Dymphna Cusack (1902-81)

Brief Biography

Dymphna Cusack was born in Wyalong in New South Wales in 1902 and was educated at St Ursula's College, Armidale, and graduated from Sydney University with an Honours Degree in Arts and a Diploma of Education. She worked as a teacher until her early retirement in 1944 due to ill-health.

Cusack was awarded the Australia Medal in 1981 for her contribution to Australian literature. Dymphna Cusack died in 1981.

Bibliography

Novels
Jungfrau 1936
Pioneers on Parade 1939 with Miles Franklin
Come in Spinner 1951, with Florence James
Say No to Death 1951
Southern Steel 1953
The Sun in Exile 1955
Heat Wave in Berlin 1961
Picnic Races 1962
Black Lightning 1964
The Sun is Not Enough 1967
The Half-Burnt Tree 1969
A Bough in Hell 1971

Drama
Shallow Cups 1934 in Eight Plays by Australians
Red Sky at Morning 1942
Morning Sacrifice 1943
Three Australian Three Act Plays 1950
   comprising Comets Soon Pass, Shoulder the Sky, and Morning Sacrifice
The Golden Girls 1955
Pacific Paradise 1963

Travel
Chinese Women Speak 1958
Holidays Among the Russians 1964
Illyria Reborn 1966

Children's
Kanga-Bee and Kanga-bo 1945
Four Winds and a Family 1947, with Florence James

Non-Fiction
Caddie, the Story of a Barmaid 1953 - edited and introduced

Biography
Dymphna 1975, written by her husband Norman Freehill
A Window in the Dark 1991, introduced and edited by Debra Adelaide
Yarn Spinners. A Story in Letters: Dymphna Cusack, Florence James, Miles Franklin 2001, edited by Marilla North

Film Adaptations
Red Sky at Morning was filmed in 1944.
Caddie, the Story of a Barmaid produced as the film Caddie in 1976, starring Helen Morse and Jack Thompson, directed by Donald Crombie.
Come in Spinner was produced as a television series by the Australian Broadcasting Commission in 1989.

This page and its contents are copyright © 1997-2006 by Perry Middlemiss, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.

Last modified: December 2, 2006.