Tom Hungerford
Encyclopedia
Thomas Arthur Guy Hungerford, AM
(5 May 191519 June 2011), popularly known as T. A. G. Hungerford, was an Australian writer, noted for his World War II
novel
The Ridge and the River, and his short stories
that chronicle growing up in South Perth, Western Australia
during the Great Depression
.
on 5 May 1915. He grew up in South Perth, known then as the Queen Suburb, when the area was semi-rural, with market gardens.
in Darwin
, New Guinea
, Bougainville, Morotai and with the Occupation Forces in Japan
. He was a sergeant in 2/8 Australian Commando Squadron.
In 2005 the ABC
's 7.30 Report reported his "unflinching depictions of jungle
fighting are acknowledged as some of the best writing to come out of the war". Hungerford told the program he wasn't a hero: "I was one of a group of men all doing the same bloody thing. Sticking the head up, hoping to Christ it wouldn't be shot off." He left the army in 1947.
for three weeks. Upon leaving Hungerford wrote to Hughes: "I will never work for you again. I'd rather go to bed with a sabre-toothed tiger". He then joined the Australia News and Information Bureau, and afterwards was a freelancer
. He later worked as a press secretary to Western Australian Premiers
John Tonkin
and Sir Charles Court.
Sowers in the Wind, was held back by publisher Angus & Robertson
because it dealt with the economic and sexual exploitation of the Japanese after the War by Australian occupation forces. The novel won the 1949 Sydney Morning Herald prize for literature but was not published until 1954.
Monash University
's Robin Gerster told The Age
in 2002: "Hungerford... wrote very perceptively and affectionately about the Japanese, which is not a bad effort for someone who fought them."
(2002).
He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1987. A portrait of him, c.1963, by Kate O'Connor is in the National Library of Australia
. In 2004, he was pronounced a Living Treasure of Western Australia by the Western Australian Government Michael Crouch,s biography
of Hungerford is called Literary Larrikin
The T. A. G. Hungerford Award
is named for him and is awarded every two years to an unpublished author in Western Australia.
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"...
(5 May 191519 June 2011), popularly known as T. A. G. Hungerford, was an Australian writer, noted for his World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The Ridge and the River, and his short stories
Short Stories
Short Stories may refer to:*A plural for Short story*Short Stories , an American pulp magazine published from 1890-1959*Short Stories, a 1954 collection by O. E...
that chronicle growing up in South Perth, 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...
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...
.
Early life
Hungerford was born in Perth, Western AustraliaPerth, Western Australia
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....
on 5 May 1915. He grew up in South Perth, known then as the Queen Suburb, when the area was semi-rural, with market gardens.
World War Two
Hungerford served with the Australian ArmyAustralian Army
The Australian Army is Australia's military land force. It is part of the Australian Defence Force along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. While the Chief of Defence commands the Australian Defence Force , the Army is commanded by the Chief of Army...
in Darwin
Darwin, Northern Territory
Darwin is the capital city of the Northern Territory, Australia. Situated on the Timor Sea, Darwin has a population of 127,500, making it by far the largest and most populated city in the sparsely populated Northern Territory, but the least populous of all Australia's capital cities...
, New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, Bougainville, Morotai and with the Occupation Forces in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. He was a sergeant in 2/8 Australian Commando Squadron.
In 2005 the ABC
ABC Television
ABC Television is a service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation launched in 1956. As a public broadcasting broadcaster, the ABC provides four non-commercial channels within Australia, and a partially advertising-funded satellite channel overseas....
's 7.30 Report reported his "unflinching depictions of jungle
Jungle
A Jungle is an area of land in the tropics overgrown with dense vegetation.The word jungle originates from the Sanskrit word jangala which referred to uncultivated land. Although the Sanskrit word refers to "dry land", it has been suggested that an Anglo-Indian interpretation led to its...
fighting are acknowledged as some of the best writing to come out of the war". Hungerford told the program he wasn't a hero: "I was one of a group of men all doing the same bloody thing. Sticking the head up, hoping to Christ it wouldn't be shot off." He left the army in 1947.
