Elizabeth Jolley
A late-blooming writer whose darkly comic novels dissected the quiet desperations of suburban and rural Australian life.
1923–2007 (age 84)·Australian writer·Birthday: June 4·The Greatest Generation
Biography
Elizabeth Jolley's literary voice was forged through a lifetime of observation before it ever reached print. Born in England to a fraught family life and trained as a nurse, she carried a store of eccentric characters and emotional complexities with her when she emigrated to Western Australia in 1959. While raising a family and working various jobs, she wrote steadily, accumulating a formidable stack of rejections. Her breakthrough came at 53, an age when many writers might have given up. The stories and novels that followed were unlike anything in Australian literature: unsettling, funny, and profoundly compassionate studies of misfits, lonely farmers, and women navigating stifling conventions. Her prose, spare and sharp, could pivot from the mundane to the tragic in a single line. Beyond her own writing, she became a revered and nurturing teacher of creative writing at Curtin University, shaping a generation of Australian authors with her rigorous yet generous workshops.
The Greatest Generation
1901–1927
Grew up during the Depression, fought World War II, and built the postwar economic boom. Defined by shared sacrifice, institutional trust, and a belief that hard work and loyalty would be rewarded.
Elizabeth was born in 1923, placing them squarely in The Greatest Generation. The events that shaped this generation — world wars, depression, and rapid industrialization — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Elizabeth Was Born
The biggest hits of 1923
#1 Movie
The Covered Wagon
Elizabeth's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1923Born
The Great Kanto earthquake devastates Tokyo
President: Calvin Coolidge"Yes! We Have No Bananas" — Billy Jones
1928Started school
Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin; Mickey Mouse debuts
President: Calvin Coolidge"Ol' Man River" — Paul WhitemanBest Picture: Wings
1936Became a teenager
Jesse Owens wins four golds at the Berlin Olympics
Gas: $0.19/galPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"The Way You Look Tonight" — Fred AstaireBest Picture: The Great Ziegfeld
1939Could drive
World War II begins; The Wizard of Oz premieres
Gas: $0.19/galMin wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Over the Rainbow" — Judy GarlandBest Picture: Gone with the Wind
1941Could vote
Pearl Harbor attack brings the US into WWII
Gas: $0.19/galHome: $3,060Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Chattanooga Choo Choo" — Glenn MillerBest Picture: How Green Was My Valley
1944Turned 21
D-Day: Allied forces land at Normandy
Gas: $0.21/galHome: $3,400Min wage: $0.30/hrPresident: Franklin D. Roosevelt"Swinging on a Star" — Bing CrosbyBest Picture: Going My Way
1953Turned 30
DNA structure discovered by Watson and Crick
Gas: $0.27/galHome: $8,750Min wage: $0.75/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"Song from Moulin Rouge" — Percy FaithBest Picture: From Here to Eternity
1963Turned 40
JFK assassinated in Dallas; Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech
Gas: $0.31/galHome: $13,100Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"Sugar Shack" — Jimmy Gilmer & The FireballsBest Picture: Tom Jones
1973Turned 50
US withdraws from Vietnam; Roe v. Wade decided
Gas: $0.39/galHome: $22,100Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree" — Tony Orlando & DawnBest Picture: The Sting
1983Turned 60
Internet adopts TCP/IP, creating the modern internet
Gas: $1.16/galHome: $57,700Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: Ronald Reagan"Every Breath You Take" — The PoliceBest Picture: Terms of Endearment
1993Turned 70
European Union officially established
Gas: $1.11/galHome: $86,600Min wage: $4.25/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"I Will Always Love You" — Whitney HoustonBest Picture: Schindler's List
2003Turned 80
US invades Iraq; Human Genome Project completed
Gas: $1.59/galHome: $146,000Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"In Da Club" — 50 CentBest Picture: The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King
2007Died at 84
iPhone released; Great Recession begins
Gas: $2.80/galHome: $172,600Min wage: $5.85/hrPresident: George W. Bush"Irreplaceable" — BeyonceBest Picture: No Country for Old Men
Key Achievements
- Published her first book, the short story collection 'Five Acre Virgin', at the age of 53.
- Won the Miles Franklin Award in 1986 for her novel 'The Well'.
- Was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1998.
- Mentored numerous prominent Australian writers, including Tim Winton, as a teacher at Curtin University.
Did You Know?
She worked as a nurse, a door-to-door saleswoman for linen, and a poultry farmer before her writing career took off.
She wrote many of her early stories and novels in longhand while sitting in her car.
Her personal papers, including over 150 draft novels, are held in the National Library of Australia.
She was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1988.
“Reading a book is like re-writing it for yourself. You bring to a novel, anything, all your experience of the world. You bring your history and you read it in your own terms.”
