Julian Randolph Stow (28 November 1935 – 29 May 2010) was an Australian-born writer, novelist and poet.

Early life

Born in

Geraldton Geraldton (Wajarri language, Wajarri: ''Jambinu'', Wilunyu language, Wilunyu: ''Jambinbirri'') is a coastal city in the Mid West (Western Australia), Mid West region of Western Australia, north of the state capital, Perth. As of the , Geraldt ...

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 ...

, Randolph Stow was the son of Mary Campbell Stow née Sewell and Cedric Ernest Stow, a lawyer. Stow attended Geraldton Primary and High schools, Guildford Grammar School, 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 ...

, and the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD) is a public university, public research university in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in both Australia and Oceania. One of Australia's six sandstone universities, it was one of the ...

. During his undergraduate years in Western Australia he wrote two novels and a collection of poetry, which were published 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 ...

by Macdonald & Co. He taught English literature 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 ...

, the University of Western Australia and the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

Career

He also worked on an Aboriginal mission in the

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia Queensland * Kimberley, Queensland, a coastal locality in the Shire of Douglas South Australia * County of Kimberley, a cadastral unit in South Australia Ta ...

, which he used as background for his third novel ''To the Islands''. Stow further worked as an assistant to an

anthropologist An anthropologist is a scientist engaged in the practice of anthropology. Anthropologists study aspects of humans within past and present societies. Social anthropology, cultural anthropology and philosophical anthropology study the norms, values ...

, Charles Julius, and as a cadet patrol officer in the Trobriand Islands off the east coast of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. In the Trobriands he suffered a mental and physical breakdown that led to his repatriation to Australia. Twenty years later, he used these last experiences in his novel ''Visitants''. Stow first visited England in 1960 and lived there for a few years, although he returned several times to Australia. ''Tourmaline'', his fourth novel, was completed in 1962 while he taught in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

. In 1964 and 1965 he travelled in North America on a Harkness Fellowship, including a sojourn in Aztec, New Mexico, during which he wrote one of his best known novels, ''The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea''. While living in Perth (WA) in 1966 he wrote his popular children's book ''Midnite''. From 1969 to 1981 he lived at East Bergholt in

Suffolk Suffolk ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Norfolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Essex to the south, and Cambridgeshire to the west. Ipswich is the largest settlement and the county ...

in England, his ancestral county, and he used traditional tales from that area to inform his novel ''The Girl Green as Elderflower''. The last decades of his life he spent in nearby Harwich, the setting for his final novel ''The Suburbs of Hell''. He last visited Australia in 1974. Stow died in England on 29 May 2010 of a

pulmonary embolism Pulmonary embolism (PE) is a blockage of an pulmonary artery, artery in the lungs by a substance that has moved from elsewhere in the body through the bloodstream (embolism). Symptoms of a PE may include dyspnea, shortness of breath, chest pain ...

, having been diagnosed with

liver cancer Liver cancer, also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy, is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary in which the cancer starts in the liver, or it can be liver metastasis, or secondar ...

''The Girl Green as Elderflower'' (1980)

''The Girl Green as Elderflower'' is often considered to be closely linked to Stow's life. After dealing with a bout of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, he moved to East Bergholt in

in England from 1969 to 1981, his ancestral county, and he used traditional tales from that area, many of which he translated from Latin himself, to inform his novel. The regional stories Stow used for the novel were collected by William of Newburgh,

Gervase of Tilbury Gervase of Tilbury (; 1150–1220) was an English canon lawyer, statesman and cleric. He enjoyed the favour of Henry II of England and later of Henry's grandson, Emperor Otto IV, for whom he wrote his best known work, the '' Otia Imperialia''. ...

, Gerald the Welshman, Ralph Coggeshall, Roger Howden, and Walter Map. Many of the characters in the novel are based on Stow's friends. He conducted research in advance of publication for several years. In 1978, he and

John Constable John Constable (; 11 June 1776 – 31 March 1837) was an English landscape painter in the Romanticism, Romantic tradition. Born in Suffolk, he is known principally for revolutionising the genre of landscape painting with his pictures of Dedha ...

's great-great-grandson were in a serious car accident, which finally spurred Stow to begin writing the novel. On New Year's Day 1979, he began writing and finished thirty-two days later. Stow was influenced by the focus on particular places in English Victorian literature and set the entire novel in

. Literary scholar Melanie Duckworth has claimed that, in ''The Girl Green as Elderflower,'' Suffolk is not mere setting, but rather a textured and historied place. Although he kept the location static, the novel takes place over a variety of time periods. It focuses one place throughout and across time. Stow engages in what Duckworth calls "Australian medievalism," drawing connections between the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

and

postcolonial Postcolonialism (also post-colonial theory) is the critical academic study of the cultural, political and economic consequences of colonialism and imperialism, focusing on the impact of human control and extractivism, exploitation of colonized pe ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

. This connection is most clear between the medieval legend of green children and the novel's titular Welsh "girl green." Stow draws a parallel between greenness and strangeness in the medieval period to the aftermath of contemporary colonial projects. Ultimately, according to Duckworth, it is trauma (both for the main character, Crispin Clare, and the colonial/postcolonial places he inhabits) that draws the narrative out of and across time. Destabilization of time is positioned as a means of recovery, particularly for Clare. In March 2019, La Mama Courthouse Theatre in

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 ...

