The Brilliant Chaos of Sybylla Penelope Melvyn
By Theresa Smith A post in our 2026 series featuring works published in 1946 (or by authors who died in 1946). In 1946, Miles Franklin published My Career Goes Bung, a ‘sequel’ to her debut novel, My Brilliant Career. This sequel came 45 years on from its predecessor;...
Mena Calthorpe, The Dyehouse
Calthorpe also makes us more uncomfortable than Tennant in the end, more aware of our own complicity in so much social injustice, because she is sympathetic, understanding, and – like Miss Merton – “well into middle age”
Doris Pilkington, Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence
The common belief at the time was that part-Aboriginal children were more intelligent than their darker relations and should be isolated and trained to be domestic servants and labourers
Tasma, Uncle Piper of Piper’s Hill
[wives are] to be petted and made much of when things are going well, and to be severely knocked about when anything goes wrong.
Janette M. Bomford, That Dangerous and Persuasive Woman: Vida Goldstein
By Janine Rizetti. [Vida] was mainstream middle-class, stylishly dressed and a very capable public speaker, and she spearheaded the ‘No’ case during the Conscription referendum campaigns.
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