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'Zora Cross's fame was extraordinary in 1918. Her name was fashionably given to children born in subsequent years. and was even bestowed upon a racehorse. The publisher George Robertson had initially rejected her Songs of Love and life sight unseen but. on reading the poems in an edition prepared by his former employee James Tyrell. was so struck with the contents that he published a more handsome version. He offered Cross a contract equalled in generosity only by that signed with CJ. Dennis for The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke. Prior to this, Cross had worked as a schoolteacher, actress, and journalist. She remained a journalist from 1915 until her death in 1964. Her literary career readied its peak in the 1930s. In 1918, the success of Songs of Love and Life was consolidated with another collection of poems, The Lilt of Life, and The City of Riddle-me-ree, a narrative poem for children, and her splendid Elegy on an Australian Schoolboy appeared in 1920.' (Introduction)