, Australia adapted ''The Girl Green as Elderflower'' into a musical. It was adapted by Richard Davies and directed and orchestrated by Sara Grenfell.

Awards and legacy

His novel ''To the Islands'' won the

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 ...

for 1958. He was awarded the Patrick White Award in 1979. As well as producing fiction, poetry, and numerous book reviews for ''

The Times Literary Supplement ''The Times Literary Supplement'' (''TLS'') is a weekly literary review published in London by News UK, a subsidiary of News Corp. History The ''TLS'' first appeared in 1902 as a supplement to ''The Times'' but became a separate publication ...

'', he also wrote libretti for musical theatre works by Peter Maxwell Davies. A considerable number of Randolph Stow's poems are listed in the State Library of Western Australia online catalogue with indications where they have been anthologised.

Personal life and family

Julian Randolph Stow's paternal grandfather was Francis Leslie Stow, a Crown Solicitor of Western Australia. Stow's great-grandfather was Randolph Isham Stow, a judge on the

Supreme Court of South Australia The Supreme Court of South Australia is the superior court of the Australian state of South Australia. The Supreme Court is the highest South Australian court in the Australian court hierarchy. It has unlimited jurisdiction within the state in ...

and Attorney-General of South Australia; a great-great-uncle, Jefferson Stow was prominent as an explorer of

northern Australia The unofficial geographic term Northern Australia includes those parts of Queensland and Western Australia north of latitude 26th parallel south, 26° and all of the Northern Territory. Those local government areas of Western Australia and Q ...

, and Stow's great-great-grandfather, the Rev. Thomas Quinton Stow, was a pioneering Congregational minister in South Australia. The Stow family was from

, where they had owned land for several generations before Thomas Stow was appointed the colonial missionary to

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

by the London Colonial Missionary Society in 1836. In 1837, they relocated to South Australia. After Thomas Stow's death, the Stow Memorial Church was constructed in his honor. His wife, Elizabeth Randolph Eppes, was American and her mother was

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (, 1743July 4, 1826) was an American Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the third president of the United States from 1801 to 1809. He was the primary author of the United States Declaration of Indepe ...

's first cousin. The Stow lineage can be traced back to the Plantagenets and

William the Conqueror William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...

. Stow's mother's family settled in Australia in the 1830s and were some of the earliest to arrive. His great-grandfather, George Sewell, arrived in Australia in 1835; soon after, the rest of his family relocated from

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

to Australia. Sewell eventually moved from

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 ...

, where his descendants remained. Stow grew up very interested in the traditional stories and histories of the region. A deeply private person, Stow's life was dogged at times by loneliness and depression (including two suicide attempts), probable alcoholism, an addiction to prescription drugs, and a struggle to come to terms with his

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or Human sexual activity, sexual behavior between people of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexu ...

in a time when it was oppressed.

Awards list

* Australian Literature Society gold medal, 1957, 1958 * 1958

Miles Franklin Literary 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 of Miles Franklin (1879–195 ...

* Britannica–Australia award, 1966 * Grace Leven Prize, 1969 * 1979 Patrick White Award * 1989 The Randolph Stow Young Writers Award was established in his honour to encourage school students in the

region of

to write.

Selected works

Novels

*''A Haunted Land'' (1956) *''The Bystander'' (1957) *'' To the Islands'' (1958) (revised in 1982) *''

Tourmaline Tourmaline ( ) is a crystalline silicate mineral, silicate mineral group in which boron is chemical compound, compounded with chemical element, elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. This gemstone comes in a ...

'' (1963) *'' The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea'' (1965) *''Visitants'' (1979) *''The Girl Green as Elderflower'' (1980) *''The Suburbs of Hell'' (1984)

Poetry

*''Act One'' (1957) *''Outrider: Poems 1956–1962'' (1962) *'' A Counterfeit Silence: Selected Poems'' (1969) *''The Land's Meaning: New Selected Poems'' ed. John Kinsella

Children's

*''Midnite: The Story of a Wild Colonial Boy'' 1967

Musical theatre

*'' Eight Songs for a Mad King'' 1969, libretto *'' Miss Donnithorne's Maggot'' 1974, libretto

Notes

Bibliography

* Carey, Gabrielle ''Moving Among Strangers: Randolph Stow and My Family'', University of Queensland Press, 2014 * Falkiner, Suzanne ''Mick: A Life of Randolph Stow'', University of Western Australia Press, 2016

External links

Randolph Stow – Writer

Graeme Kinross-Smith 'Randolph Stow: a Photo essay' ''JASAL'' 10, 2010

David Fonteyn Ecological Allegory: ''Tourmaline'', an Example' ''JASAL'' 10 (2010)

Kerry Leves ' Toxic flowers: Randolph Stow's unfused horizons' ''JASAL'' 10 (2010)

Bernadette Brennan 'Words of Water: Reading Otherness in ''Tourmaline'' and ''Oyster'' ' ''JASAL'' 3 (2004)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stow, Randolph 1935 births 2010 deaths Alumni of the University of Leeds Australian opera librettists Australian people of English descent Deaths from liver cancer in England People educated at Guildford Grammar School Harkness Fellows People from Geraldton University of Western Australia alumni Writers from Western Australia Miles Franklin Award winners Patrick White Award winners ALS Gold Medal winners 20th-century Australian novelists 20th-century Australian poets Australian male poets 20th-century Australian dramatists and playwrights Australian male novelists Australian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Australian male writers Deaths from pulmonary embolism