Katharine Susannah Prichard
Encyclopedia
Katharine Susannah Prichard (4 December 18832 October 1969) was an Australia
n author and co-founding member of the Communist Party of Australia
.
, Fiji
in 1883, and spent her childhood in Launceston
, Tasmania
, before moving to Melbourne
, where she won a scholarship to South Melbourne College
. Her father, Tom Prichard, was editor of the Melbourne Sun
newspaper. She worked as a governess and journalist in Victoria then travelled to England in 1908. Her first novel, The Pioneers (1915), won the Hodder & Stoughton
All Empire Literature Prize. After her return to Australia, the romance Windlestraws and her first novel of a mining community, Black Opal were published.
Prichard moved with her husband, war hero Hugo "Jim" Throssell
, VC
, to Greenmount
, Western Australia
, in 1920 and lived at 11 Old York Road for much of the rest of her life. She wrote most of her novels and stories in a self-contained weatherboard workroom near the house. In her personal life she always referred to herself as Mrs Hugo Throssell. Her friends called her Katie. They had one son, Ric Throssell, later a diplomat and writer.
Prichard was a founding member of the Communist Party of Australia
in 1921 and remained a member for the rest of her life. She worked to organise unemployed workers and founded left-wing women's groups, and during the 1930s she campaigned in support of the Spanish Republic
and other left-wing causes. Although she had frequent arguments with other Communist writers such as Frank Hardy
and Judah Waten
over the correct application of the doctrine of socialist realism
to Australian fiction, she remained supportive of the Soviet Union
and its cultural policies when many other intellectuals, such as Eric Lambert
and Stephen Murray-Smith, left the party during the 1950s. Some critics maintain that her novels suffered because of her efforts to make them conform to Communist Party standards.
Her two major novels, which were to give her national and international prominence, were written in Western Australia in the early years of her marriage. The novels were Working Bullocks (1926), which dramatised the physical and emotional traumas of timber workers in the karri country of Australia's south-west, and Coonardoo
(1929), a sensitive and often poetic novel which became notorious for its candid portrayal of relationships between white men and black women in the north-west.
The far north-west of Australia provided inspiration and setting for her daring play Brumby Innes. Most of the short stories in the first of her four collections, Kiss on the Lips (1932), were also from the 1920s, her amazing decade of creative activity. During this time she wrote her most adventurous novels, stories and plays.
While she was visiting the Soviet Union
in 1933, her husband Jim Throssell committed suicide when his business failed during the Great Depression
. In 1934 her membership of the Communist Party of Australia and the Movement Against War and Fascism
led her to lead the Egon Kisch
welcome committee which rapidly metamorphised into the committee to defend Kisch from exclusion from Australia.
The novel Intimate Strangers (1937), was a turning point in her life. The 'fire of a regenerating idea' referred to in the novel's revised conclusion was reflected in the author's life; as pamphleteer and public speaker, Katharine Prichard fearlessly and emotionally promoted the cause of peace and social justice.
Her massive work, The Goldfields Trilogy—The Roaring Nineties (1946), Golden Miles (1948), and Winged Seeds (1950)—is a major reconstruction of social and personal histories in Western Australia's goldfields
from the 1890s to 1946. The linking character in the trilogy is a woman after the author's own heart: energetic, engaging and an unconventionally free spirit.
Prichard died at her home in Greenmount in 1969. Her ashes were scattered on the surrounding hills.
, where Prichard spent the majority of her life.
The Mundaring council library in Greenmount is named after her as well.
The 1996 Australian film Shine
depicts the close correspondence between Prichard and Australian pianist David Helfgott
. She was played by Googie Withers
. Prichard helped raise money for Helfgott, to enable him to go to London to study music.
Short stories
Drama
Reportage
Poetry
Autobiography
Selection from collected works
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n author and co-founding member of the Communist Party of Australia
Communist Party of Australia
The Communist Party of Australia was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991; it was succeeded by the Socialist Party of Australia, which then renamed itself, becoming the current Communist Party of Australia. The CPA achieved its greatest political strength in the 1940s and faced an attempted...
.
Biography
Prichard was born in LevukaLevuka
Levuka is a town on the eastern coast of the Fijian island of Ovalau, in Lomaiviti Province, in the Eastern Division of Fiji. It was formerly the Capital of Fiji. At the census in 2007, the last to date, Levuka town had a population of 1,131 , about half of Ovalau's 8,360 inhabitants...
