Miles Franklin

Readers note: This is an excerpt from the 200 Treasures exhibition catalogue, developed in 2017. This content was written as a brief biography on why this person was included in the exhibition.

Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin was described in 1952 as ‘tantalising, fascinating, vigorous-minded and vigorous-tongued’.

By 1952, ‘Miles Franklin’ had been a literary figure in Australia for half a century, since the publication of My Brilliant Career in 1901, which brought the 20-year-old Franklin instant acclaim. The semi- autobiographical work punctured myths about egalitarianism in the Australian bush and captured the zeitgeist of first-wave feminism. The book traced the main character Sybilla’s trials and tribulations as the daughter of a failing pastoral family of the Canberra region, and her rejection of the hand in marriage of an eligible squatter in favour of a writing career.

After the publication of the book, Franklin worked as a servant in Sydney and Melbourne in order to gather material for future work. She also mingled with the literary set, including feminists who encouraged her to make the move to the United States. She left Australia in 1906 and travelled to Chicago, where she stayed until 1915. There, she worked for the National Women’s Trade Union League of America, the first of a number of paying jobs that funded her writing. Much of what she wrote was not published until later in her career. With the onset of World War I, Franklin left the USA for Britain. She returned to Sydney in 1927, and in 1928, under the pseudonym ‘Brent of Bin Bin’, she published the first three volumes of a projected nine- part pastoral saga. Though continuing her overseas travels, Franklin and her stories became increasingly anchored in Australia. She published many titles and won awards such as the S.H. Prior Prize for All That Swagger (1936) and the King’s Silver Jubilee medal (1935). She remained a lively writer with a mind ‘seething with ideas’ until her death in 1954. Miles Franklin directed that her estate be used to found an annual literary prize in her name; it became the most prestigious Australian award of its kind.