Dorothy Blewett was born in Northcote in 1898 and was educated at the Methodist Ladies College. She was a novelist, playwright, short story writer, and active promoter of Australian literature through her work with International PEN, as a literary agent, and as secretary of the London-based, Society of Australian Writers during the 1950s. She was also secretary of the Melbourne branch of the PEN club
Blewett worked as a teacher as a young woman, then as a secretary and stenographer for a number of large companies in Melbourne, including at the Melbourne Head Office of Thomas Cook Travel where she worked from 1947 to 1951. During this time she wrote articles on Australia for Cook's Staff Magazine.
Leaving Cook's, she moved to London in 1951. She and her sister, Elizabeth Blewett who was also a writer and teachers, lived there for most of the decade before returning to Australia at the end of 1959. She traveled frequently throughout Europe and the UK, representing Australia at International PEN meetings in a number of countries. Blewett became a literary agent upon her return to Australia, representing an unknown number of Australian writers including Hesba Brinsmead, author of the enormously successful Pastures of the Blue Crane.
Blewett's published two novels: Vision (1931) under the pseudonym Anne Praize, and Pattern for a Scandal (1948), published under her own name. She also wrote at least 12 plays for stage and radio. Her play, Quiet Night was produced widely in Australia and in the United Kingdom. The First Joanna : A Play in Three Acts won the Playwrights Advisory Board award for best play in 1947 and received numerous productions in 1948, including as a radio play. J. C. Williamson were interested in producing the play and a contract was entered into in the late 1940s. Maxwell Wray also optioned the play for a London season, but it was not produced. It was adapted to television in 1961 and produced on the ABC.
Two of Dorothy Blewett's sisters, Esme Rice and Elizabeth Blewett were writers, and another sister, Rowena Blewett, ran a correspondence school called 'Merry Days' that served families living in rural and remote regions of Australia and expatriate families.
In 2016, Dorothy Blewett's The First Joanna was published by AustLit in five different versions. It was produced by drama students at The University of Queensland under the directorship of Sue Rider. It was the play's first performance in 54 years.
Blewett wrote other novels, plays, short stories, and articles: some of which remain unpublished. She also adapted others writers work for radio; her full publication record is gradually becoming clear as research continues. (2018)
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