Journalism
After the war, Hungerford was a press secretary for Billy HughesBilly Hughes
William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....
for three weeks. Upon leaving Hungerford wrote to Hughes: "I will never work for you again. I'd rather go to bed with a sabre-toothed tiger". He then joined the Australia News and Information Bureau, and afterwards was a freelancer
Freelancer
A freelancer, freelance worker, or freelance is somebody who is self-employed and is not committed to a particular employer long term. These workers are often represented by a company or an agency that resells their labor and that of others to its clients with or without project management and...
. He later worked as a press secretary to Western Australian Premiers
Premier of Western Australia
The Premier of Western Australia is the head of the executive government in the Australian State of Western Australia. The Premier has similar functions in Western Australia to those performed by the Prime Minister of Australia at the national level, subject to the different Constitutions...
John Tonkin
John Tonkin
John Trezise Tonkin AC , popularly known as "Honest John", was the 20th Premier of Western Australia , taking power after the almost 12 year term of Liberal Sir David Brand....
and Sir Charles Court.
Writing
Hungerford began writing as a teenager and had his first published short story in 1942 in the Sydney Bulletin. His first volume of short fiction, Stories from Suburban Road, depict life during the Great Depression in the Perth riverside suburb of South Perth.Novels
- The Ridge and the River (1950)
- Riverslake (1953)
- Sowers in the Wind (1954)
- Shake the Golden Bough (1963)
Sowers in the Wind, was held back by publisher Angus & Robertson
Angus & Robertson
Angus & Robertson is a bookstore chain in Australia. Its first bookstore was opened in 110½ Market Street, Sydney by Scotsman David Angus in 1884; it sold second-hand books. In 1886, he went into partnership with fellow Scot, George Robertson with whom he had worked earlier.- Bookselling history...
because it dealt with the economic and sexual exploitation of the Japanese after the War by Australian occupation forces. The novel won the 1949 Sydney Morning Herald prize for literature but was not published until 1954.
Monash University
Monash University
Monash University is a public university based in Melbourne, Victoria. It was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. Monash is a member of Australia's Group of Eight and the ASAIHL....
's Robin Gerster told The Age
The Age
The Age is a daily broadsheet newspaper, which has been published in Melbourne, Australia since 1854. Owned and published by Fairfax Media, The Age primarily serves Victoria, but is also available for purchase in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and...
in 2002: "Hungerford... wrote very perceptively and affectionately about the Japanese, which is not a bad effort for someone who fought them."
Short stories
- Wong Chu and the Queen's Letterbox (1976)
- The Only One Who Forgot (Unknown)
Autobiography
- Stories From Suburban Road (1983)
- A Knockabout with a Slouch Hat
- Red Rover All Over
Book reviews
- Selby, David. Hell and High Fever - reviewed in QuadrantQuadrant (magazine)Quadrant is an Australian literary and cultural journal. The magazine takes a conservative position on political and social issues, describing itself as sceptical of 'unthinking Leftism, or political correctness, and its "smelly little orthodoxies"'. Quadrant reviews literature, as well as...
1/1 (Sum 1956/57): 93, 95.
Prizes and other honours
Hungerford won the Crouch Gold Medal for Literature (1951), the Patricia Hackett Short Story prize (1962), the WA Weekly Literature Prize for Fiction (1964), and the Patrick White AwardPatrick White Award
The Patrick White Award is an annual literary prize established by Patrick White. White used his 1973 Nobel Prize in Literature award to establish a trust for this prize....
(2002).
He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1987. A portrait of him, c.1963, by Kate O'Connor is in the National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...
. In 2004, he was pronounced a Living Treasure of Western Australia by the Western Australian Government Michael Crouch,s biography
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of Hungerford is called Literary Larrikin
The T. A. G. Hungerford Award
T. A. G. Hungerford Award
The T. A. G. Hungerford Award is a biennial Australian literary award, first established in 1998. The award is to encourage new writers from Western Australia who have not previously been published in book form....
is named for him and is awarded every two years to an unpublished author in Western Australia.