Samela Scott Harris (born 13 May 1946) is an Australian journalist, critic, columnist, author, and blogger. Her nearly fifty year career as an arts journalist and cultural commentator spans a variety of print media. In 2017, for these and other contributions to South Australian cultural and public life, she was awarded the SA Media Lifetime Achievement award and inducted into the SA Journalists’ Hall of Fame.

Early life and education

Samela Harris was born on 13 May 1946 in Adelaide, to the Australian poet and bookseller Max Harris, and Yvonne Harris, an actor and dancer. Following her graduation from the Presbyterian Girls' College in 1963, she enrolled at the

Adelaide University Adelaide University is a planned public university, public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 2024, it will combine the University of Adelaide, the third-oldest university in Australia, and the University of ...

Law School before successfully standing for the position of editor the university's student newspaper ''

On Dit ''On Dit'' is a student newspaper published fortnightly during semester time, funded by the Adelaide University Union and advertising. Founded in 1932, it is the equal fifth oldest student newspaper in Australia, behind Farrago (magazine) (print ...

'', which soon led to the offer and acceptance of a Murdoch scholarship in 1964, and shortly thereafter to her debut as a professional journalist as the first female general news reporter on Rupert Murdoch's, '' The News'' of

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 ...

Career

In 1969, Harris left Australia to work as a UK correspondent for AAP Reuters on

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

, before gaining a job as a general reporter for the ''

Edinburgh Evening News The ''Edinburgh Evening News'' is a daily newspaper and website based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded by John Wilson (1844–1909) and first published in 1873. It is printed daily, except on Sundays. It is owned by National World, whic ...

'' in Scotland, then as UK correspondent for Australia’s national paper, ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet daily newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964. As the only Australian daily newspaper distributed nationally, its readership of b ...

''. Upon her return to Adelaide in 1985, she commenced what would ultimately be a twenty-eight year tenureship at '' The Advertiser'', where her wide-ranging brief included literary reviews, the burgeoning internet culture of the mid 90s, and cookery: highlights from her cooking column "On A Shoestring" were eventually compiled and published in 2009 by Wakefield Press as
book of the same title
The principle focus of Samela's work at ''The Advertiser'' was the Adelaide performing arts scene, and in particular its theatre culture; she served as arts editor, and as a principle theatre critic and commentator throughout her tenure She was elected by her fellow critics to the inaugural chair of the Adelaide Critics Circle in 1997. Her retirement from ''The Advertiser'' in 2013 preceded her increased participation in the civic life of Adelaide, as MEAA SA President of Journalists (since 2012), Convenor of Women in Media SA, and Chair of the SA Media Awards. She has continued her work as a critic and advocate as a regular contributor to the Barefoot Review, and Adelaide independent periodical ''

InDaily Solstice Media is an Australian publisher based in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 2004, it was known for publishing the weekly tabloid newspaper ''The Independent Weekly''. Solstice publishes ''InDaily'', which was initially the onli ...

''. She maintains the blog
angrypenguinsatrekblog
an
ernmalley
a repository of documents related to the

Ern Malley The Ern Malley hoax, also called the Ern Malley affair, is Australia's most famous literary hoax. Its name derives from Ernest Lalor "Ern" Malley, a fictitious poet whose biography and body of work were created in one day in 1943 by conservati ...

poetry hoax that notoriously targeted her father Max in the 1940s.

References

1946 births Living people Journalists from South Australia Australian bloggers Australian women bloggers Australian women journalists Writers from Adelaide {{cat improve, date=July 2022