David Denholm, Ph.D. (8 April 1924 – 19 June 1997) was an Australian

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

and historian who published fiction under the pseudonym David Forrest, and history under his own name.

Life and career

Denholm was born in

Maryborough, Queensland Maryborough ( ) is a city and a suburb in the Fraser Coast Region, Queensland, Australia. At the 2021 Census, Maryborough had a population of 15,287. Geography Maryborough is located on the Mary River in Queensland, Australia, approximate ...

, and was a scholarship boy at the Brisbane Church of England Grammar School. He fought in World War II with the

59th Battalion (Australia) The 59th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Initially raised for service during World War I, the battalion fought on the Western Front in France and Belgium between 1916 and 1918, before being disbanded in 1919. In 1921 ...

. Denholm was an adult learner who entered Queensland University in 1964, graduating in 1967. He went on to earn the PhD in history at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public research university located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton encompasses seven teaching and research colleges, in addition to several national academies and ...

in 1972. He taught at the University of New England, and then, after 1974, at the Riverina College of Advanced Education, which is now part of Charles Sturt University. Denholm continued to research on Australian and family history until he died, after a short illness, in

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's la ...

in 1997. https://library.csu.edu.au/archives/collection/regional/agencies/denholm>

Writing

Denholm is perhaps best known for his book on Australian history, ''The Colonial Australians''. John Hirst, writing in

The Monthly ''The Monthly'' is an Australian national magazine of politics, society and the arts, which is published eleven times per year on a monthly basis except the December/January issue. Founded in 2005, it is published by Melbourne property developer ...

in 2006, placed it on his brief list of the best Australian history books of all-time. Elsewhere, Hirst describes ''The Colonial Australians'' as an "underrated" work that "explores... the nature of colonial society by examining its physical remains," and Denholm as the historian who "best understands" the sense in which that the culture of a colony is as old as the culture of the mother country. He first came to national and international attention with his debut novel, ''The Last Blue Sea'' (1959, written under the pen-name "David Forrest"), about the conflict between Australia and Japan during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The novel, which emphasized the difficulty the Anzacs experienced in fighting in the heat and rain of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

, has been called "the classic short novel of the New Guinea campaign." He also wrote ''The Hollow Woodheap'' (1962), and a notable short story ''The Barambah Mob'' (1963), a humorous (and often anthologised)

cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

ing tale. His book-length essay, ''The Colonial Australians'' (1975) was a bestseller. ''The Last Blue Sea'' won the first Mary Gilmore Prize.

Bibliography

Novels

All as by ''David Forrest'' * ''The Last Blue Sea'' (1959) * ''The Hollow Woodheap'' (1962)

Criticism

* ''Patrick White'' (1962)

Published letters

* ''Corresponding voices : the letters of Bill Scott and David Denholm, 1963-1997''. edited by Zita Denholm. 2000

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Denholm, David 1924 births 1997 deaths 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian male writers Australian male novelists Australian male short story writers Australian textbook writers 20th-century Australian short story writers