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Marian Favel Clair Eldridge Marian Favel Clair Eldridge i(A28519 works by) (birth name: Marian Favel Clair Stockfield) (a.k.a. Eldridge, Marian)
Born: Established: 1 Feb 1936 Melbourne, Victoria, ; Died: Ceased: 14 Feb 1997 Canberra, Australian Capital Territory,
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

A novelist, short-story writer and poet, Eldridge was a founding member of Canberra's literary scene. She belonged to the Seven Writers group which included novelists Dorothy Johnston and Sara Dowse and helped set up the ACT Writers' Centre. Eldridge was also a book reviewer for the Canberra Times and the Australian Book Review, and became the first literature co-ordinator for the ACT Arts Council in 1986. She was writer-in-residence at Darwin High School in 1989, received an ACT Arts Bureau Literary Fellowship in 1992 and an Australia Council Literary Board Grant 1994.

'Marian Eldridge was also instrumental in establishing the ACT Writers Centre and in the last few months of her life she expressed a desire to further nurture writers. Through a cash donation from her estate, the Marian Eldridge Award was established in 1998, under the auspices of the National Foundation for Australian Women, to encourage an aspiring woman writer to undertake a literary activity such as a short course of study, or to complete a project, or attend a writers' week or a conference.' However, in 2009, dwindling funds, administrative issues and lack of sponsorship made it impossible for the Eldridge family to continue with the award. The 2009 and final $2000 Marian Eldridge Award was won by Melbourne book buyer and writer Jewelene Barrile for an extract from her unpublished novel 'Find Me'.

Eldridge Crescent is named after Marian Eldridge in the Canberra suburb of Garran, where she lived and wrote for 30 years.

(Source: The Australian Womens' Register website and The Canberra Times, 9/11/2009)

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • Eldridge won "The Canberra Times" Short Story Award in 1981.
  • Tape of interview with Eldridge by Heather Rusden is held at ANL.

Personal Awards

1992 winner ACT Literary Award to complete short story collection The greening of Alvie Skerritt
1991 runner-up ACT Literary Award

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon The Wild Sweet Flowers : Alvie Skerritt Stories St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 1994 Z297750 1994 selected work short story

'Alvie Skerritt - irrepressible, down-to-earth, sometimes fierce - is the centre of this boldly original collection of linked narratives. These stories present a modern family portrait full of compassion and humour.' (Publication summary)

1994 winner New South Wales State Literary Awards International Year of the Family Award
y separately published work icon The Woman at the Window St Lucia : University of Queensland Press , 1989 Z476580 1989 selected work short story
1990 highly commended The Fellowship of Australian Writers Victoria Inc. National Literary Awards Barbara Ramsden Award
Last amended 5 Jan 2015 15:42:13
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