Finola Moorhead (born 1947) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, and reviewer. Her topics include women and writing, switching between reality and fiction, with themes of subversion and survival. Moorhead participates in the

women's liberation movement The women's liberation movement (WLM) was a political alignment of women and feminist intellectualism that emerged in the late 1960s and continued into the 1980s primarily in the industrialized nations of the Western world, which effected great ...

, and during the 1980s, she was a radical feminist. As a result of a challenge she wrote a book without male characters.

Childhood and education

Moorhead and her three siblings were brought up by her single mother. She went to boarding school before deciding to study law at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. Moorhead then transferred to the

University of Tasmania The University of Tasmania (UTAS) is a public research university, primarily located in Tasmania, Australia. Founded in 1890, it is Australia's fourth oldest university. Christ College, one of the university's residential colleges, first pro ...

during the protests which were occurring over the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...

. She graduated with a degree in arts.

Early career

Moorhead was employed as a teacher before starting her professional writing career in 1973. She had begun writing the year before, after attending the Adelaide Writer's Festival and meeting the poet and campaigner

Judith Wright Judith Arundell Wright (31 May 191525 June 2000) was an Australian poet, environmentalist and campaigner for Aboriginal land rights. She was a recipient of the Christopher Brennan Award. Biography Judith Wright was born in Armidale, New Sou ...

and the writer Roger McKnight. Moorhead began writing for ''

Meanjin ''Meanjin'' (), formerly ''Meanjin Papers'' and ''Meanjin Quarterly'', is an Australian literary magazine. The name is derived from the Turrbal word for the spike of land where the city of Brisbane is located. It was founded in 1940 in Brisbane ...

'', a literary journal, which also involved A.A Phillips and

Clem Christesen Clement Byrne Christesen (28 October 1911 – 28 June 2003) was the founder of the Australian literary magazine ''Meanjin''. He served as the magazine's editor from 1940 until 1974. Biography Early years Clement Byrne Christesen was born and sp ...

at the time. Her work also appeared in periodicals and anthologies. Moorhead has supported the women's liberation movement since the 1970s, and during the 1980s, she identified with radical feminism.

Writings

She was a contemporary of the writer

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 ...

, who challenged Moorhead to write a book without male characters. As a result, Moorhead wrote her 1987 book ''Remember the Tarantella''. The lesbian fictional novel has a lead character whose name begins with "I" and the other 25 female characters' names begin with a different letter of the alphabet. Among her other works are the novels ''A Handwritten Modern Classic'' (1985), ''Quilt'' (1985), ''Still Murder'' (1991/2002), ''Darkness More Visible'' (2000) and the poetry collection ''My Voice'' (2006), and the plays ''Curtain Raiser'', ''Horses'' and ''It Might As Well Be Loneliness''. ''Remember the Tarantella'' has been described as dealing with loss and grief. She sent her first story and play off to ''The Herald'' Short Story Competition and The Australian National Playwright's Conference Competition, winning first prize for both. She was also a

Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction The Victorian Premier's Prize for Fiction, formerly known as the Vance Palmer Prize for Fiction, is a prize category in the annual Victorian Premier's Literary Award. As of 2011 it has an remuneration of 25,000. The winner of this category prize vi ...

laureate in 1991.

Selected works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Moorhead, Finola Australian women novelists Australian women dramatists and playwrights Australian women poets Australian essayists Australian women essayists 1947 births Living people Writers from Victoria (Australia) 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 21st-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian novelists 21st-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian poets 21st-century Australian poets 21st-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian women writers