Prichard, Katherine Susannah

Born Dec. 4, 1884, in Levuka, Fiji; died Oct. 2, 1969, in Greenmount, near the city of Perth, Western Australia. Australian writer. Member of the Communist Party of Australia since 1920.

Prichard was educated at the Women’s College of South Melbourne and worked as a journalist. She helped develop the realistic novel in Australia. The humanism of her novels is attested by their affirmation of an ordinary person’s right to happiness. This is seen in The Pioneers (1915), Black Opal (1921), Working Bullocks (1926), Coonardoo (1929), and Haxby’s Circus (1930); the true hero of these works is the common man.

Prichard’s visit to the USSR in 1933 was reflected in her book of sketches The Real Russia (1935). The trilogy The Roaring Nineties (1946), Golden Miles (1948), and Winged Seeds (1950) dealt with the labor movement in Western Australia, the growth of Australian national consciousness, and anti-imperialist attitudes. These novels were noted for their epic grasp of social life, their lyricism, and their authenticity and political astuteness. Prichard also wrote short stories, poems, plays, literary critiques, and memoirs.