Our interest group has turned to reading books by Australian writers for this year of 2021.

We began the year with reading Peter Carey and in March, early twentieth century Australian writers. Those which our group collectively read for the March 2021 meeting were:

Ethel Turner (1870 – 1958)
Seven Little Australians
Judy and Punch

For information on the author, see:
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/turner-ethel-mary-8885

Those who read her children’s books agreed that they were now old fashioned and today’s children would not enjoy them. But it was noted that her books were probably the first ones for Australian children, written by an Australian instead of books, for example, written for British children by a British author.

Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin (1879-1954)
My Brilliant Career (1901), her most well known book
My Career Goes Bung (1946)
Some Everyday Folk and Dawn (1909)

For information about the author, see:
https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/franklin-stella-maria-sarah-miles-6235
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Franklin

“Franklin’s first novel, My Brilliant Career, was written in its original version when she was 16. …. The book was eventually published in Edinburgh in 1901, and its authenticity, rich vernacular, and buoyant outlook earned it instant success in Australia. Appearing in the wake of a succession of ballads, short stories, and verse in the local idiom, it was quickly identified as “the very first” Australian novel, the first, that is, which “could not have been written by a stranger or a sojourner.”
https://biography.yourdictionary.com/stella-maraia-sarah-miles-franklin
The themes in Miles Franklin’s books included marriage, courtship, rural life with its poverty, drought and hardships, feminist issues of the time, for example, the first federal election after women’s suffrage, Australian nationalism and detailed descriptions of the Australian countryside. .

Judith Wright (1915-2000)
Judith Wright is a well known twentieth century Australian poet. The themes in her poems are the environment and the land rights of Australian indigenous people. Some examples of her poems are on this website:
https://mypoeticside.com/poets/judith-wright-poems
Google her name and more poems on websites become accessible.