Doris Gentile

Doris May Gentile (née Dinham; 30 October 1894 – 16 May 1972) was an Australian novelist and short story writer, who travelled and wrote in Africa, Europe and Canada from 1925 until the Second World War.

Early life[]

She was born Doris May Dinham in the Sydney suburb of Woolwich—her parents were English engraver Harry Charles Dinham and his Tasmanian-born wife Ida Margaret Pybus.^[1]

Writing career[]

Dinham began writing at the age of 7, with a story published in The Australasian. Subsequently writing for that publications including The Sydney Mail and the Sunraysia Daily, she published her novel, A Marked Soul, in 1923.^[1]

In June 1925, Dinham departed Australia seeking "high adventure" and made her way to Africa, where she worked in South Africa for a tobacco company, and continued publishing her writing in local newspapers. In 1926, she trekked from Cape Town to the Belgian Congo, a journey which made headlines in Australia. She remarked to journalists in London: "Novelists must revise their conception of 'Darkest Africa' as a realm of adventure."—elaborating that cars, schools and hospitals were widespread on the continent.^[2] Her time in Africa resulted in two novels: Black God and The Last Secret, both of which featured African settings and characters.^[1]

Honours[]

Gentile Street in the Canberra suburb of Franklin is named after Doris Gentile.^[3]

References[]