Albert John "Harrison" Owen (24 June 1890 – 30 May 1966) was an Australian playwright, novelist, poet, and journalist.

Career

Owen became a prolific contributor of poetry and local news articles to ''

The Bulletin Bulletin or The Bulletin may refer to: Periodicals (newspapers, magazines, journals) * Bulletin (online newspaper), a Swedish online newspaper * ''The Bulletin'' (Australian periodical), an Australian magazine (1880–2008) ** Bulletin Debate, ...

'' from 1912 to 1919. From the basis of his earlier work, the chief of editing for the ''

Melbourne Herald ''The Herald'' was a morning and, later, evening broadsheet newspaper published in Melbourne, Australia, from 3 January 1840 to 5 October 1990, which is when it merged with its sister morning newspaper ''The Sun News-Pictorial'' to form the ''H ...

'' J. E. Davidson appointed him as the newspaper's drama critic and author of the ''Peerybingle Papers'', a regular mixture of light verse and prose. Soon afterwards he took over its ''Under the Clocks'' column. Although Owen spent most of his life as a daily journalist, his creative flair was never jeopardized. Throughout his life he published most of his poetic writings and stories. His first novel '' The Mount Marunga Mystery'' was published in 1919. He released a collective of his satirical and verse poetry from ''The Bulletin'' in 1923, entitled ''Tommyrot Rhymes for Children and Grown-ups who Ought to Know Better''. With many of his ''Bulletin'' workmates, Owen co-founded the now defunct Australian Authors' and Writers' Guild in 1915. From 1920, Owen moved to London and worked as a freelance journalist. From 1921 to 1932 he worked as a leader-writer for the ''

Daily Sketch The ''Daily Sketch'' was a British national tabloid newspaper, founded in Manchester in 1909 by Sir Edward Hulton. It was bought in 1920 by Lord Rothermere's Daily Mirror Newspapers, but in 1925 Rothermere sold it to William and Gomer Berry ...

'' and also produced a weekly feature for John Bull until 1940. In this period he was active as a dramatist. The first of his three plays to be performed in London, '' The Gentleman in Waiting'' (1925) arrived with a mixed response—reviews varied from 'witty' and 'diverting' to 'prolix' and 'banal', with a general consensus that the piece was over-literary. His second play, ''

The Happy Husband ''The Happy Husband'' is a comedy play by the British-based Australian author Harrison Owen. It premiered at the Theatre Royal, Portsmouth before transferring to the Criterion Theatre in London's West End where it ran for 109 performances bet ...

'' (1927), with

Charles Laughton Charles Laughton (1 July 1899 – 15 December 1962) was a British actor. He was trained in London at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and first appeared professionally on the stage in 1926. In 1927, he was cast in a play with his future w ...

and

Madge Titheradge Madge Titheradge (2 July 1887 14 November 1961) was an Australian-born actress who became a leading actress in the West End of London and on Broadway. She began as a child actress before the First World War, and went on to star in the 1920s and ...

was very successful and subsequently toured to New York, Paris and Vienna. In 1931, the play was filmed as '' Uneasy Virtue''. Owen's next play, '' Doctor Pygmalion'' (1932), with Ronald Squire and

Gladys Cooper Dame Gladys Constance Cooper, (18 December 1888 – 17 November 1971) was an English actress, theatrical manager and producer, whose career spanned seven decades on stage, in films and on television. Beginning as a teenager in Edwardian musi ...

, was also a success and productions in Melbourne, Sydney and Amsterdam followed its London season. In 1940 Owen published '' The Playwright's Craft''. Owen returned to Melbourne in 1940. His regular reviews for the

reflected both his passion for the theatre and his intimate knowledge of its workings. He became a leader-writer for '' The Sun News-Pictorial'' and wrote a Saturday column, ''Merely my Prejudice''. At first a witty, anecdotal reflection on human foibles, it came increasingly to express his delight in the uses and abuses of the English language and the depth and diversity of his literary interests. The name of the column, with its nice mixture of diffidence and self-assertion, anticipated the tone, and reflected the writer. Nettie Palmer had written in 1928: 'There was always a curious modesty about Harrison Owen … “I'm just a young man from Geelong”, he used to say'. He retired in 1955, although he published in the ''

'' in 1957 a series of articles, ''

Down Memory Lane ''Down Memory Lane'' is a 1949 Hollywood compilation film of silent and sound comedies from the library of pioneer producer Mack Sennett. Phil Karlson directed the film, with Steve Allen writing the screenplay and appearing on screen as himself. ...

''. Predeceased by his wife, and childless, Owen died of Cerebrovascular disease at

St Kilda East St Kilda East is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 6 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Cities of Glen Eira and Port Phillip local government areas. St Kilda East recorded a population of 1 ...

on 30 May 1966 and was

cremated Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre i ...

External links

*
''Australian Dictionary of Biographies'' - Harrison Owen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Owen, Harrison 1890 births Australian male dramatists and playwrights Australian male novelists Australian male short story writers Writers from Victoria (Australia) 1966 deaths 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian short story writers 20th-century Australian male writers People from Geelong