Eric Charles Rolls AM (1923–2007) was an Australian writer.

Life

Rolls was born in

Grenfell, New South Wales Grenfell is a town in Weddin Shire in the Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is west of Sydney. It is close to Forbes, Cowra and Young. At the 2011 census, Grenfell had a population of 1,996. The town is served daily by conne ...

in 1923, and died in Camden Haven in 2007. He attended the Sydney selective school of Fort Street High, before serving in the second world war in New Guinea, as a signaller. On his return from the war, he took up land in 1946 in the north-west of New South Wales (east of the Pilliga and later at "Cumberdeen", Baradine) and farmed and wrote, often spending long periods in Sydney, researching at the

Mitchell Library The Mitchell Library is a large public library located in the Charing Cross area of Glasgow, Scotland. It is the largest public reference library in Europe, and the centre of Glasgow's public library system. History The library was initiall ...

. He had two happy marriages, the first with Joan Stephenson and after her death in 1985, a second with Elaine van Kempen (1937–2019), whom he met when she came to work for him in 1985 as his research assistant, and married in 1988.

Work

One of his most celebrated works is A Million Wild Acres of which Tom Griffiths (emeritus professor of history at the

Australian National University The Australian National University (ANU) is a public university, public research university and member of the Group of Eight (Australian universities), Group of Eight, located in Canberra, the capital of Australia. Its main campus in Acton, A ...

) wrote:

" (Les) Murray considered A Million Wild Acres to be like an extended, crafted campfire yarn in which everyone has the dignity of a name, and in which the animals and plants have equal status with humans in the making of history: “It is not purely human history, but ecological history he gives us… one which interrelates the human and non-human dimensions so intimately.” Murray compared its discursive and laconic tone to the Icelandic sagas. Through his democratic recognition of all life, Rolls enchanted the forest and presented us with a speaking land, a sentient country raucous with sound."

Rolls' papers and sound recordings, including an interview with

Hazel de Berg Hazel Estelle de Berg (; 21 March 1913 – 3 February 1984) was an Australian pioneering oral historian and broadcaster who conducted recordings locally and abroad including the United Kingdom and United States. De Berg recorded her collections ...

, are held by the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

."Miss Strawberry's Purse" was his most popular verse.

Publications

(incomplete)

Poetry

* 1967 �
Sheaf tosser and other poems
* 1977 �
The green mosaic : memories of New Guinea
h2>

Books

* 1981 – A million wild acres : 200 years of man and an Australian forest * 1984 �
The river : a chronicle of life on the land / illustrated by Marianne Yamaguchi.
* 1984 �
They all ran wild : the story of pests on the land in Australia
(13 editions) * 1984/1998 �
Celebration of the senses
*1992/1993 �
Sojourners : the epic story of China's centuries-old relationship with Australia : flowers and the wide sea
* 1996 �
Citizens : flowers and the wide sea : continuing the epic story of China's centuries-old relationship with Australia
* 2002 �
Visions of Australia : impressions of the landscape 1642–1910
* 2011 �
A million wild acres : 200 years of man and an Australian forest/
foreword by Les Murray

Eric Rolls Memorial Lecture

Funded by his widow, Elaine van Kempen, the Eric Rolls Memorial Lecture was inaugurated in 2010 as a biannual lecture. 2010: "Fire in 1788: The closest ally" by Bill Gammage 2012: "A Meander Down a River or Two: How Water Defines Our Continent and Its Future" by Richard Kingsford 2014: "The Landscape Behind the Landscape" by Nicholas Rothwell 2016: "Gifts from China" by Nicholas Jose 2018: "Mother Earth" by Bruce Pascoe

Honours

Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...

(AM), 1992 *

Centenary Medal The Centenary Medal is an award which was created by the Australian Government in 2001. It was established to commemorate the centenary of the Federation of Australia and to recognise "people who made a contribution to Australian society or g ...

, 2001Australian Honours: Centenary Medal
Retrieved 13 October 2020

References

External links

Eric Rolls and the Pilliga
on ABC Earshot
Golden disobedience: the history of Eric RollsEric Rolls
readingaustralia.com.au
UQP authors: Eric RollsIn Bed with Phillip: Eric Rolls
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rolls, Eric Charles 1923 births 2007 deaths Australian writers Members of the Order of Australia