Patrick White

Patrick White (May 28, 1912 – September 30, 1990) was an Australian author. His writings make great use of the stream of consciousness technique. His first book, "The Ploughman and Other Poems", was published in 1935, and he went on to write 27 novels and eight plays. He received the 1973 Nobel Prize for Literature - the only Australian to be so honoured.

The twilight years

He supported Gough Whitlam's Labor government of 1972 to 1975, and after Whitlam was ousted in the 1975 constitutional crisis, became particularly anti-royalist. He made a rare appearance on national television to make his views known.

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During the 1970s, White?s health began to deteriorate – his teeth were crumbling, his eyesight was failing and he had chronic lung problems. In 1979, his novel The Twyborn Affair was short-listed for the Booker Prize, but White requested that it be removed, in order to give younger writers a chance. Soon after, White announced that he had written his last novel, and in the future, he would only write for radio or the stage.

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In 1981, White published his autobiography, Flaws in the Glass: A Self-Portrait, which explored several issues he had said little about publicly beforehand, such as his homosexuality and his refusal to accept the Nobel Prize personally. On Palm Sunday, 1982, White addressed a crowd of 30,000 people, calling for a ban on uranium mining and for the destruction of nuclear weapons.

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In 1986 he published one last novel, Memoirs of Many in One, though that was curiously attributed as being "by Alex Xenophon Demirjan Gray, edited by Patrick White". In the same year, his novel Voss was turned into an opera. White refused to see it when it was first performed at the Adelaide Festival, because Queen Elizabeth II had been invited, instead choosing to see it in Sydney.

Related Topics:
Adelaide Festival - Queen Elizabeth II

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In 1987, White wrote Three Uneasy Pieces, with his musings on ageing and our efforts to achieve aesthetic perfection. When David Marr finished his biography of White in July 1990, White sat with him for nine days going over the details.

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White passed away on September 30, 1990 after a long illness.

Related Topics:
September 30 - 1990

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