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    Seven Writers 1990, by Runnegar, Brenda, 1945-
    Details

Seven Writers (1980 - 1998)

From
1980
Australian Capital Territory
To
1998
Occupations
Writers Group
Alternative Names
  • Canberra Seven

Summary

Seven Writers was a group of Canberra-based women writers who met regularly to debate and critique one another’s work.


This entry is sponsored by generous donation from Christine Foley.

Details

Beginning with three members in 1980, the group grew to include seven female Canberra-based writers by 1984. They were founding member Dorothy Johnston (1948- ), Margaret Barbalet (1949- ), Sara Dowse (1938- ), Suzanne Edgar (1939- ), Marian Eldridge (1936-1997), Marion Halligan (1940- ) and Dorothy Horsfield (1948- ).

Members’ published works include short stories, novels, children’s literature, non-fiction, articles and reviews, and in diverse ways their writing vividly portrays life ‘beneath the surface of Canberra’.

Collectively the group authored Canberra Tales in 1988, later republished as The Division of Love in 1996, an anthology of short stories about life in Canberra. This was considered a landmark publication for Canberra fiction and received an ACT Bicentennial Award.

Seven Writers raised the profile of Canberra-based authors, and in 1995 a photographic portrait of the group appeared in the National Library of Australia exhibition, Beyond the Picket Fence.

After the death of Marian Eldridge in 1997, the group did not meet again for one year. Sara Dowse relocated to Canada in 1998. The remaining members are still friends but no longer meet formally to critique one another’s work.

Sources used to compile this entry: ‘The not at all secret seven’, Sydney Morning Herald, 14/10/95, [page unavailable]; ‘The real scribes of Canberra’. Canberra Times, 31/1/97, p.16; ‘Return of the seven’, Canberra Times, 10/2/96, 11; Canberra Times, 31/1/97, p.16; ‘And then there were five’, Canberra Times, 21/11/98, ‘Panorama’ liftout; ‘Getting to the point with Marion Halligan’, Courier Mail, 8 March 2003, p.6; National Library of Australia catalogue entry for portrait of Seven Writers by Brenda Runnegar. P327/1-9. Accessed 1/11/05.

Related entries

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Archival resources

National Library of Australia

  • Maralinga cycle, 1988, 1988, MS 8194; Johnston, Dorothy, 1948-; Johnston, Dorothy (1948 - ); National Library of Australia. Details
  • Papers of Margaret Barbalet, 1974-1993, 1974 - 1993, NLA MS 5396; National Library of Australia. Details
  • Papers of Marian Eldridge, 1954-1996, MS 9227; Eldridge, Marian Favel Clair (1936 - 1997); National Library of Australia. Details
  • Papers of Marion Halligan, 1981-1993, 1981 - 1993, MS 8460; Halligan, Marion Mildred (1940 - ); National Library of Australia. Details

Published resources

Books

  • Barbalet, Margaret et al, The Division of Love: Stories, Penguin, Ringwood, Vic, 1995, 258 pp. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • Barbalet, Margaret, Far from a Low Gutter Girl: the forgotten world of state wards, South Australia, 1887-1940, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1983, 286 pp. Details
  • Barbalet, Margaret, Blood in the Rain, Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria, 1986, 204 pp. Details
  • Barbalet, Margaret, Steel Beach, Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria, 1988, 176 pp. Details
  • Barbalet, Margaret, Lady, Baby, Gypsy, Queen, Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria, 1992, 151 pp. Details
  • Barbalet, Margaret, The Presence of Angels, Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria, 2001, 291 pp. Details
  • Dowse, Sara, West Block: the hidden world of Canberra's mandarins, Penguin, Ringwood, Vic, 1983, 290 pp. Details
  • Dowse, Sara, Silver City, Penguin, Ringwood, Vic, 1984, 198 pp. Details
  • Dowse, Sara, Schemetime, Penguin, Ringwood, Vic, 1990, 295 pp. Details
  • Dowse, Sara, Sapphires, Penguin, Ringwood, Vic, 1994, 219 pp. Details
  • Dowse, Sara, Digging, Penguin, Ringwood, Vic, 1996, 193 pp. Details
  • Edgar, Suzanne, Counting Backwards and other stories, University of Queensland Press, St. Lucia, Qld, 1991, 145 pp. Details
  • Eldridge, Marian, Springfield, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1992, 306 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, Self Possession, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1987, 285 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, The Living Hothouse, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1988, 283 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, The Hanged Man in the Garden, Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria, 1989, 183 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, Spidercup, Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria, 1990, 153 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, Eat My Words, Angus & Robertson, North Ryde, NSW, 1990, 253 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, The Worry Box, Minerva Australia, Port Melbourne, 1993, 231 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, Lovers' Knots: a hundred-year novel, Mandarin, Port Melbourne, 1993, 377 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, Wishbone, Minerva Australia, Port Melbourne, 1995, 235 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, Cockles of the Heart, Minerva Australia, Port Melbourne, 1996, 269 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, Out of the Picture, National Library of Australia, Canberra, 1996, 123 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, Collected Stories, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, 1997. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, The Golden Dress, Viking, Ringwood, Victoria, 1998, 380 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, The Fog Garden: A Novel, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, 2001, 294 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, The Taste of Memory, Allen & Unwin, East Melbourne, 2004, 275 pp. Details
  • Halligan, Marion, The Apricot Colonel, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, NSW, 2006, 263 pp. Details
  • Horsfield, Dorothy, Dream Run, Minerva Australia, Port Melbourne, Vic, 1992, 204 pp. Details
  • Horsfield, Dorothy, Venom, Pandanus Books, Canberra, 2005, 305 pp. Details
  • Johnston, Dorothy, Tunnel Vision, Hale & Iremonger, Sydney, 1984, 98 pp. Details
  • Johnston, Dorothy, Ruth, Hale & Iremonger, Sydney, 1986, 159 pp. Details
  • Johnston, Dorothy, Maralinga, my love, McPhee Gribble/Penguin, Fitzroy, Victoria, 1988, 264 pp. Details
  • Johnston, Dorothy, One for the Master, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, SA, 1997, 270 pp. Details
  • Johnston, Dorothy, The Trojan Dog, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, SA, 2000, 268 pp. Details
  • Johnston, Dorothy, The House at Number 10, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, SA, 2005, 257 pp. Details

Digital resources

Title
Dorothy Johnston
Type
Image
Control
ACT Writers Centre

Details

Title
Marian at the State Literary Awards at the Opera House, October 1994
Type
Image
Control
nla.pic-an20811737-8

Details

Title
Portrait of Suzanne Edgar taken at Adelaide Festival 1990
Type
Image
Creator
Wallace-Crabbe, Virginia, 1941-
Control
nla.pic-an11678211

Details

Title
Seven Writers 1990
Type
Image
Date
1990
Creator
Runnegar, Brenda, 1945-
Control
nla.pic-an8765266

Details

Title
Portrait of Margaret Barbalet 1991
Type
Image
Date
1991
Creator
Wallace-Crabbe, Virginia, 1941-
Control
nla.pic-an11678938

Details

Title
Portrait Sara Dowse, 15 March 2005
Type
Image
Date
2005
Creator
Seselja, Loui, 1948-
Control
nla.int-nl39438-ls8

Details

Title
Marion Halligan attending the Food for Thought forum, National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, 5 March 2005
Type
Image
Date
2005
Creator
Seselja, Loui, 1948-
Control
nla.int-nl39431a-ls10

Details

Barbara Lemon

Created: 1 June 2006, Last modified: 5 June 2009

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