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Christina Stead

クリスティーナ・スティード

Kurisutīna Sutīdo

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1902-07-17 （Rockdale, New South Wales, Australia）
Died
1983-03-31 （Balmain, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia） age 80
Nationality
Australia
Languages
English
Residence History
Rockdale (born) → Watsons Bay (1917–1928) → London (from 1928) → Paris (1930–1935) → United States (residences) → Sydney (at death)

Career

Occupations
novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, teacher, translator
Active Years
1921-1983

Education

Sydney Girls' High School
Period: 〜1919
Year of Graduation: 1919
Country: Australia
Completed secondary education
Sydney Teachers' College
Degree: 教員資格（修了）
Period: 1919–1922
Year of Graduation: 1922
Country: Australia
Trained as a teacher; early teaching career did not suit her

Awards

Patrick White Award
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Man Who Loved Children

1940 novel

A family novel loosely based on Stead's childhood, portraying a domineering father and the family's emotional collapse with penetrating psychological detail.

family dynamicspsychological characterisationpower and domination

Letty Fox: Her Luck

1946 novel

A vivid novel about urban life and a woman's feelings and desires; initially controversial and at times censored in Australia.

urban lifefemale subjectivitymorality and desire

Seven Poor Men of Sydney

1934 novel

An early novel dealing with radicals and dockworkers; engages social subjects while transcending simple social realism.

working classpolitical activismcommunity

Dark Places of the Heart (aka Cotters' England)

1966 novel

Set partly in Britain, the novel focuses on psychological portrayals and the complexities of interpersonal relationships.

local colour and dialectcharacter studymovement and belonging

Bibliography

  • Seven Poor Men of Sydney (1934)
  • The Beauties and Furies (1936)
  • House of All Nations (1938)
  • The Man Who Loved Children (1940)
  • For Love Alone (1945)
  • Letty Fox: Her Luck (1946)
  • A Little Tea, a Little Chat (1948)
  • The People with the Dogs (1952)
  • Dark Places of the Heart / Cotters' England (1966)
  • The Little Hotel (1973)
  • Miss Herbert (The Suburban Wife) (1976)
  • I'm Dying Laughing: The Humourist (1986)
  • Short stories and collections, letters and selected works (various publications 1978–1985)

Adaptations

  • Plaque on the Sydney Writers Walk

Translations by Author

  • In Balloon and Bathyscaphe by Auguste Piccard (translation, 1955)
  • Colour of Asia by Fernando Gigon (translation, 1956)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
satirical witpenetrating psychological characterisationdialogue-driven prose
Recurring Motifs
family dynamicssuburb vs. citypower and submission

Legacy

Christina Stead is regarded as one of Australia's important writers for her satirical wit and penetrating psychological portraits. The Christina Stead Prize for Fiction (part of the NSW Premier's Literary Awards) bears her name, and plaques and commemorations mark sites associated with her life.

Museums

  • Lydham Hall (operating as a museum) Rockdale area, New South Wales

Academic Societies

  • Association for the Study of Australian Literature

Archives

  • Papers and letters held in institutions such as the National Library of Australia

In Popular Culture

  • Plaque on the Sydney Writers Walk
  • Plaque on her Watsons Bay house (Woollahra Council Plaque Scheme)

Quotes

  • 'How suburban!' cried Elvira. I was in Hampstead the other day... That's the suburbs all over. That's what we are, you see: suburban, however wild we run. You know quite well, in yourself, don't you, two people like us can't go wild? Still, it's nice to pretend to, for a while.
    Source: The Beauties and Furies (1936)
  • They went on playing quietly and waiting for Sam... Bonnie meanwhile, with a rueful expression, was leaning out the front window... 'Why is my name Mrs Cabbage, why not Mrs Garlic or Mrs Horse Manure?'
    Source: The Man Who Loved Children (1940)
  • "You will do me a favour? Save me from disillusionment. Let the man coming back with you on Wednesday be a sensible man... but sanity."
    Source: Cotters' England / Dark Places of the Heart (1966)

Trivia

  • Letty Fox: Her Luck was at times banned in Australia.
  • Taught a 'Workshop in the Novel' at New York University in 1943–1944.
  • Worked as a Hollywood screenwriter in the 1940s (contributed to films such as Madame Curie).
  • Married William J. Blake in 1952; returned to Australia after Blake's death in 1968.
  • The Christina Stead Prize for Fiction has been awarded as part of the NSW Premier's Literary Awards since 1979.