Inconvenient Women is a non-fiction book about Australian women writers in the 20th century. It covers the years 1900-1970 and sets out in accessible prose the lives of these writers in the context of the historical and political events which influenced their lives and their writing.
The book’s cover features Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, better known by her pen name, Miles Franklin, her novel My Brilliant Career published in 1901, and the literary prize she established. The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual prize for a novel of the highest literary merit that presents Australian life. Like many other women writers in Inconvenient Women, Miles Franklin was active in literary associations in Australia and went out of her way to encourage other writers.
From poets Mary Gilmore at the turn of the century to Kath Walker (who changed her name to Oodgeroo Noonuccal to honour her Indigenous heritage) in the 1960’s, Jacqueline Kent reviews the lives and works of many women writers whose names and books were familiar. They include Thea Astley (A Descant for Gossips), Marjorie Barnard and Flora Eldershaw (A House is Built), Dymphna Cusack with Florence James (Come in Spinner), Eleanor Dark (The Timeless Land), Dorothy Hewett (Bobbin Up), Ruth Park (The Harp in the South), Christina Stead (Poor Men of Sydney), Kylie Tennant (The Battlers), Pamela Lyndon Travers (Mary Poppins), and Ethel Turner (Seven Little Australians). Other writers whose names were unfamiliar but who played a big part in Australia’s literary world and in this book included Jean Devanny and Nettie Palmer.
A surprising omission was Charmain Clift perhaps because she spent part of her writing career in England and Greece. She did, however, publish three books including her memoirs, Mermaid Singing and Peel Me a Lotus, in the 1960s after her return to Sydney. Charmain Clift shared with many other writers and intellectuals of her time an interest in communism. Many writers included in this book were members of the Communist Party and several travelled to Russia to learn more. Depending on their era, Australian women writers were active politically in promoting women’s suffrage, opposing fascism in the Spanish Civil War, fighting against conscription in World Wars I and II, and in anti-war movements. They also challenged Australian censorship by writing about such inconvenient topics as workers’ rights, love outside marriage, abortion and poverty.
If you are interested in the lives of Australian women writers and 20th century Australian history in general, I think you will find Inconvenient Women of great interest. It is a book filled with information, best read a few chapters at a time to absorb the stories of these remarkable women.
Thank you for the recommendation Jenny