Flora Eldershaw was born at Darlinghurst, Sydney, but grew up in the Riverina district, boarding at Mount Erin Convent, Wagga Wagga. While studying at the University of Sydney, she met
Marjorie Barnard with whom she was to collaborate on several novels and other prose works. Their first novel,
A House is Built (1929) shared first prize in the
Bulletin Novel Competition. This was followed by several other works, including the censored utopian novel
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (1947). Eldershaw wrote a number of works independently, including
Contemporary Australian Women Writers (1931) and was very active in Sydney literary circles, becoming the first woman president of the
Fellowship of Australian Writers in 1935. She was instrumental in persuading the government to expand the Commonwealth Literary Fund to include grants and transformed the Fellowship of Australian Writers into an influential lobby group. In the late 1940s, she became a private consultant, following her failure to gain permanent employment in the public service. She died at Wagga Wagga in 1956.
