Dorothy Hewett

Frequently referred to as the ‘grande dame of Australian literature’, Dorothy Hewett (1923–2002) is one of the greatest Australian writers of her generation. She published many collections of poetry, novels, plays, numerous articles and short stories in her lifetime.

Dorothy spent her childhood on her family’s remote wheat and sheep farm in Wickepin, Western Australia. While completing an arts degree at the University of Western Australia in the 1940s, she also began publishing poetry and journalism and joined the Communist Party of Australia.

Literature, theatre and politics became the great themes of a life lived in Perth, Sydney, and the Blue Mountains of New South Wales.