Hazel Joan Rowley (16 November 1951 – 1 March 2011) was a British-born Australian author and biographer.

Life

Born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, Rowley emigrated with her parents to

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

at the age of eight. She studied at the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide is a public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. Its main campus in the Adelaide city centre includes many Sa ...

, graduating with Honours in French and German. Later she acquired a PhD in French. She taught literary studies at

Deakin University Deakin University is a public university in Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1974 with antecedent history since 1887, the university was named after Alfred Deakin, the second Prime Minister of Australia and a founding father of Australian Fede ...

in Melbourne, before moving to the United States. Rowley's first published biography, of Australian novelist

Christina Stead Christina Stead (17 July 190231 March 1983) was an Australian novelist and short-story writer acclaimed for her satirical wit and penetrating psychological characterisations. Christina Stead was a committed Marxist, although she was never a me ...

, was critically acclaimed and won the National Book Council's "Banjo" Award for non-fiction in 1994.Bennie, Angela
Hazel Rowley: Intimate obsessions
''The Sydney Morning Herald'', 17 December 2005. It was shortlisted for the 1993

Colin Roderick Award The Colin Roderick Award is presented annually by the Foundation for Australian Literary Studies at Queensland's James Cook University for "the best book published in Australia which deals with any aspect of Australian life". It was first presente ...

. Her next biographical work was about the African American writer Richard Wright. Her best-known book, '' Tête-à-tête'' (2005), covers the lives of

Simone de Beauvoir Simone Lucie Ernestine Marie Bertrand de Beauvoir (, ; ; 9 January 1908 – 14 April 1986) was a French existentialist philosopher, writer, social theorist, and feminist activist. Though she did not consider herself a philosopher, nor was she ...

and

Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary criticism, literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th ...

(de Beauvoir had been the subject of Rowley's PhD thesis). Her last published book is ''Franklin & Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage'', about

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

and

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

(2011).Romei, Stephen
Hazel Rowley gravely ill after stroke
''The Australian'', 28 February 2011. Rowley suffered a

cerebral hemorrhage Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), also known as hemorrhagic stroke, is a sudden bleeding into the tissues of the brain (i.e. the parenchyma), into its ventricles, or into both. An ICH is a type of bleeding within the skull and one kind of stro ...

in New York in February 2011 and died there on 1 March, aged 59.

Legacy

The annual Hazel Rowley Literary Fellowship was set up in her memory in 2011, with Mary Hoban the inaugural winner in 2012.

Bibliography

*''

: A Biography'' (1994) *'' Richard Wright: The Life and Times'' (2001) *'' Tête-à-tête: The Lives and Loves of

'' (2005) *''

Eleanor Eleanor () is a feminine given name, originally from an Old French adaptation of the Old Provençal name ''Aliénor''. It was the name of a number of women of royalty and nobility in western Europe during the High Middle Ages">Provençal dialect ...

: An Extraordinary Marriage'' (2010)

References

External links

Hazel Rowley 1951–2011
''The Book Show'' (ABC Radio National) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rowley, Hazel 1951 births 2011 deaths Australian expatriates in the United States Academic staff of Deakin University British emigrants to Australia University of Adelaide alumni Writers from London 20th-century Australian women writers 20th-century Australian writers 20th-century Australian biographers 21st-century Australian women writers 21st-century Australian writers 21st-century British biographers Australian women biographers Australian expatriates in England