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Peter Cowan (4 November 1914 – 6 June 2002) was a Western Australian writer, noted especially for his short stories.


Biography

Born in 1914 in South Perth, Peter Walkinshaw Cowan was the son of Norman Walkinshaw Cowan and Marie Emily Johnston. His grandmother was Australia's first female parliamentarian, Edith Dircksey Cowan. He was descended from several Western Australian pioneering families, including the Browns of York, the Cowans and the Wittenooms. After leaving Wesley College,
Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...
in 1930, Cowan worked in insurance and as a farm labourer before completing his matriculation at Perth Technical College and subsequently entering the
University of Western Australia University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Crawley, Western Australia, Crawley, a suburb in the City of Perth local government area. UW ...
in 1938. After completing his teaching qualifications, he worked as a teacher at Wesley College. He married Edie Howard and they had a son, Julian. The family moved to
Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
in 1943 while Cowan was serving in the
Royal Australian Air Force The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...
. While in Melbourne, he became involved in the '' Angry Penguins'' modernist literary movement. After the war, Peter Cowan returned to Perth and taught English and Geography for many years at Scotch College. In 1964, he became a senior tutor in English at the University of Western Australia, and later an honorary research fellow after his retirement.


Works

Peter Cowan published eight volumes of short stories, five novels and three biographies. He also edited two books of diaries and letters and co-edited seven volumes of short fiction. His first published work was a short story, ''Living'', published in ''Angry Penguins'' in 1943. Over the next twenty years, he continued to publish short stories. He received a
Commonwealth Literary Fund The Commonwealth Literary Fund (CLF) was an Australian Government initiative founded in 1908 to assist needy Australian writers and their families. It was Federal Australia's first systematic support for the arts. Its scope was later broadened to e ...
fellowship in 1963 to write his first novel, ''Summer''. His other novels included ''Seed'' (1966), ''The Color of the Sky'' (1986) and ''The Hills of Apollo Bay'' (1989). In later years, he was particularly active in recording his family's pioneering history in
Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...
. He wrote a biography of his grandmother Edith Dircksey Cowan, entitled ''A Unique Position'' (1978), and a biography of her uncle Maitland Brown (1988), as well as editing the letters of Eliza and Thomas Brown (''A Faithful Picture'', 1977), and the diary and reports of Walkinshaw Cowan (''A Colonial Experience'', 1978). For many years, he was co-editor of the literary journal ''Westerly'' and wrote many articles and reviews for it. His manuscripts and his extensive Australiana book collection are held in Special Collections in the University of Western Australia Library.


Awards

Peter Cowan's novel ''The Color of the Sky'' won the Western Australian Premier's Book Award for Fiction and the Western Australia Week Literary Award in 1986. In 1987, he was made a 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 ...
, and in 1992 he received the Patrick White Award for an Australian Writer of Great Distinction. Edith Cowan University conferred its first Honorary Degree (Doctor of Philosophy) on Peter Cowan in 1995. In 1997, the Peter Cowan Writers' Centre was established at the
Joondalup Joondalup () is a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, approximately north of Perth central business district, Perth's central business district. It contains the central business district of the regional City of Joondalup and acts as the primar ...
campus of Edith Cowan University, based in the reconstructed house of his grandmother. He was named one of Western Australia's Living Treasures in 1999, and was awarded a
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 ...
in 2001 for service to literature through writing.


The Peter Cowan Short Story Competition

The Peter Cowan Short Story Competition was launched by the Peter Cowan Writers Centre in 2010, in honour of Peter Cowan.Peter Cowan Writers Centre
/ref> The competition involves the submission of stories of a maximum of 600 words, and is administered by the Peter Cowan Writers Centre in Joondalup, Western Australia.


Selected bibliography

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowan, Peter Writers from Perth, Western Australia 1914 births 2002 deaths People educated at Wesley College, Perth Patrick White Award winners Australian male writers