Coralie Clarke Rees

Coralie Clarke, later Coralie Clarke Rees BA (23 October 1908 – 14 February 1972) was a Western Australian author.

History

Coralie was born in Perth, eldest daughter of Guildford "Gil" Clarke (1883–1949) and his wife Sylvia Clarke née Norton, of Mount Hawthorn. Gil Clarke, a champion bowler, was secretary of the WA Bowling Association for 11 years, and died on the Mt. Lawley bowling green. She was educated at While studying for her BA. at the University of Western Australia she contributed to the student newspaper Black Swan, acting as sub-editor to the editor, Leslie Rees. She was an active member of the Women's Service Guilds and honorary editor of its magazine The Dawn in 1929, while Bessie Rischbieth was overseas. She was active in student theatre, playing in The Whole Town's Talking by Anita Loos,[1] and wrote a play Shielded Eyes for Perth Repertory Theatre, which was produced in March 1930, starring Paul Hasluck. She won a travelling scholarship to London University[2] which she took up in 1931. She and Rees were married in London, where they lived until 1936. She got work as a drama critic and wrote bylined pieces about London for the West Australian[3][4][5] and the Sydney Morning Herald.[6] She also wrote for the Women's Weekly.

They returned to Perth in March 1936, then to Sydney, where Leslie had secured a position with the Australian Broadcasting Commission as its first federal drama editor, and found a house in Neutral Bay, where they later brought up two daughters. That same year Coralie toured Australia and back to London as private secretary to Eileen Joyce,[7] She continued to be active, writing plays for radio and making many radio appearances as a commentator on arts and women's affairs.

She began suffering a debilitating spinal condition but continued to travel widely throughout Australia with Leslie and their two daughters, gaining knowledge and experiences which informed a series of radio talks and travel books.[8]

Bibliography

  • Silent His Wings, Australasian Publishing Co. (1946). A poem sequence in memory of her brother Maxwell John Clarke (28 July 1921 – 2 January 1944), killed in Canada while a RAAF airman during WWII. Freely available to read here
  • Till We Grow Up (1948 play) edited by Leslie Rees

With Leslie Rees:

  • Spinifex Walkabout (1953)
  • Westward from Cocos (1956)
  • Coasts of Cape York (1960)
  • People of the Big Sky Country (1970)

Family

Coralie Clarke married Leslie Rees on 19 September 1931; they had two daughters:

  • Megan Rees (30 August 1938 – )
  • Dymphna Rees, later Rees Peterson (c. 1941 – ) awarded Henry Lawson Poetry Prize for undergraduates in 1961. She wrote a history of her mother's time as editor of the Women's Guilds' publication The Dawn (see below).

Sources

  • Wm. Wilde, Joy Hooton, Barry Andrews, eds., The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature (2nd ed. 1994) ISBN 0 19 553381 X
  • Lesley Reece, 'Rees, Coralie Clarke (1908–1972)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/rees-coralie-clarke-11496/text20503, published first in hardcopy 2002, accessed online 30 August 2016.

Further reading

  • Peterson, Dymphna Rees (1978), Coralie Clarke edits "The Dawn" : a chapter in the life-history of Coralie Clarke Rees, retrieved 30 August 2016

References

  1. ↑ ""The Whole Town's Talking"". The West Australian. XLV, (8, 375). Western Australia. 23 April 1929. p. 18. Retrieved 30 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ "Woman's Interests". The West Australian. XLVI, (8, 716.). Western Australia. 30 May 1930. p. 5. Retrieved 30 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "A West Australian Singer". The West Australian. 50, (15, 106). Western Australia. 20 November 1934. p. 6. Retrieved 30 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ "Eileen Joyce". Western Mail. XLIX, (2, 503). Western Australia. 8 February 1934. p. 24. Retrieved 30 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "A. A. Milne at Home". The West Australian. XLIX, (9, 758). Western Australia. 7 October 1933. p. 4. Retrieved 30 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "Helen Simpson, an Australian Novelist". The Sydney Morning Herald (31, 017). New South Wales, Australia. 1 June 1937. p. 21 (Women's Supplement). Retrieved 30 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "What Women Are Doing". The Australian Women's Weekly. III, (45). Australia, Australia. 11 April 1936. p. 21. Retrieved 30 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "Interesting Visitors". The Blackwood Times. XLI, (2). Western Australia. 27 May 1949. p. 1. Retrieved 30 August 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
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