Dal Stivens

Dallas George (Dal) Stivens was born in Blayney, NSW, on 31 December 1911. His father was F.H. Stivens, a country bank accountant and later bank manager. His mother was a relative of J.H.M. Abbott, a prolific contributor to The Bulletin and The Lone Hand.

Dal was educated at West Wyalong Public School and Barker College, Hornsby. He had hoped to study either law or architecture at University, but the Depression meant his parents could not afford to send him there. In 1945 Stivens married Winifred Wright, with whom he had two children. They were divorced in 1977.

Initially Stivens followed in his father's footsteps, commencing his working life as a clerk in the Commercial Bank. He left this work soon after the publication in 1936 of his first book of short stories, The tramp and other stories, and began to work as a freelance journalist. In 1939-1942 he was on the staff of the Sydney Daily Telegraph. Stivens' real interest was in writing short stories and novels. To finance this interest, he wrote articles that did not require his emotional involvement with events and people, thus preserving his integrity and style as a creative writer.

From 1943 to 1944 Stivens was employed by Army Education editing and writing pamphlets. Later in 1944 he joined the Department of Information, writing for the Department about sport and literature and producing an Australiana column. While with the Department, Stivens was seconded as Press Officer to the Labor Minister Arthur Calwell, during which time he wrote the text of the book How many Australians tomorrow?

Dal jointly won third prize in The Sydney Morning Herald Novel Competition of 1948 for his novel Jimmy Brockett : portrait of a notable Australian under its manuscript title “The Entrepreneur”. This work is available through the Classic Australian Works project.

In 1949 Stivens took up the position of Press Officer at Australia House in London. He resigned from this job in 1950 to become a freelance writer and his short stories were regularly published in Lilliput, The Times Literary Supplement, The Observer and John O'London's Weekly, as well as being broadcast on the BBC. A Commonwealth Literary Fund Grant in 1951 enabled him to work on a collection of short stories, later published as The gambling ghost. While in London, he began writing special interest articles on natural history and travel for American and European magazines.

Stivens returned to Australia with his young family in 1958. He continued to write articles and short stories. His association in London with the British Society of Authors led him to lobby, together with Jill Hellyer and Walter Stone, for the establishment of an equivalent Australian body. In 1963, the Australian Society of Authors was formed, with Stivens its first President.

Having initially anticipated a six-month involvement with the Society, Stivens was to be closely involved with it for its first eleven years, in the roles of both President (1963-64 and 1966-73) and Vice-President (1964-66). Stivens turned his considerable talents to the task of establishing rights of Australian authors within the commercial sphere. He co-authored the Society's first book on contracts, provided numerous articles for the press and for the Society's own publications and spoke at meetings and seminars. In 1967 Stivens was honoured with the title Foundation President, and in 1977 was made a Life Member of the Society.

Apart from the short stories and articles which appeared in newspapers, magazines and journals, Stivens published several collections of his short stories and four novels, one of which, A horse of air, won the Miles Franklin Award in 1970. He also published a children's book, The bushranger (1978) and a book on natural history entitled The incredible egg. Stivens' fiction is widely admired for its humour and descriptions of the bush, especially his tall tales and cricketing stories.

In 1981 Stivens won the Patrick White Award for his contribution to Australian Literature and in 1994 he was honoured with a Special Achievement Award in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards. The Australian Folklore Association honoured Stivens' achievements with publication of a 35-page tribute to him in its journal Australian Folklore, No. 11, July 1996.

Dal also wrote under the pseudonyms Jack Tarrant, John Sidney, Sam Johnson and L'Arva Street. Dal was educated at West Wyalong Public School and Barker College, Hornsby. He had hoped to study either law or architecture at University, but the Depression meant his parents could not afford to send him there. In 1945 Stivens married Winifred Wright, with whom he had two children. They were divorced in 1977.

Initially Stivens followed in his father's footsteps, commencing his working life as a clerk in the Commercial Bank. He left this work soon after the publication in 1936 of his first book of short stories, The tramp and other stories, and began to work as a freelance journalist. In 1939-1942 he was on the staff of the Sydney Daily Telegraph. Stivens' real interest was in writing short stories and novels. To finance this interest, he wrote articles that did not require his emotional involvement with events and people, thus preserving his integrity and style as a creative writer.

From 1943 to 1944 Stivens was employed by Army Education editing and writing pamphlets. Later in 1944 he joined the Department of Information, writing for the Department about sport and literature and producing an Australiana column. While with the Department, Stivens was seconded as Press Officer to the Labor Minister Arthur Calwell, during which time he wrote the text of the book How many Australians tomorrow?

Dal jointly won third prize in The Sydney Morning Herald Novel Competition of 1948 for his novel Jimmy Brockett : portrait of a notable Australian under its manuscript title “The Entrepreneur”. This work is available through the Classic Australian Works project.

In 1949 Stivens took up the position of Press Officer at Australia House in London. He resigned from this job in 1950 to become a freelance writer and his short stories were regularly published in Lilliput, The Times Literary Supplement, The Observer and John O'London's Weekly, as well as being broadcast on the BBC. A Commonwealth Literary Fund Grant in 1951 enabled him to work on a collection of short stories, later published as The gambling ghost. While in London, he began writing special interest articles on natural history and travel for American and European magazines.

Stivens returned to Australia with his young family in 1958. He continued to write articles and short stories. His association in London with the British Society of Authors led him to lobby, together with Jill Hellyer and Walter Stone, for the establishment of an equivalent Australian body. In 1963, the Australian Society of Authors was formed, with Stivens its first President.

Having initially anticipated a six-month involvement with the Society, Stivens was to be closely involved with it for its first eleven years, in the roles of both President (1963-64 and 1966-73) and Vice-President (1964-66). Stivens turned his considerable talents to the task of establishing rights of Australian authors within the commercial sphere. He co-authored the Society's first book on contracts, provided numerous articles for the press and for the Society's own publications and spoke at meetings and seminars. In 1967 Stivens was honoured with the title Foundation President, and in 1977 was made a Life Member of the Society.

Apart from the short stories and articles which appeared in newspapers, magazines and journals, Stivens published several collections of his short stories and four novels, one of which, A horse of air, won the Miles Franklin Award in 1970. He also published a children's book, The bushranger (1978) and a book on natural history entitled The incredible egg. Stivens' fiction is widely admired for its humour and descriptions of the bush, especially his tall tales and cricketing stories.

In 1981 Stivens won the Patrick White Award for his contribution to Australian Literature and in 1994 he was honoured with a Special Achievement Award in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards. The Australian Folklore Association honoured Stivens' achievements with publication of a 35-page tribute to him in its journal Australian Folklore, No. 11, July 1996.

Dal also wrote under the pseudonyms Jack Tarrant, John Sidney, Sam Johnson and L'Arva Street.

Dal died in Sydney on 15 June 1997 after many years of domesticity in Lindfield, NSW, with Juanita Cragen, to whom he left his literary estate. On her death in 2007, Juanita left the estate to the Australian Society of Authors.