Elizabeth Harrower (8 February 1928 – 7 July 2020) was an Australian novelist and short story writer. She has been considered "one of the great novelists of Sydney". Much of her work tackles the theme of domestic abuse, particularly the

psychological abuse Psychological abuse, often called emotional abuse, is a form of abuse characterized by a person subjecting or exposing another person to a behavior that may result in psychological trauma, including anxiety, chronic depression, or post-traumatic ...

of vulnerable women at the hands of their manipulative, deceitful and tyrannical male partners.

Early life

She was born in Sydney but spent her childhood in industrial

Newcastle, New South Wales Newcastle ( ; Awabakal: ) is a metropolitan area and the second most populated city in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It includes the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie local government areas, and is the hub of the Greater Newcastle area, w ...

, living with her grandmother after the divorce of her parents. One of her uncles died in the Sandakan death marches. She lived in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

from 1951 to 1959. On her return to Sydney she worked as a reviewer for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'', for the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

, and in publishing.Adelaide, Debra (1988) ''Australian women writers: a bibliographic guide'', London, Pandora, p. 87

Career

Harrower published her first three novels in quick succession, beginning with ''Down in the City'' in 1957. Novelist

Christina Stead Christina Stead (17 July 190231 March 1983) was an Australian novelist and short-story writer acclaimed for her satirical wit and penetrating psychological characterisations. Christina Stead was a committed Marxist, although she was never a mem ...

was a champion of her work, praising ''The Long Prospect'' in particular. In 1971 her fifth novel ''In Certain Circles'' was set to be published until she abruptly withdrew it from publication following the death of her mother. In an interview with ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'', Harrower claimed that she had written the book under pressure after receiving a grant and called the act of writing it "forced labour". Afterwards she published a few short stories before giving her writing up entirely by 1977. In 2012, following a period of obscurity during which all of her novels fell out of print, Harrower experienced a small revival when Michael Heyward and Penny Hueston, editors of the independent press '' Text Publishing'', began to reprint her works. They attempted to persuade Harrower to publish ''

In Certain Circles In Certain Circles is an Australian novel by Elizabeth Harrower. Though the novel was written sometime in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was not published until 2014 when it became her first novel published in 48 years. It helped to spur a r ...

'' and she eventually acquiesced, allowing the novel to be published in 2014. The novel received positive reviews and renewed interest in all of Harrower's novels. In 2015, a collection of stories from throughout Harrower's career was published as ''A Few Days in the Country: And Other Stories''.

Death

Harrower died on 7 July 2020, aged 92.

Awards and nominations

*1968: Commonwealth Literary Fund fellowship *1974: Australian Council for the Arts fellowship *1996: Patrick White Award *2015: Voss Literary Prize for ''In Certain Circles'' *2015 ''In Certain Circles'' short-listed for the

New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, also known as the NSW Premier's Literary Awards, were first awarded in 1979. They are among the richest literary awards in Australia. Notable prizes include the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction, th ...

*2016:

Queensland Literary Awards The Queensland Literary Awards is an awards program established in 2012 by the Queensland literary community, funded by sponsors and administered by the State Library of Queensland. Like the former Queensland Premier's Literary Awards, the QLAs ...

- University of Southern Queensland Australian Short Story Collection - Steele Rudd Award — co-winner for ''A Few Days in the Country and other stories''

Bibliography

Novels

* ''

Down in the City ''Down in the City'' is the 1957 debut novel by Australian writer Elizabeth Harrower (writer), Elizabeth Harrower. It is set in post-war Sydney and centers around the troubled marriage of a sheltered, privileged young woman to a destructive, egoti ...

'' (1957) * ''The Long Prospect'' (1958) * ''The Catherine Wheel'' (1960) * ''

The Watch Tower ''The Watch Tower'' (1966) is a novel by Australian author Elizabeth Harrower. Plot outline Laura and Clare Vaizey are sisters living in Sydney in the period around World War II. When their father dies and their class-conscious mother decides ...

'' (1966) * ''

'' (2014)

Short fiction

;Collections * ''A Few Days in the Country: And Other Stories'' (2015) ;StoriesShort stories unless otherwise noted.

References

External links

Elizabeth Harrower profile
textpublishing.com.au; accessed 23 July 2020.

''

'', 3 May 2014. {{DEFAULTSORT:Harrower, Elizabeth 1928 births 2020 deaths Patrick White Award winners Writers from Sydney Australian women novelists The New Yorker people Place of death missing