, Fiji
Fiji
Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...
in 1883, and spent her childhood in Launceston
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
, Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
, before moving to Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
, where she won a scholarship to South Melbourne College
South Melbourne College
South Melbourne College was a co-education boarding school in South Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The school was founded by Thomas Palmer in 1883....
. Her father, Tom Prichard, was editor of the Melbourne Sun
The Sun News-Pictorial
The Sun News-Pictorial, commonly known as The Sun, was a morning daily tabloid newspaper in Melbourne, Australia established in 1922 and closed in 1990.It was part of The Herald and Weekly Times Ltd stable of Melbourne newspapers...
newspaper. She worked as a governess and journalist in Victoria then travelled to England in 1908. Her first novel, The Pioneers (1915), won the Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton
Hodder & Stoughton is a British publishing house, now an imprint of Hachette.-History:The firm has its origins in the 1840s, with Matthew Hodder's employment, aged fourteen, with Messrs Jackson and Walford, the official publisher for the Congregational Union...
All Empire Literature Prize. After her return to Australia, the romance Windlestraws and her first novel of a mining community, Black Opal were published.
Prichard moved with her husband, war hero Hugo "Jim" Throssell
Hugo Vivian Hope Throssell
Hugo Vivian Hope Throssell VC was an Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
, VC
Victoria Cross
The Victoria Cross is the highest military decoration awarded for valour "in the face of the enemy" to members of the armed forces of various Commonwealth countries, and previous British Empire territories....
, to Greenmount
Greenmount, Western Australia
Greenmount is a locality and a geographical feature in the Shire of Mundaring, Western Australia, on the edge of the Darling Scarp. It is a vital point in the transport routes from the Swan Coastal Plain into the hinterland of Western Australia....
, Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, in 1920 and lived at 11 Old York Road for much of the rest of her life. She wrote most of her novels and stories in a self-contained weatherboard workroom near the house. In her personal life she always referred to herself as Mrs Hugo Throssell. Her friends called her Katie. They had one son, Ric Throssell, later a diplomat and writer.
Prichard was a founding member of the Communist Party of Australia
Communist Party of Australia
The Communist Party of Australia was founded in 1920 and dissolved in 1991; it was succeeded by the Socialist Party of Australia, which then renamed itself, becoming the current Communist Party of Australia. The CPA achieved its greatest political strength in the 1940s and faced an attempted...
in 1921 and remained a member for the rest of her life. She worked to organise unemployed workers and founded left-wing women's groups, and during the 1930s she campaigned in support of the Spanish Republic
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
and other left-wing causes. Although she had frequent arguments with other Communist writers such as Frank Hardy
Frank Hardy
Francis Joseph Hardy, or Frank, was an Australian left-wing novelist and writer best known for his controversial novel Power Without Glory. He also was a political activist bringing the plight of Aboriginal Australians to international attention with the publication of his book, The Unlucky...
and Judah Waten
Judah Waten
Judah Leon Waten AM was an Australian novelist who was at one time seen as the voice of Australian migrant writing....
over the correct application of the doctrine of socialist realism
Socialist realism
Socialist realism is a style of realistic art which was developed in the Soviet Union and became a dominant style in other communist countries. Socialist realism is a teleologically-oriented style having its purpose the furtherance of the goals of socialism and communism...
to Australian fiction, she remained supportive of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and its cultural policies when many other intellectuals, such as Eric Lambert
Eric Lambert (author)
Eric Frank Lambert was an Australian author and a member of the Communist Party of Australia.-Early life:...
and Stephen Murray-Smith, left the party during the 1950s. Some critics maintain that her novels suffered because of her efforts to make them conform to Communist Party standards.
Her two major novels, which were to give her national and international prominence, were written in Western Australia in the early years of her marriage. The novels were Working Bullocks (1926), which dramatised the physical and emotional traumas of timber workers in the karri country of Australia's south-west, and Coonardoo
Coonardoo
Coonardoo: The Well in the Shadow is a novel written by the Australian author Katharine Susannah Prichard. The novel depicts the Australian landscape beautifully as it once was in the late 20s of the last century...
(1929), a sensitive and often poetic novel which became notorious for its candid portrayal of relationships between white men and black women in the north-west.
