Kylie Tennant
Encyclopedia
Kathleen Kylie Tennant AO
(icon; 12 March 1912 – 28 February 1988) was an Australian novelist, playwright, short-story writer, critic, biographer and historian.
, New South Wales; she was educated at Brighton College in Manly and Sydney University, though she left without graduating. She was a publicity officer for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, as well as working as a journalist, union organiser, reviewer (for The Sydney Morning Herald
), a publisher's literary adviser and editor, and a Commonwealth Literary Fund lecturer. She married L. C. Rodd
in 1933; they had two children (a daughter, Benison, in 1946 and a son, John Laurence, in 1951).
Her work was known for its well-researched, realistic, yet positive portrayals of the lives of the underprivileged in Australia. In a video interview filmed in 1986, three years before her death for the Australia Council
’s Archival Film Series, Tennant told how she lived as the people she wrote about, travelling as an unemployed itinerant worker during the Depression years, living in Aboriginal communities and spending a short time in prison for research.
Two of Tennant's novels, Battlers and Ride on Stranger, set in the 1930s have been made into television mini-series.
Order of Australia
The Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
(icon; 12 March 1912 – 28 February 1988) was an Australian novelist, playwright, short-story writer, critic, biographer and historian.
Life and career
Tennant was born in ManlyManly, New South Wales
Manly is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Manly is located 17 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the local government area of Manly Council, in the Northern Beaches region.-History:Manly was named...
, New South Wales; she was educated at Brighton College in Manly and Sydney University, though she left without graduating. She was a publicity officer for the Australian Broadcasting Commission, as well as working as a journalist, union organiser, reviewer (for The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Sydney Morning Herald is a daily broadsheet newspaper published by Fairfax Media in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1831 as the Sydney Herald, the SMH is the oldest continuously published newspaper in Australia. The newspaper is published six days a week. The newspaper's Sunday counterpart, The...
), a publisher's literary adviser and editor, and a Commonwealth Literary Fund lecturer. She married L. C. Rodd
L. C. Rodd
L. C. Rodd was the husband of novelist Kylie Tennant. Biographer of Fr. John Hope, long-serving rector of Christ Church St...
in 1933; they had two children (a daughter, Benison, in 1946 and a son, John Laurence, in 1951).
Her work was known for its well-researched, realistic, yet positive portrayals of the lives of the underprivileged in Australia. In a video interview filmed in 1986, three years before her death for the Australia Council
Australia Council
The Australia Council, informally known as the Australia Council for the Arts, is the official arts council or arts funding body of the Government of Australia.-Function:...
’s Archival Film Series, Tennant told how she lived as the people she wrote about, travelling as an unemployed itinerant worker during the Depression years, living in Aboriginal communities and spending a short time in prison for research.
Two of Tennant's novels, Battlers and Ride on Stranger, set in the 1930s have been made into television mini-series.
Awards
- 1935: S. H. Prior Memorial Prize awarded by The BulletinThe BulletinThe Bulletin was an Australian weekly magazine that was published in Sydney from 1880 until January 2008. It was influential in Australian culture and politics from about 1890 until World War I, the period when it was identified with the "Bulletin school" of Australian literature. Its influence...
magazine, for Tiburon - 1940: S. H. Prior Memorial Prize (run by the Bulletin), for The Battlers, shared with Eve LangleyEve LangleyEve Langley , born Ethel Jane Langley, was an Australian novelist and poet. Her novels belong to a tradition of Australian women's writing that explores the conflict between being an artist and being a woman.-Life:...
, The Pea-Pickers, and Malcolm Henry EllisMalcolm Henry EllisMalcolm Henry Ellis was an Australian journalist, historian, critic, reviewer and staunch anti-communist....
's "John Murtagh Macrossan lectures". - 1942: Australian Literature Society Gold MedalALS Gold MedalThe Australian Literature Society Gold Medal is awarded annually by the Association for the Study of Australian Literature for “an outstanding literary work in the preceding calendar year.” From 1928 to 1974 it was awarded by the Australian Literature Society, then from 1983 by the Association for...
for The Battlers - 1960: Children’s Book Council Book Award for All the Proud Tribesmen
- 1980: Officer of the Order of AustraliaOrder of AustraliaThe Order of Australia is an order of chivalry established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, "for the purpose of according recognition to Australian citizens and other persons for achievement or for meritorious service"...
for services to literature
Novels
- Tiburon (1935. Sydney: Endeavour Press) — first published in serial form in The Bulletin
- Foveaux (1939. London: Gollancz; 1946. Sydney: Sirius)
- The Battlers (1941. London: Gollancz; New York: Macmillan; 1945. Sydney: Sirius)
- Time Enough Later (c.1942. New York: Macmillan; 1945. London: Macmillan). A humorous coming of age story about a young woman and her relationship with an artistic older man.
- Ride on Stranger (1943. New York: Macmillan; London: Gollancz; Sydney: Angus & Robertson)
- Lost Haven (1946. NY: Macmillan; Melbourne: Macmillan; London: Macmillan)
- The Joyful Condemned (1953. London: Macmillan; New York: St Martin's Press)
- The Honey Flow (1956. London: Macmillan; New York: St Martin's Press)
- Tell Morning This (1967. Sydney: Angus & Robertson) — complete version of The Joyful Condemned
- The Man on the Headland (1971. Sydney: Angus & Robertson)
- Tantavallon (1983. Melbourne: Macmillan) ISBN 0-947072-02-0
For children
- Long John Silver (1954. Sydney: Associated General Publications) — adapted from the screenplay by Martin Rackin
- All the Proud Tribesmen (1959. London: Macmillan; New York: St Martin's Press; 1960. Melbourne: Macmillan) — illustrated by Clem Seale. Children's Book Award (1960)
- Come and See: social studies for Third Grade (1960. Melbourne: Macmillan)
- We Find the Way: social studies for Fourth Grade (1960. Melbourne: Macmillan)
- Trail Blazers of the Air (1965. Melbourne: Macmillan; New York: St Martin's Press) — illustrated by Roderick Shaw
Plays
- Modern Plays for Schools 3 (John o' the Forest, Lady Dorothy and the Pirates, The Willow Pattern Plate, The Laughing Girl, Christmas at the Old Shamrock Hotel) (1950. London: Macmillan; New York: St Martin's Press)
- Tether a Dragon (1952. Sydney: Associated General Publications) — Commonwealth Jubilee Stage Play Prize
- Modern Plays for Schools 15 (The Bells of the City, The Magic Fat Baby, The Prince Who Met a Dragon, The Ghost Tiger, Hamaguchi Goh Ei) (1955. London: Macmillan; New York: St Martin's Press)
- The Bushrangers' Christmas Eve and other plays (The Tribe of the Honey Tree, The Ladies of the Guard, A Nativity Play, The Play of the Younger Son, The Emperor and the Nightingale) (1959. London: Macmillan; New York:St Martin's Press)
Biography and history
- Australia: Her Story (1953. London: Macmillan; New York: St Martin's Press)
- Speak You So Gently: lives among the Australian Aborigines (1959. London: Gollancz)
- Evatt: politics and justice (1970. Sydney: Angus & Robertson)
- The Missing Heir (1986. Melbourne: Macmillan) — her autobiography
Criticism
- The Development of the Australian Novel (1958. Canberra: CLF)
- (with L.C. Rodd) The Australian Essay (1968. Melbourne: Cheshire)
Sources and external links
- A Tennant Bibliography — compiled by Ross Burnet (included individual short-story magazine appearances)
- A picture of Kylie Tennant: http://nla.gov.au/nla.pic-an14600364-1-v