John Morrison (writer)

John Gordon Morrison AM (29 January 1904 – 11 May 1998)[1] was an English-born Australian novelist and short story writer.

John Morrison
BornJohn Gordon Morrison
(1904-01-29)January 29, 1904
Sunderland, U.K.
DiedMay 11, 1998(1998-05-11) (aged 94)
Melbourne
Resting placeMelbourne
OccupationLabourer, gardener and writer
LanguageEnglish
ResidenceMelbourne
NationalityBritish
CitizenshipAustralian
GenreFiction
Notable worksThe Creeping City (1949), Port of Call (1950)
SpouseFrances Jones (d.1967)
Rachel Gordon (m.1969)

Life

John Morrison was born in Sunderland, England on 29 January 1904.[1][2] His interest in flora and the natural world saw him begin work at the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens at the age of 14.[3] After two and a half years there he went to work as a learner-gardener for a wealthy shipowner at East Boldon

His first wife was Frances Jones (?-1967).[4] They had two children: John, and Marie.[1] He married his second wife, Rachel Gordon (?-1997), in 1969.[1]

Australia

He migrated to Australia in 1923 and initially worked on sheep-stations in New South Wales.

His first Australian job was in the garden of historic Zara Station at Wanganella, outback of Deniliquin. The wide open spaces gave him a sense of freedom: warm friendship with his mates imbued him with the confidence to explore the Australian working class milieu in his stories, and he determined to live out his life in this place of "glamor and independence".
Family pressure took him back to England in 1927 — there was a crippled brother suffering from infantile paralysis — but the brief visit was disastrous due to his intense homesickness for Australia. From this unhappy time comes one of his best short stories, The Incense Burner.[5] An Aussie digger exiled to a shabby London rooming house lives and dies with no comfort other than the scent of smouldering eucalyptus leaves.[1]

On his return to Australia, he and Frances settled in Melbourne in 1928, where he began a ten-year stint working on the Melbourne waterfront and, later, as a gardner.[6] He subsequently joined the Communist Party of Australia.[7] He worked as a gardener at Caulfield Grammar School from 1950 to 1963.

Writer

He published his first stories under the name of "Gordon", and later as "John Morrison",[8] in trade union publications during this time. He was later a member of the Realist Writers Group and went on to publish a number of short stories in newspapers,[9][10][11][12] two novels, four collections of stories and a book of essays.

After leaving the waterfront he worked as a jobbing gardener based in Mentone.[13] He later worked as a gardner at Caulfield Grammar School until 1963, when he became a full-time writer; publishing also book reviews and journalism.

Morrison, “likened the writer to the man who comes across an interesting rock or stone and puts it in his pocket. For months, perhaps years, he carries it about, rolling it in his hands from time to time until it is polished. His stories, he said, were like these stones.”[14]

His literary friends friends and associates included John Behan, Alan Marshall, Frank Dalby Davison, Frank Hardy and Judah Waten. He was a member of the Realist Writers Group.[15][16]

Awards

He won a number of short story competitions.[17][18]

He was awarded a Commonwealth Literary Fund grant in both 1948 and 1949,[19][20][21] the Gold Medal of the Australian Literature Society in 1963,[22] and the Patrick White Literary Award in 1986.[23][24] He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 1989 Queens Birthday Honours List.[25]

Works

Novels
  • The Creeping City (1949)
  • Port of Call (1950)

Story collections
  • Sailors Belong Ships (1947)
  • Black Cargo (1955)
  • Twenty-Three : Stories (1962)[26]
  • John Morrison, Selected Stories (1972)
  • North Wind (1982)
  • Stories of the Waterfront (1984)
  • This Freedom (1985)
  • The Best Stories of John Morrison (1988)

Non-fiction
  • Australian by Choice (essays, 1973)
  • The Happy Warrior (memoirs, 1987)

Journalism

Death

He died in Melbourne on 11 May 1998.[1]

Legacy

In 1974, the Victorian branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers instituted The John Morrison Short Story Award, "an award for a story of up to 3000 words on any theme".[27]

