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Happy Birthday Anniversary to Miles Franklin

By October 14, 2010No Comments

Miles Franklin, born Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin, on 14 October 1879 and died 19 September 1954, was an Australian writer and feminist who is best known for her autobiographical novel, My Brilliant Career, published in 1901. Franklin travelled to the USA in 1906 and worked in a secretarial and editorial capacity for Alice Henry in the National Women's Trade Union League. She then moved to England and served as a nurse in Europe during the First World War. She returned to Australia in 1933 with an established literary reputation. Other novels, plays and essays include My Career Goes Bung, Old Blastus of Bandicoot, All That Swagger and Back to Bool Bool. She has had a long-lasting impact on Australian literary life through her endowment of a major literary award known as the Miles Franklin Award. You can read The Diaries of Miles Franklin edited by Paul Brunton for a revealing insight. Our Classics Book Club has also been discussing her works with the Cowra group meeting on Tuesday 26 October from 12.30pm – 1.30pm to talk about My Brilliant Career.