Charmian Clift (30 August 1923 – 8 July 1969) was an Australian writer. She was the second wife and literary collaborator of George Johnston.

Early life

Clift was born 30 August 1923 in

Kiama Kiama may refer to: * Electoral district of Kiama, a seat in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly * Kiama, New South Wales, a town * Kiama (spider), a genus of spiders *Municipality of Kiama The Municipality of Kiama is a local government ar ...

, a coastal town 120 kilometres south of Sydney. In 1941 she won a Beach Girl competition run by ''Pix'' magazine and soon after moved to Sydney where she did modelling work to supplement her main job as an usherette at the Minerva Theatre. In 1942, aged 19, she became pregnant and gave up her child for adoption. Her child grew up to become Suzanne Chick, who at the age of 48 discovered who her birth mother was, and wrote a book about the experience. One of Suzanne Chick's children is the writer, survivalist, and television host Gina Chick. In April 1943 Clift enlisted in the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia. It is a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF), along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army ...

, where she gained the rank of Lance Bombardier in charge of a group of gunners housed in Drummoyne.

Career

After Clift and husband George Johnston's collaboration ''High Valley'' (1949) won them recognition as writers, they left Australia with their young family, working in London. In November 1954 they relocated to the

Greek island Greece has many islands, with estimates ranging from somewhere around 1,200 to 6,000, depending on the minimum size to take into account. The number of inhabited islands is variously cited as between 166 and 227. The largest Greek island by ...

Kalymnos Kalymnos (; ) is a Greek island and municipality in the southeastern Aegean Sea. It belongs to the Dodecanese island chain, between the islands of Kos (south, at a distance of ) and Leros (north, at a distance of less than ): the latter is lin ...

and later Hydra to try living by the pen. She met the songwriter

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...

while there in 1960. Johnston returned to Australia to receive the accolades of his

Miles Franklin Award The Miles Franklin Literary Award is an annual literary prize awarded to "a novel which is of the highest literary merit and presents Australian life in any of its phases". The award was set up according to the Will (law), will of Miles Franklin ...

-winner ''

My Brother Jack ''My Brother Jack'' is a classic 1964 Australian novel by writer George Johnston. It is part of a trilogy centering on the character of David Meredith. The other books in the trilogy are '' Clean Straw for Nothing'' and '' A Cartload of Clay''. ...

''. Clift moved back to Sydney with their children in 1964, after which her memoirs ''Mermaid Singing'' and ''Peel Me a Lotus'' and her novel ''Honour's Mimic'' became successes. She was also well known for the 240 essays she wrote between 1964 and 1969 for ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' and '' The Herald'' in Melbourne. They were collected in the books ''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 8 July 1969, the eve of the publication of Johnston's novel '' Clean Straw for Nothing'', Clift committed suicide by taking an overdose of

barbiturate Barbiturates are a class of depressant, depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medication, medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological a ...

s in

Mosman Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

, a Sydney suburb, while considerably affected by alcohol. Academics Paul Genoni and Tanya Dalziell suggest in their 2018 book ''Half the Perfect World'' that it was the impending publication of Johnston's novel, which Clift knew would lay bare her infidelities while on the island of Hydra, which prompted her to suicide. In her posthumously published article ''My Husband George'' in that month's edition of '' POL'' magazine, she wrote: Clift's autobiographical books ''Mermaid Singing'' and ''Peel Me A Lotus'' were reissued by Muswell Press in 2021, with new introductions written by novelist

Polly Samson Polly Samson (born 29 April 1962) is an English novelist, lyricist and journalist. She is married to the musician David Gilmour and has written lyrics for many of his songs, including albums with his band Pink Floyd. Life and career Samson's f ...

, whose own 2020 bestselling novel A Theatre For Dreamers is a fictionalized account of life on Hydra in the 1960s, featuring real-life characters including Clift, Johnston and Cohen.

Death

Clift died by suicide on 8 July 1969. Her ashes were later scattered in the rose garden of the

Northern Suburbs Crematorium The Northern Suburbs Crematorium, officially Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens and Crematorium, is a crematorium in North Ryde, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. It was officially opened on 28 October 1933, and the first cremation t ...

in Sydney.

Personal life

She met married war correspondent George Johnston in 1945 while both were enlisted in the war effort. Meeting again in 1946 while both working at '' The Argus'', the two writers commenced an affair, for which they were both dismissed by their employer. They married in 1947 and had three children. The eldest was the poet Martin Johnston who was born in 1947; their daughter Shane was born in 1950 and Jason in 1956.

Portrayals

She is depicted in the drama television series '' So Long, Marianne'', in which she is portrayed by

Anna Torv Anna Torv (born 7 June 1979) is an Australian actress. Her performance as Olivia Dunham in the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox science fiction series ''Fringe (TV series), Fringe'' (2008–2013) earned her four consecutive Saturn Award for Best A ...

.Greg David
"Macha Grenon, Éric Bruneau, Patrick Watson and Kim Lévesque Lizotte join NRK and Crave original drama So Long, Marianne"
''TV, eh?'', August 24, 2023.

Commemoration

In November 2023 it was announced that Clift was one of eight women chosen to be commemorated in the second round of blue plaques sponsored by the Government of New South Wales alongside, among others, Kathleen Butler, godmother of Sydney Harbour Bridge; Emma Jane Callaghan, an Aboriginal midwife and activist; philanthropist Susan Katherina Schardt; journalist

Dorothy Drain Dorothy Drain (16 August 1909 – 31 May 1996) was an Australian journalist, columnist, war correspondent, editor and poet. She worked as a journalist with ''The Australian Women's Weekly'' for 38 years, with the final five years being as its ...

; Pearl Mary Gibbs, an Aboriginal rights movement activist; and charity worker Grace Emily Munro.

Bibliography

Novels

* ''High Valley'' (with George Johnston), 1949 * ''The Big Chariot'' (with Johnston), 1953 * '' The Sponge Divers'' (with Johnston), 1955 * ''Walk to the Paradise Gardens'', 1960 * ''Honour's Mimic'', 1964

Short stories and collections

* ''Strong Man from Piraeus and Other Stories'', (with Johnston) 1983

Autobiography

* ''Mermaid Singing'', Indianapolis, 1956 * ''Peel Me a Lotus'', London, 1959

Screenplay

*''My Brother Jack'' (1965)

Non-fiction

* ''Images in Aspic'', Selected Essays, Sydney, 1965 * ''The World of Charmian Clift'', Sydney, 1970 * ''Trouble in Lotus Land'', Sydney, 1990 * ''Being Alone with Oneself'', Sydney, 1991 * ''Charmian Clift: Selected Essays'', 2001

References

External links

Charmian Clift Website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clift, Charmian 1923 births 1969 suicides 1969 deaths Australian women novelists Drug-related suicides in Australia Suicides in New South Wales 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian women writers Australian women essayists 20th-century Australian essayists Australian emigrants to Greece Naturalized citizens of Greece 20th-century Australian journalists Barbiturates-related deaths The Argus (Melbourne) people People from Kiama, New South Wales Burials at Northern Suburbs Memorial Gardens