Elizabeth Riddell (21 March 1910 – 3 July 1998) was an Australian poet and journalist.

Life

Born in Napier, New Zealand, Elizabeth Richmond Riddell came to Australia in 1928 where she worked at ''

Smith's Weekly ''Smith's Weekly'' was an Australian tabloid newspaper published from 1919 to 1950. It was an independent weekly published in Sydney, but read all over Australia. History The publication took its name from its founder and chief financer Sir J ...

'' and won a

Walkley Award The annual Walkley Awards are presented in Australia to recognise and reward excellence in journalism. They cover all media including print, television, documentary, radio, photographic and online media. The Gold Walkley is the highest prize and ...

. She married Edward Neville 'Blue' Greatorex (1901–1964) in Sydney in 1935. The couple did not have children. In 1935 she moved to England and 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 opposing ...

worked for Ezra Norton at ''

The Daily Mirror ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

'', chiefly in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

. Her first short book of poems, ''The Untrammelled'', was published in 1940. After the war she returned to Australia to continue working as a journalist, and in the 1960s became art critic and feature writer for ''

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 ...

''. She was the first Walkley Award winner for The Australian, winning in 1968 and 1969 for 'Best Newspaper Feature Story'. In 1986 she was awarded Critic of the Year by the '' Australian Book Review''. Riddell's poetry won the Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry in 1992 and the

Patrick White Award The Patrick White Award is an annual literary prize established by Patrick White. White used his 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature award to establish a trust for this prize. The $25,000 cash award is given to a writer who has been highly creative o ...

in 1995. Widowed in 1964, Riddell died in 1998.

Bibliography

* ''The Untrammelled''. Sydney: Viking, 1940. * ''Poems''. Sydney: Ure Smith, 1948. * ''Song for a Crowning''. W. H. Paling, 1953. Songs with music by G. S. English. * ''Forbears''. Sydney: Angus & Robertson, 1961. * ''Country Tune''. J. Albert, 1973. Songs with music by G. S. English. * ''From the midnight courtyard''. Angus & Robertson, 1989. * ''Selected Poems''. Angus & Robertson, 1992. * ''The Difficult Island''. Molonglo, 1994.

References

External links

His Day
poem
The Letter
poem
Elizabeth Riddell
Video interview & transcript {{DEFAULTSORT:Riddell, Elizabeth 1910 births 1998 deaths Australian art critics New Zealand emigrants to Australia People from Napier, New Zealand Patrick White Award winners ALS Gold Medal winners Australian women art critics Australian women journalists Australian women poets 20th-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian poets 20th-century Australian journalists