Patricia Hooker (17 February 1933 – 2001) was an Australian writer who worked extensively in England. She wrote for TV, radio and the stage.[1]

She wrote The Golden Road, the first play on British television that was both written by a woman and about a lesbian relationship.[2][3] Hooker also wrote A Season in Hell the first Australian television drama to focus on a queer relationship.[4]

Biography

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She grew up in the town of Port Lincoln in South Australia and trained as a stenographer.[5][6] She began writing in her spare time and her work began appearing in amateur theatres. She worked as a secretary at the Stevedoring Commission in Sydney and also as a court reporter.[7]

Hooker was working as a shorthand typist in a city office in 1959 when she wrote the story for The Little Woman at home in the evenings. She wrote it as a stage play and it was included in a night of one-act plays at the Genesian Theatre. To help it reach a wider audience, Patricia studied a book on TV technique and decided to revise the script as a TV play. The ABC produced it in 1961 by which time she was at the ABC as a script assistant.[8][9]

She moved to London in 1964 and worked as a court reporter as well as writing for TV and radio.

Select credits

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References

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  1. ^ "Worth Reporting". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 28, no. 20. Australia. 19 October 1960. p. 22. Retrieved 18 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "Edinburgh orders an Australian play". Sydney Morning Herald. 3 December 1967. p. 55.
  3. ^ billysmart (26 September 2013). "'Armchair Theatre: The Golden Road' (1973): Representing lesbianism in the 1970s". Spaces of Television.
  4. ^ Vagg, Stephen (14 June 2021). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: A Season in Hell". Filmink.
  5. ^ "Port Lincoln Girl, 19 In Miss S.A. Quest". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 15 November 1951. p. 3. Retrieved 5 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "KITCHEN EVENING TENDERED MISS PATRICIA HOOKER". Port Lincoln Times. SA. 14 January 1954. p. 1. Retrieved 5 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ "Leisure TV Drama Music Art Books Radio The Arts". The Canberra Times. Vol. 40, no. 11, 370. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 January 1966. p. 15. Retrieved 18 February 2019 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "STENOGRAPHER'S PLAY ACCEPTED". Sydney Morning Herald. 18 September 1961. p. 12.
  9. ^ "Classifieds". Sydney Morning Herald. 2 February 1963. p. 24.
  10. ^ "Radio Guide". The Age. 13 September 1962. p. 32.
  11. ^ "Sydney Writer's". The Canberra Times. 18 December 1963. p. 45. Retrieved 5 June 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "Lunch Hour Play Opens the AMP Theatre". Sydney Morning Herald. 30 January 1964. p. 9.
  13. ^ "£1,000 award for play". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 May 1964. p. 13.
  14. ^ "Edinburgh orders an Australian play". Sydney Morning Herald. 3 December 1967. p. 106.
  15. ^ "The Guardian 29 Sep 1975, page 4". The Guardian. 29 September 1975. p. 4.
  16. ^ "TV Guide". The Guardian. 28 April 1981. p. 26.
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