literature during the period from the end of Second World War until the mid-1960s - what might be called the 'long 1950s' - was the emergence of the kind of modernist novel written by Patrick White as the benchmark of modern fiction. This was the outcome of a struggle among opinion-makers in the literary field, which during this period came to be dominated for the first time by academic critics. They, by and large, favoured the new forms of postwar modernism and rejected that literary nationalism which had drawn the loyalty of most influential writers during the 1930s and 940s.' (Author's introduction) -
A Gout of Bile : Metic and Immigrant Expatriates
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Lusting for London : Australian Expatriate Writers at the Hub of Empire, 1870-1950 2011; (p. 37-55) 'In the unpublished novel by the young Philip Lindsay, The Mangle...there is a fine scene when the character Ronnie Doebrook is leaving for England. He does not expect ever to return. As his liner pulls away from the Sydney dockside, Ronnie picks up one of the yellow paper streamers dangling over the rail, raises it to his lips, and pretends to send a gout of bile spurting over his receding friends and relatives. It is his parting comment on his birthplace. He is realizing his wish. Already he has become - what? An emigrant? An exile? Or an expatirate?' (Author's introduction 36)
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Women, Writing and War : Looking Back at the 1930's
1982
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin , Autumn vol. 41 no. 1 1982; (p. 89-96)
— Review of Exiles at Home : Australian Women Writers 1925-1945 1981 single work criticism biography -
Exiles Abroad
1983
single work
review
— Appears in: Meanjin , Winter vol. 42 no. 2 1983; (p. 276-279)
— Review of Exiles at Home : Australian Women Writers 1925-1945 1981 single work criticism biography -
Ways Women See Our Century
1991
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 26 October 1991; (p. C9)
— Review of Heroines : A Contemporary Anthology of Australian Women Writers 1991 anthology criticism drama extract short story prose poetry ; Exiles at Home : Australian Women Writers 1925-1945 1981 single work criticism biography -
Saying Too Much about Too Little
1982
single work
review
— Appears in: The Bulletin , 26 January vol. 101 no. 5298 1982; (p. 90)
— Review of Miles Franklin in America : Her Unknown (Brilliant) Career 1981 single work criticism ; Exiles at Home : Australian Women Writers 1925-1945 1981 single work criticism biography -
A Woman Writer Has No Protection ...
1982
single work
review
— Appears in: The Sydney Morning Herald , 9 January 1982; (p. 42)
— Review of Exiles at Home : Australian Women Writers 1925-1945 1981 single work criticism biography -
Tribe Shows the Way
2007
single work
column
— Appears in: The West Australian , 2 June 2007; (p. 3) Discusses Drusilla Modjeska's career as a writer and her 2004 visit to New Guinea to study the traditional art of the Omie tribespeople. -
Australian Studies - The Germinal Texts : 1978-1982
2004
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Thinking Australian Studies : Teaching Across Cultures 2004; (p. 42-59) In this article, Ryan selects and analyses six germinal texts published between 1978 and 1982 that became, in her view, 'the backbone of the first Australian studies courses at Griffith University.' She argues that these texts 'shaped the path taken by Australian studies for the next twenty years' (43). -
Animal Handlers : Australian Women Writers on Sexuality and the Female Body
2012
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Outskirts : Feminisms along the Edge , May vol. 26 no. 2012; 'The year 2011 saw the igniting of mass protest around the issue of sexual double standards for women with numerous marches worldwide called 'SlutWalks'. Thousands of women across a range of countries including America, Europe, Britain and Australia took to the streets to defend the right of women to dress and behave freely without stigmatisation and violence. The 'SlutWalks' started in reaction to a local policeman in Toronto telling a class of college students to avoid dressing like 'sluts' if they did not wish to be victimised (SlutWalk Toronto site). The public protest in response to this incident demonstrates resistance to historically embedded discourses that demean women's sexuality and blame women for abuse and rape they suffer. Terms such as 'slut' perpetuate a virgin/whore dichotomy fundamental to the oppression of female sexual self-expression. These marches are a recent example that follows on from a tradition of mass protests for women's sexual equality and right to safety such as 'Reclaim the Night'. Drawing on writing and conversations with poets Dorothy Porter and Gig Ryan, novelists Drusilla Modjeska, Kate Grenville, Carmel Bird and Melissa Lucashenko and playwright, Leah Purcell, this article offers insights into individual creative women's responses to this theme of women's sexuality. I argue that the work and ideas of these women are examples of the unique and powerful dialogue that can happen through a focus on creativity and female stories in Australia.' (Author's introduction)
-
A Gout of Bile : Metic and Immigrant Expatriates
2011
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Lusting for London : Australian Expatriate Writers at the Hub of Empire, 1870-1950 2011; (p. 37-55) 'In the unpublished novel by the young Philip Lindsay, The Mangle...there is a fine scene when the character Ronnie Doebrook is leaving for England. He does not expect ever to return. As his liner pulls away from the Sydney dockside, Ronnie picks up one of the yellow paper streamers dangling over the rail, raises it to his lips, and pretends to send a gout of bile spurting over his receding friends and relatives. It is his parting comment on his birthplace. He is realizing his wish. Already he has become - what? An emigrant? An exile? Or an expatirate?' (Author's introduction 36) -
Shadows and Silences: Australian Women Poets in the Twenties and Thirties
1989
single work
criticism
— Appears in: Poetry and Gender : Statements and Essays in Australian Women's Poetry and Poetics 1989; (p. 83-92)