Nance Donkin Explained

Nance Donkin
Birth Name:Nance Clare Pender
Pseudonym:Alison Clare
Birth Date:7 March 1915
Birth Place:Maitland, New South Wales, Australia
Death Place:Canterbury, Victoria, Australia

Nance Clare Donkin (7 March 1915 – 18 April 2008) was an Australian children's writer and journalist.

Early life and education

Nance Clare Pender was born in Maitland on 7 March 1915,[1] youngest daughter of Archibald Thomas and Clara Rose Pender.[2] She had two sisters and three brothers.[3] She was educated at Maitland High School and was appointed secretary of the Old Girls' Union's Younger Set in 1934.[4]

Career

Donkin had her first short story published at the age of eight and began writing on social happenings for the Maitland Daily Mercury at 16.[5] From there she moved to the Newcastle Morning Herald where she was social and fashion editor and also reviewed films.[6]

Donkin married Victor E. Donkin at West Maitland on 14 January 1939[7] and moved to England where she worked as a freelance writer, including radio scripts.[8] The following year her husband's company transferred him back to Australia[9] and she began writing as Alison Clare.[10]

Nancy Shepherdson, writing in Twentieth-century Children's Writers, considered Donkin's first books to have "uninspired plots and much digressive conversation".[11]

Donkin served as president of the Children's Book Council of Australia (Victoria) from 1968 to 1976.[12]

In 1984 she wrote Stranger and Friend, a nonfiction book about Greek migrants to Australia. She had first visited Greece 18 years earlier and returned several times. The book aimed to improve the relationship between Greeks and Australians by describing the Greek tradition of hospitality and friendship.[13]

Donkin wrote two collections of biographies of Australian women, The Women Were There: Nineteen Women Who Enlivened Australia's History[14] and Always a Lady: Courageous Women of Colonial Australia.

Awards and recognition

Donkin was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in the 1986 Australia Day Honours for "service to the community, particularly in the fields of children's literature and adult education".[15] She received the Alice Award from the NSW branch of the Society of Women Writers in 1990.[16]

Selected works

Fiction

Nonfiction

Death

Donkin died at Faversham House in Canterbury, Victoria on 18 April 2008.[17] She was survived by her daughter and son and their families. Her death notice in the Herald Sun concluded, "A storyteller, a teller of tales and weaver of dreams".[18]

Nancy Donkin Literary Award

The Nancy Donkin Literary Award was inaugurated by Donkin's family and the Society of Women Writers Victoria and has been presented biennially since 2009. [19]

Winners:[20]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Nance Donkin. 2022-01-01. AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. en.
  2. News: 10 January 1939. Approaching Marriages. 3. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. 19,422. New South Wales, Australia. National Library of Australia. 2 January 2022.
  3. News: 2 June 1938. Estate of £2482. 4. The Maitland Daily Mercury. 20,946. New South Wales, Australia. National Library of Australia. 2 January 2022.
  4. News: 14 March 1934. Old Girls' Union. 10. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. 17,914. New South Wales, Australia. National Library of Australia. 2 January 2022.
  5. Web site: Nance Donkin. 2022-01-01. AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. en.
  6. News: 17 October 1937. The Jottings of a Lady About Town. 39. Brisbane Truth. 1960. Queensland, Australia. National Library of Australia. 2 January 2022.
  7. News: 10 January 1939. Approaching Marriages. 3. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. 19,422. New South Wales, Australia. National Library of Australia. 2 January 2022.
  8. News: 30 October 1946. Children's Book By Former "Herald" Writer. 5. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. 21,863. New South Wales, Australia. National Library of Australia. 2 January 2022.
  9. News: 15 September 1940. In and Out of Brisbane with Penelope. 18. Sunday Mail. 543. Queensland, Australia. National Library of Australia. 2 January 2022.
  10. News: 30 October 1946. Children's Book By Former "Herald" Writer. 5. Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. 21,863. New South Wales, Australia. National Library of Australia. 2 January 2022.
  11. Book: Kirkpatrick, D. L.. Twentieth-century Children's Writers. 1978-11-10. Macmillan International Higher Education. 978-1-349-03648-6. en.
  12. Web site: Nance Donkin. 2022-01-01. AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. en.
  13. News: 25 January 1984. Author offers a guide to what makes Greeks tick. 58. 25. The Canberra Times. 17,650. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. National Library of Australia. 2 January 2022.
  14. News: 18 March 1989. Magazine: Books. 63. 21. The Canberra Times. 19,519. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. National Library of Australia. 2 January 2022.
  15. Web site: Mrs Nance Clare Donkin. 2022-01-01. It's an Honour.
  16. Web site: Nance Donkin. 2022-01-01. AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. en.
  17. Web site: Nance Donkin. 2022-01-01. AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. en.
  18. Web site: 2008-08-11. Donkin, Nance Clare. 2022-01-01. Weekly Times Now. en.
  19. Web site: Nance Donkin Award for Children's Literature. 2022-01-01. Society of Women Writers Victoria. en-AU.
  20. Web site: Nance Donkin Award for Children's Literature. 2022-01-01. Society of Women Writers Victoria. en-AU.

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