Doris Gentile
Doris Gentile | |
---|---|
Born | Doris May Dinham 30 October 1894 Woolwich, New South Wales |
Died | 16 May 1972 Little Bay, New South Wales, Australia | (aged 77)
Pen name | D. Manners-Sutton |
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[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Pesman, Ros (1996). "Gentile, Doris May (1894–1972)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. 14. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 5 January 2020 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
- ^ "SYDNEY WOMAN'S TREK". The Register. South Australia. 30 September 1926. p. 9. Retrieved 5 January 2020 – via Trove.
- ^ "Public Place Names (Franklin) Determination 2006 (No 1)". ACT Legislation Register. ACT Government. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
- 1894 births
- 1972 deaths
- 20th-century Australian novelists
- 20th-century Australian women writers
- 20th-century Australian short story writers