Louisa (1987) is a biography of Louisa Lawson by Australian writer Brian Matthews. It was originally published by University of Queensland Press in Australia in 1987.[1]

Louisa
AuthorBrian Matthews
LanguageEnglish
GenreBiography
PublisherUniversity of Queensland Press
Publication date
1987
Publication placeAustralia
Media typePrint
Pages421 pp.
ISBN0869140388
Preceded byRomantics and Mavericks: The Australian Short Story 
Followed byQuickening and Other Stories 

Critical reception

edit

Writing in The Canberra Times critic Peter Pierce noted: "The gaps in the biographical record of our writers are gradually being filled. Recently we have had Lawson's Archibald, Munro's Stephensen, Kinnane's Johnston. In progress are biographies of Gilmore, Furphy, Boyd and Stead. But following the audacious experiment of Louisa and its brilliant success (even as, and because Matthews admits not to have resolved all the problems of an alternative text), the game will never be the same again." And he concluded "...readers of Louisa are compelled to recognise 'a great Australian woman whose face has been in shadow too long'. Those readers will encounter a book that will radically affect literary scholarship in Australia. At the same time it is not only an outstanding biography, but one of the finest stories yet told here."[2]

Publication history

edit

After its original publication in 1987 in Australia by publisher University of Queensland Press[3] the biography was later republished as follows:

Awards

edit

See also

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ a b c "Austlit — Louisa by Brian Matthews (University of Queensland Press) 1987". Austlit. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  2. ^ ""Louisa Lawson: a life emerges from the shadows of time"". The Canberra Times, 12 December 1987, p18. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  3. ^ "Louisa (UQP 1987)". National Library of Australia. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  4. ^ "ALS Gold Medal - Previous Winners". Association for the Study of Australian Literature. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  5. ^ ""Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction 1988"". Austlit. Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  6. ^ ""Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction — 1988"". Austlit. Retrieved 31 December 2023.