Dorothy Hewett

Dorothy Hewett (1923–2002) was an Australian poet, novelist, and playwright. She produced three novels – Bobbin Up (1959), Neap Tide (1999), and The Toucher (1993) – twelve poetry collections, thirteen plays, and the first volume of her autobiography, Wild Card (1990). Hewett’s writing was strongly informed by her experiences in working-class Perth and Sydney. A long-term supporter of the Communist party, Hewett often challenged the sexual, religious, and political norms of her time.

'At the end of the march' by Dorothy Hewett

April 1994, no. 159 • 01 April 1994

On the 28th ultimo, a warrant under the Undesirable Immigrants Exclusion Act, was issued by the Attorney General for the arrest of Noel Jack Counihan pending his deportation to Australia. Description: Age about thirty, height 5ft. 10in., native of Australia, slight build, dark-brown hair, thin features: usually well-dressed in a navy-blue suit; sometimes draws caricature sketches for newspapers; ... (read more)

Dorothy Hewett reviews 'Bluebeard in Drag' by Tracy Ryan

September 1997, no. 194 • 01 September 1997

In Tracy Ryan’s poems there are no safe houses, the walls of domesticity keep falling in and she is the clear-eyed tightrope walker negotiating a perilous foothold. Her lines zigzag across the page: ... (read more)

Dorothy Hewett reviews 'The Hanging of Jean Lee' by Jordie Albiston

May 1999, no. 210 • 03 June 2021

The Hanging of Jean Lee is the third verse novel I have reviewed recently, except that this one is closer to the verse documentary. As one might expect, it is a grim, tough story of the deterioration of a young woman’s life and its brutal end. It is divided into four sections with deliberately cold-hearted titles, Personal Pages, Entertainment Section, Crime Supplement and Death Notices. The Ha ... (read more)

'This Version of Love' a poem by Dorothy Hewett

March 2011, no. 329 • 12 April 2011

This Version of Love ... (read more)