Marien Oulton Dreyer (24 September 1911 – 16 January 1980), also known as Marien Cooper, was an Australian journalist, playwright and short-story writer. She wrote a weekly column for ''

New Idea ''New Idea'' is a long-running Australian weekly magazine aimed at women that is published by Are Media. History The magazine was first published in 1902 by Fitchett Bros. The founder was Thomas Shaw Fitchett. It was subtitled A Women's Home Jou ...

'' magazine as well as numerous scripts for radio. In 1959 she was joint winner of the

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 ...

for best magazine feature article.

Early life

Marien Dreyer was born on 24 September 1911 at Mornington, Victoria. Her parents were Mary Oulton, née Rosson, and Joseph Dreyer, a journalist from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. During childhood she lost a leg; she nicknamed its wooden replacement "Annabella" and in later life held it an annual party. She attended a convent school in Melbourne before leaving at age 14 to work as a stenographer. Dreyer lived in Sydney between 1937 and 1939. During the

Second World War 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 ...

she returned to Melbourne, where she worked as a telephonist for the Australian Imperial Force. She returned to Sydney in 1940 and settled in

Darlinghurst Darlinghurst is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Darlinghurst is located immediately east of the Sydney central business district (CBD) and Hyde Park, within the local government area of the City of Sydney. I ...

Journalism

Under the nom de plume "Gallery Girl", Dreyer began writing theatre reviews for women's magazines. From the 1940s she published many short stories and serials. Between 1955 and 1962 she wrote a weekly column for ''New Idea'' magazine, "This Week with Marien Dreyer". She also wrote frequently for radio for the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

. Her scripts included "Story of a Lame Duck" (1951), an autobiographical account of living with a disability, and "Hard Way Back" (1953), which described the challenges faced by a recovering

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, in ...

patient. The latter attracted controversy when it was denied permission to be broadcast after the Commonwealth Department of Health objected that it "over-emphasise ... past the bounds of reality" the challenges experienced by patients (tuberculosis was considered a sensitive subject; a 1948 report by Maxwell Dunn had been suppressed on similar grounds). Deyer appealed but her appeal was dismissed, a decision she described as "a slur on her reputation and contrary to free speech". In 1959 she was joint winner (with Harry Fox) of the

for Best Magazine Feature Story (Non-Fiction) for her article "The Day I Wiggled My Big Toe", published in ''New Idea''. In the 1960s she co-authored three books with retired magistrate Arthur Debenham: ''Without Fear or Favour'', ''All Manner of People'' and ''The Innocent Victims''.

Theatre

Dreyer's plays included a series of one-act plays produced at the Pocket Playhouse Theatre in St Peters, Sydney, and ''Wish No More'', a fairytale for adults. Her satirical play ''Bandicoot on a Burnt Ridge'' won the Journalist's Club Award for 1962–3.

Community activism

Dreyer lived in the Darlinghurst and Kings Cross area for 40 years and in the 1960s and 1970s became a leading voice of community opposition to the construction of the Kings Cross Tunnel at the top of William Street. She was the publicity officer for the Kings Cross Protection Association and organised visits to politicians and protest marches.

Personal life

Dreyer married fellow journalist Rodney Beaumont Lovell Cooper in the late 1930s in Melbourne. They moved to Sydney in 1940 and had two sons. She died on 16 January 1980 in Darlinghurst.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dreyer, Marien Oulton Australian columnists 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights Australian women short story writers Australian women journalists Australian amputees 1911 births 1980 deaths 20th-century Australian women writers Australian women columnists People from Mornington, Victoria Writers from Sydney Australian people of New Zealand descent