Harold Edward "Hal" Porter (16 February 1911 – 29 September 1984) was an Australian novelist, playwright, poet and short story writer.

Biography

Porter was born in Albert Park, Victoria, grew up in

Bairnsdale Bairnsdale () ( Ganai: ''Wy-yung'') is a city in East Gippsland, Victoria, Australia in a region traditionally owned by the Tatungalung clan of the Gunaikurnai people. The estimated population of Bairnsdale urban area was 15,411 at ...

, and worked as a journalist, teacher and librarian. A car accident just before the outbreak of World War II prevented him from serving in the armed forces. His first stories were published in 1942 and by the 1960s he was writing full-time. His 1963 memoir, ''The Watcher on the Cast Iron Balcony'', is regarded as an Australian masterpiece. His other works were less successful. The literary critic Laurie Clancy said: "Porter's novels are, with one exception, less successful than his stories, not least because his scorn for most of his characters becomes wearying over the length of a novel." The exception, Clancy thought, was ''The Tilted Cross'', a historical novel set in Hobart in the 1840s. On 24 July 1983 he was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver in Ballarat and received brain damage. He died on 29 September 1984.

Honours

In the 1982 Queen's Birthday Honours Porter was made a

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

(AM) for service to literature. The life and work of Porter has also been honoured since 2006 through the annual Hal Porter Short Story Competition, under the auspices of the East Gippsland Art Gallery, in

, Victoria, Australia.https://www.artshub.com.au/callout/victoria/call-for-writers/the-hal-porter-short-story-competition-2020-109644

Posthumous reputation

After Porter's death, his friend and biographer Mary Lord revealed in her book ''Hal Porter: Man of Many Parts'' that Porter had had sexual relations with Lord's then ten-year-old son; despite this, she chose to remain friends with him. Other critics, notably Noel Rowe, have argued that a close reading of his various works reveals a strong interest in paedophilia.

Bibliography

Poetry * ''The Hexagon'' (1956) * ''Elijah's Ravens'' (1968) * ''In an Australian Graveyard'' (1974) Novels * ''A Handful of Pennies'' (1958) * ''

The Tilted Cross ''The Tilted Cross'' (1961) is a novel by Australian author Hal Porter. Plot outline The novel is set in Hobart, Tasmania, in 1845-46. It follows the last few months in the life of Judas Griffin Vaneleigh, a transported forger and suspected p ...

'' (1961) * ''The Right Thing'' (1971) Short story collections * ''A Bachelor's Children'' (1962) * ''Short Stories'' (1942) * ''The Cats of Venice'' (1965) * ''The Actors: An image of the new Japan'' (1968) * ''Mr. Butterfry and Other Tales of New Japan'' (1970) * ''Selected Stories'' (1971) * ''Fredo Fuss Love Life'' (1974) * ''The Portable Hal Porter'' (1978) * ''The Clairvoyant Goat'' (1981) Memoirs * ''The Watcher on the Cast-Iron Balcony'' (1963) * ''The Paper Chase'' (1966) * ''Criss-Cross'' (1973) * ''The Extra'' (1975) Local History * ''Bairnsdale: Portrait of an Australian country town'' (1977) Drama * '' The Tower'' (1963) * ''The Professor'' (1966) * '' Eden House'' (1969)

External links

First Person - Hal Porter, Watcher from the Cast-Iron Balcony
at

Radio National Radio National, known on-air as RN, is an Australia-wide public service broadcasting radio network run by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). From 1947 until 1985, the network was known as ABC Radio 2. History 1937: Predecessors an ...

Hill of Content Bookshop Hal Porter Short Story Competition

by Noel Rowe * Hal Porter Short Story Prize

References

Craven, Peter. "Porter: friend and betrayer," ''The Australian'', 15–16 January 1994, Review 3. Mary Lord: ''Hal Porter: Man of Many Parts'' (Random House, Sydney, 1993) Noel Rowe: '"No one but I will know": Hal Porter's Honesty', in ''Australian Humanities Review'', Issue 41, February 2007 {{DEFAULTSORT:Porter, Hal 1911 births 1984 deaths 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian poets Australian male novelists Australian memoirists Australian male short story writers People from Bairnsdale Australian male poets Australian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian short story writers 20th-century Australian male writers Members of the Order of Australia 20th-century memoirists