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See also

Footnotes
  1. Jones, Philip, "Obituary: John Gordon Morrison: Author", The Age, (Friday, 22 May 1998), p.24.
  2. Galimond, Paul, "John Morrison: Writer of Proletarian Life", Sydney Review of Books, 11 August 2015.
  3. John Morrison, “Blue and Yellow Macaw,” Overland, 40, 1968, pp.17-19. Reprinted in, John Morrison, The Happy Warrior (1987), Fairfield (Victoria), Pascoe Publishing, pp.137-41. ISBN 0-947087-08-7
  4. "John Gordon Morrison: He Said He Would Write", Smith's Weekly, (Saturday, 1 March 1947), p.15.
  5. Morrison, John, "The Incense-burner", Meanjin, Vol.13, No.1, (Autumn 1954), pp.49-61.
  6. John Morrison, The Happy Warrior (1987), Melbourne, Pascoe Publishing, p.4.
  7. M.P.s' New Attack on Literary Fund, The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday, 5 September 1952), p.3.
  8. For example, Morrison, John, "No Admittance! except on business", The (Sydney) Tribune, (Thursday, 20 July 1944), p.4; Morrison, John, "Powder Ground", The Australasian, (Saturday, 3 November 1945), pp.12, 52, 54, 55; Morrison, John, "The Delightful Voice", The Australasian, (Saturday, 5 January 1946), p.16; Morrison, John, "All I Ask", The Australasian, (Saturday, 16 March 1946), pp.22, 23, etc.
  9. Morrison, John, "Lascar Laughs Last", Supplement to The (Adelaide) Mail, (Saturday, 8 September 1945), p.1.
  10. The Argus Competition Short Story: "At This Very Moment", by John Morrison, The Argus, (Saturday, 5 May 1945), p.10
  11. Morrison, John, "Return of a Warrior", The (Sydney) Tribune, (Wednesday, 6 January 1954), p.5.
  12. Morrison, John, "Way of Life", The (Sydney) Tribune, (Wednesday, 12 March 1958), p.7.
  13. Stephen Murray-Smith, introduction, p.x, in, John Morrison, The best stories of John Morrison, Penguin, Melbourne, 1988.
  14. Morrison, The Happy Warrior, p.7-8.
  15. See: Martin, David, "Three Realists in Search of Reality", Meanjin, Vol.18, No.3, (1959), pp.305-322.
  16. For example: Morrison, John, "What shall we do about the Australian tradition", The Realist (Melbourne), no. 15, (1964), pp.24-26.
  17. Results of Literary Competitions, The (Hobart) Mercury, (Friday, 3 December 1943), p.7.
  18. Short Story Competition, The West Australian, (Thursday, 5 April 1945), p.6.
  19. Commonwealth Literary Fund, The Central Queensland Herald, (Thursday, 28 October 1948), p.10; Unionist gets literary grant, The Labor Call, (Friday, 29 October 1948), p.7.
  20. Waterfront to Lose a Novelist, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 19 August 1949), p.3; Hook Pays Off Best, The Brisbane Telegraph, (Sunday, 21 August 1949) p.8.
  21. Authors' Fund: Clash in Parlt., The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph, (Friday, 5 September 1952), p.6.
  22. Australian Literary Studies Gold Medal: Winners.
  23. "Patrick White Literary Award, literaryawards.com.au". Archived from the original on 25 February 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  24. Wharfie wins award, The Canberra Times, (Saturday, 8 November 1986), p.7.
  25. The Queen's Birthday 1989 Honours: The Order of Australia: To be Members in the General Division (AM): John Gordon Morrison, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, (No.S192, (Monday, 12 June 1989), p.4; Queen's Birthday Honors: Members of the Order of Australia, The Age, (Monday, 12 June 1989), p.9.
  26. H. McC., "John Morrison and his people, The (Sydney) Tribune, (Wednesday, 8 August 1962), p.7.
  27. The last award (as of 22 November 2018) was made in 2015 to Free Vreman for her short story "for Flight" (see: Free Vreman, Austlit).

Further reading

Portraits
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