John Morrison (writer)
John Gordon Morrison AM (1904–1998) was an English-born Australian novelist and short story writer.
Life
John Morrison was born in Sunderland, England in 1904.[1] His first wife was Frances Jones.[2]
Australia
He migrated to Australia in 1923. Initially working on sheep-stations in New South Wales, in the 1930s he began a ten-year stint working on the Melbourne waterfront and subsequently joined the Communist Party of Australia.[3]
Writer
He published his first stories under the name of "Gordon", and later as "John Morrison",[4] in trade union publications during this time. He was later a member of the Realist Writers Group and went on to publish a number of short stories in newspapers,[5][6][7][8] two novels, four collections of stories and a book of essays.
After leaving the waterfront he worked as a jobbing gardener based in Mentone.[9] He later worked as a gardner at Caulfield Grammar School until 1963, when he became a full-time writer; publishing also book reviews and journalism.
Awards
He won a number of short story competitions.[10][11]
He was awarded a Commonwealth Literary Fund grant in both 1948 and 1949,[12][13][14] the Gold Medal of the Australian Literature Society in 1963,[15] and the Patrick White Literary Award in 1986.[16][17] He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 1989 Queens Birthday Honours List.[18]
Death
He died in 1998.
Works
Novels
- The Creeping City (1949)
- Port of Call (1950)
Story collections
- Sailors Belong Ships (1947)
- Black Cargo (1955)
- Twenty-Three : Stories (1962)[19]
- John Morrison, Selected Stories (1972)
- North Wind (1982)
- Stories of the Waterfront (1984)
- This Freedom (1985)
- The Best Stories of John Morrison (1988)
Non-fiction
- Australian by Choice (essays, 1973)
- The Happy Warrior (memoirs, 1987)
Journalism
Footnotes
- ↑ Galimond, Paul, "John Morrison: Writer of Proletarian Life", Sydney Review of Books, 11 August 2015.
- ↑ John Gordon Morrison: He Said He Would Write, Smith's Weekly, (Saturday, 1 March 1947), p.15.
- ↑ M.P.s' New Attack on Literary Fund, The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday, 5 September 1952), p.3.
- ↑ For example, Morrison, John, "No Admittance! except on business", The (Sydney) Tribune, (Thursday, 20 July 1944), p.4.
- ↑ Morrison, John, "Lascar Laughs Last", Supplement to The (Adelaide) Mail, (Saturday, 8 September 1945), p.1.
- ↑ The Argus Competition Short Story: "At This Very Moment", by John Morrison, The Argus, (Saturday, 5 May 1945), p.10
- ↑ Morrison, John, "Return of a Warrior", The (Sydney) Tribune, (Wednesday, 6 January 1954), p.5.
- ↑ Morrison, John, "Way of Life", The (Sydney) Tribune, (Wednesday, 12 March 1958), p.7.
- ↑ Stephen Murray-Smith, introduction, p.x, in, John Morrison, The best stories of John Morrison, Penguin, Melbourne, 1988.
- ↑ Results of Literary Competitions, The (Hobart) Mercury, (Friday, 3 December 1943), p.7.
- ↑ Short Story Competition, The West Australian, (Thursday, 5 April 1945), p.6.
- ↑ Commonwealth Literary Fund, The Central Queensland Herald, (Thursday, 28 October 1948), p.10; Unionist gets literary grant, The Labor Call, (Friday, 29 October 1948), p.7.
- ↑ Waterfront to Lose a Novelist, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 19 August 1949), p.3; Hook Pays Off Best, The Brisbane Telegraph, (Sunday, 21 August 1949) p.8.
- ↑ Authors' Fund: Clash in Parlt., The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph, (Friday, 5 September 1952), p.6.
- ↑ Australian Literary Studies Gold Medal: Winners.
- ↑ Patrick White Literary Award, literaryawards.com.au.
- ↑ Wharfie wins award, The Canberra Times, (Saturday, 8 November 1986), p.7.
- ↑ Queen's Birthday Honors: Members of the Order of Australia, The Age, (Monday, 12 June 1989), p.9.
- ↑ H. McC., "John Morrison and his people, The (Sydney) Tribune, (Wednesday, 8 August 1962), p.7.
Further reading
- A Wharfie Slung Ink As Well, Fact: The Up-to-the-Minute Australian News-Review: Supplement to The (Sydney) Sunday Sun, (Sunday 15 April 1945), p.4.
- Callander, Ron, "John Gordon Morrison, AM.", Overland, Vol.79, No,3, (Winter 1999), pp.78-91.
- Dunlevy, Maurice, "Life: An Author's Starting Point", The Canberra Times, (Friday, 1 February 1974), p.14.
- Jones, Philip, "Obituary: John Gordon Morrison: Author", The Age, (Friday, 22 May 1998), p.24.
- McLaren, John, "John Morrison: Memories, Reminiscences and Some Judgements", Southerly, Vol.61, No.3, (2001-2002), pp.15-22.
- McLaren, John, "The British Tradition in John Morrison’s Radical Nationalism", Australian Literary Studies, Vol.20, No.3, (1 May 2002), pp.215-234.
- Phillips, A.A., "The Short Stories of John Morrison", Overland, Vol.58, (Winter 1974), pp.31-35.
Portraits
- Kahan, Louis (not dated), felt tip pen portrait of John Morrison, University of Melbourne Library Print Collection.
- John Gordon Morrison, Wharf Labourer and Author; Recipient of the Patrick White Literary Award, 1986 and the Order of Australia, 1989, Australian National University Library Collection.
- Bolton, A.T., Portrait of John Morrison, Ripponlea, 1986, National Library of Australia.