The far north-west of Australia provided inspiration and setting for her daring play Brumby Innes. Most of the short stories in the first of her four collections, Kiss on the Lips (1932), were also from the 1920s, her amazing decade of creative activity. During this time she wrote her most adventurous novels, stories and plays.
While she was visiting the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1933, her husband Jim Throssell committed suicide when his business failed during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. In 1934 her membership of the Communist Party of Australia and the Movement Against War and Fascism
Movement Against War and Fascism
The Movement Against War and Fascism was a Communist front organisation founded in Australia in 1933. MAWF organised political ralies, meetings and issues to promote the cause of Communism, recruit members, supporters and activists and promote wider community support.The MAWF was instigated by...
led her to lead the Egon Kisch
Egon Erwin Kisch
Egon Erwin Kisch was a Czechoslovak writer and journalist, who wrote in German. Known as the The raging reporter from Prague, Kisch was noted for his development of literary reportage and his opposition to Adolf Hitler's Nazi regime.- Biography :Kisch was born into a wealthy, German-speaking...
welcome committee which rapidly metamorphised into the committee to defend Kisch from exclusion from Australia.
The novel Intimate Strangers (1937), was a turning point in her life. The 'fire of a regenerating idea' referred to in the novel's revised conclusion was reflected in the author's life; as pamphleteer and public speaker, Katharine Prichard fearlessly and emotionally promoted the cause of peace and social justice.
Her massive work, The Goldfields Trilogy—The Roaring Nineties (1946), Golden Miles (1948), and Winged Seeds (1950)—is a major reconstruction of social and personal histories in Western Australia's goldfields
Gold mining
Gold mining is the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques and processes by which gold may be extracted from the earth.-History:...
from the 1890s to 1946. The linking character in the trilogy is a woman after the author's own heart: energetic, engaging and an unconventionally free spirit.
Prichard died at her home in Greenmount in 1969. Her ashes were scattered on the surrounding hills.
Legacy
The home has now become the Katharine Susannah Prichard Writers' Centre, a foundation promoting humanitarianism, the study of Katharine Susannah Prichard, and encouraging writing in Western AustraliaWestern Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
, where Prichard spent the majority of her life.
The Mundaring council library in Greenmount is named after her as well.
The 1996 Australian film Shine
Shine (film)
Shine is a 1996 Australian film based on the life of pianist David Helfgott, who suffered a mental breakdown and spent years in institutions. It stars Geoffrey Rush, Lynn Redgrave, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Noah Taylor, John Gielgud, Googie Withers, Justin Braine, Sonia Todd, Nicholas Bell, Chris...
depicts the close correspondence between Prichard and Australian pianist David Helfgott
David Helfgott
David Helfgott is an Australian concert pianist. He is as well known for having schizoaffective disorder as he is for his piano playing. Helfgott's life inspired the Oscar-winning film Shine, in which he was played by Geoffrey Rush....
. She was played by Googie Withers
Googie Withers
Georgette Lizette "Googie" Withers CBE, AO was an English theatre, film and television actress. She was a longtime resident of Australia with her husband, the actor John McCallum, with whom she often appeared.-Biography:...
. Prichard helped raise money for Helfgott, to enable him to go to London to study music.
Works
Novels- The Pioneers (1915)
- Windlestraws (1916)
- Black Opal (1921)
- Working Bullocks ([921)
- The Wild Oats of Han (1928)
- CoonardooCoonardooCoonardoo: The Well in the Shadow is a novel written by the Australian author Katharine Susannah Prichard. The novel depicts the Australian landscape beautifully as it once was in the late 20s of the last century...
(1929) - Haxby's Circus (1930)
- Intimate Strangers (1939)
- Moon of Desire (1941)
- The Roaring Nineties (1946)
- Golden Miles (1948)
- Winged Seeds (1950)
- Subtle Flame (1967)
Short stories
- Kiss on the Lips (1932)
- Potch and Colour (1944)
- N'Goola (1959)
- The Cooboo (1932)
- Marlene (1938)
- Flight
Drama
- Brumby Innes (1929)
Reportage
- The Real Russia (1934)
Poetry
- Clovelly Verses (1913)
- The Earth Lover and Other Verses (1932)
Autobiography
- Child of the Hurricane (1964)
Selection from collected works
- On Strenuous Wings (1965)