Charmian Clift

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Charmian Clift (30 August 1923 – 8 July 1969) was an Australian writer and essayist during the mid 20th Century. She was the second wife of Australian journalist George Johnston.

Clift was born in Kiama, New South Wales. She married Johnston in 1947. They had three children, the eldest of which was the poet Martin Johnston. After Clift and Johnston's collaboration, "High Valley" (1949), won them recognition as writers, they left Australia with their young family, working in London before relocating to the Greek Islands to try living by the pen. Johnston returned to Australia to receive the accolades of his Miles Franklin Award Winner, "My Brother Jack". Clift moved back to Sydney with their children in 1964, after which her novels "Mermaid Singing", "Peel Me a Lotus," and "Honour's Mimic" became successes. She was also well-known for her essays in Sydney and Melbourne newspapers, which included "Images in Aspic" and "The World of Charmian Clift." In the meantime, Clift and Johnston's marriage was disintegrating under the pressures of their drinking habits and the problems their children had settling into life in Sydney.

On July 8, 1969, the eve of the publication of Johnston's "Clean Straw For Nothing," Clift committed suicide by taking an overdose of barbiturates in Mosman, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Her ashes were later scattered in the rose garden of the Northern Suburbs Crematorium, in Sydney.

[edit] Works

  • Clift, Charmain, 'Mermaid Singing', Indianapolis, 1956
  • Clift, Charmain, 'Peel me a Lotus', London, 1959
  • Clift, Charmain, 'Walk to the Paradise Gardens', London, 1960
  • Clift, Charmain, 'Honour's Mimic', London, 1964
  • Clift, Charmain, 'Images in Aspic', Selected Essays, Sydney, 1965
  • Clift, Charmain, 'The World of Charmain Clift', Sydney, 1970
  • Clift, Charmain, 'Trouble in Lotus Land, Sydney, 1990
  • Clift, Charmain, 'Being alone with Oneself', Sydney, 1991

[edit] References

  • Wheatley, N. 2001, The Life and Myth of Charmian Clift, Flamingo (Harper Collins), Sydney.
  • Brown, M. 2004, Charmian and George, Rosenberg, Sydney.

[edit] External links


Persondata
NAME Clift, Charmian
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION Mid-twentieth century Australian writer and essayist
DATE OF BIRTH August 30, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Kiama, New South Wales, Australia
DATE OF DEATH July 8, 1969
PLACE OF DEATH Sydney, New South Wales, Australia