Documents for "Australian and New Zealand Literature: Biographies":

• Ashton-Warner, Sylvia 1905-84, New Zealand British novelist and educator, b. Stratford, New Zealand. For years a teacher of Maori children, Ashton-Warner developed many stimulating educational methods about which she...

• Browne, Thomas Alexander pseud. Rolf Boldrewood , 1826-1915, Australian author. A squatter, a magistrate, and a commissioner in the gold fields, he wrote many books of life in Australia, such as Robbery under Arms (1888)...

• Carey, Peter 1943-, Australian novelist, b. near Melbourne. Carey's combination of science fiction and fantasy motifs with a realistic style, displayed in such short-story volumes as The Fat Man in History (1974), War Crimes (1979), and Collected Stories (1995), has invited comparison with such modern masters as Borges and Grass. In longer works of fiction, such as Bliss (1981, his first novel), Illywhacker (1985), and other books, Carey confronts the realities and myths of Australian history and society. Two later novels of Australia, the Victorian-style Oscar and Lucinda (1988) and The True History of the Kelly Gang (2001), a legandary outlaw's supposed memoir, won Booker Prizes. Carey's other novels include The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith (1994); Jack Maggs (1997); My Life as a Fake (2003), a complex and ironic treatment of literary life; and Theft: A Love Story (2006), which takes a similar approach to painting and the art market. Carey, who moved to New York in 1991 and has taught writing at New York Univ. and Barnard College, has also written...

• Frame, Janet (Janet Paterson Frame Clutha) , 1924-2004, New Zealand novelist, b. Dunedin. Frame's complex, disturbing novels are marked by startling images and masterful language. Often drawn from her own experience of institutionalization...

• Gordon, Adam Lindsay 1833-70, Australian poet, b. the Azores. In 1853 he went to South Australia, where he joined the mounted police and later became famous as a steeplechase rider and horse owner. His works include Sea...

• Hazzard, Shirley 1931-, Australian novelist and short-story writer, b. Sydney. Educated in Australia, she has lived in the United States since 1951, working at the United Nations in New York from 1952-62. Both she...

• Jolley, Elizabeth (Monica Elizabeth Jolley), 1923-, Australian novelist, b. Birmingham, England. A nurse during World War II, she emigrated to Western Australia in 1959. Although she has written since childhood, her...

• Keneally, Thomas 1935-, Australian novelist, b. Sydney. For a time a student of religion, and later of law, Keneally has ranged over a wide spectrum in his many novels, including the American Civil War, Nazi...

• Mansfield, Katherine 1888-1923, British author, b. New Zealand, regarded as one of the masters of the short story. Her original name was Kathleen Beauchamp. A talented cellist, she did not turn to literature until...

• Marsh, Dame Ngaio 1899-1982, New Zealand detective story writer. She was an art student, actress, and theatrical producer before her first novel, A Man Lay Dead, was published in 1934. Her many mystery novels, acute...

• Richardson, Henry Handel pseud. of Ethel Richardson Robertson, 1870-1946, Australian novelist, b. Melbourne. Her years of study at the Presbyterian Ladies' College, Melbourne, were reflected in her book The Getting of Wisdom (1910). After studying piano at Leipzig she turned to writing, living mainly in Germany until 1903 and then in England. Her first novel, Maurice Guest (1908), is the story of a music student's disastrous infatuation. The trilogy The Fortunes of Richard Mahony (1930), which presents an accurate and outstanding picture of Australian life, is considered her major work. Her writing, clear and austere in style, has been characterized as combining romantic...

• Robertson, Ethel Richardson see Richardson, Henry Handel.

• Stead, Christina 1902-83, Australian novelist, b. Rockdale, New South Wales. She worked in the United States in the 1940s, emigrated to England in 1953, then returned to Australia in 1974. Her novels, written in...

• West, Morris (Morris Langlo West), 1916-99, Australian novelist, b. Melbourne. West's novels often reveal an interest in both Roman Catholicism and international politics, as reflected in his best-selling The Shoes...

• White, Patrick 1912-90, Australian novelist, b. London. Raised in England, he returned to Australia after World War II, earning his living by farming and writing. His novels—often set in the Australian...

• Wright, Judith (Judith Arundell Wright), 1915-2000, Australian poet. After graduating from the Univ. of Sydney, she worked variously as a clerk, secretary, and statistician. She is regarded as one of the most...