Stephanie Dowrick Explained

Honorific-Prefix:Reverend
Stephanie Dowrick
Birth Name:Stephanie Dowrick
Birth Date:1947 6, df=yes
Birth Place:Wellington, New Zealand
Occupation:Writer
Education:PhD
Alma Mater:Victoria University of Wellington
University of Western Sydney
Partner:Dr Paul Anthony Bauert
Children:Two

Stephanie Dowrick (born 2 June 1947) is an Australian writer, Interfaith Minister and social activist. She is the author of more than 20 books of fiction and non-fiction, five of them best-sellers.[1] She was a publisher in Australia and the UK, where she co-founded The Women's Press, London.[2]

Background

Stephanie Dowrick was born in Wellington, New Zealand, on 2 June 1947.[3] Her mother, Estelle Mary Dowrick (née Brisco, daughter of 7th baronet Sir Hylton Musgrave Campbell Brisco), died in 1955.[4] [5]

As a child, Dowrick went to a number of primary schools, then to Sacred Heart College in Lower Hutt for her secondary education, leaving school at the age of 16.[6] Dowrick left New Zealand in 1967, lived for some months in Israel, then lived in Europe from 1967–1983, mainly in London, but also from 1970–71 in West Berlin.[7] She became a Roman Catholic at the age of nine after the death of her mother and her father's remarriage. As an adult she was for many years a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers).[4]

Since 1983, she has lived in Sydney with her family.[8] [9]

Dowrick was an Adjunct Fellow with the Writing and Society Research Group at Western Sydney University,[10] where she graduated with a PhD degree in 2008.[11] She was ordained by the New Seminary, New York, where she graduated in 2005 (The New Seminary institution is not accredited or recognised by the U.S. Department of Education) [12] [13]

Career

Publishing and The Women's Press

Dowrick was an editor and publisher at George G. Harrap and Co., London,[14] the New English Library, and Triad Paperbacks.[15]

In 1977, Dowrick co-founded the independent feminist publishing house, The Women's Press, from her home in East London,[16] [17] [2] with financial backing from entrepreneur Naim Attallah.

The Women's Press was "a political press" explicitly linked with the Women's Movement.[2] Along with Virago publishers, founded by Australian Carmen Callil, The Women's Press was the largest feminist publisher in the English language during the key period of the second wave of the women's liberation movement, largely considered to have run from 1969 to the mid-1980s.[18]

Among the first books published by The Women's Press in 1978 were titles by Alice Munro (Lives of Girls and Women),[19] Sylvia Townsend Warner (Lolly Willowes: or, The loving huntsman),[20] [21] and Michèle Roberts (A Piece of the Night).[22]

The Women's Press published other influential 20th-century feminist writers, including Alice Walker,[23] whose Pulitzer Prize-winning The Color Purple "transformed African-American literature",[24] Janet Frame,[25] [26] Andrea Dworkin,[27] Lucy Goodison, Joanna Ryan, May Sarton, Susan Griffin and Lisa Alther.

Dowrick was Chair of The Women's Press Board of Directors from 1989 to 1997.[28] She was later Chairperson of The Women's Press,[29] before its amalgamation with Quartet Books.

Dowrick was the first winner of Women in Publishing's Pandora Award in 1981.[30]

Dowrick worked for Allen & Unwin, Sydney, from 1989 to 1992, as their founding part-time Fiction Publisher.[31]

Psychotherapy

Dowrick had a small private psychotherapy practice for many years.[32]

Writing

From 1983, writing became Dowrick's primary work.[33] Her books includes fiction and non-fiction for children and adults.

Dowrick's first novel, Running Backwards Over Sand (1985),[34] was autobiographical in part with the book's protagonist Zoe Delightey's mother dying at an early age.[35] [36]

In a review of Choosing Happiness (2006), The Age newspaper wrote: "Dowrick's gift is to bring the sacred into the mundane."[37] Everyday Kindness (2011) was described in The Sydney Morning Herald as "the practical expression of her spiritual ethic."[17]

Dowrick's more explicitly spiritual books include Seeking the Sacred (2010),[38] [39] and In the Company of Rilke, a scholarly spiritual study of the work of the European poet, Rainer Maria Rilke.[40]

Spirituality

Dowrick has been described as a "pioneering individual" in interfaith, post-denominational spirituality.[41] Her spiritual journey has included Buddhism, Judaism and Christianity,[42] [43] and her influences include Ven Thich Nhat Hanh, Dom Bede Griffiths, Thomas Merton, and Irish poet John O'Donohue.[42]

In June 2005, Dowrick became one of Australia's first Interfaith Ministers.[43] She trained at the New Seminary, New York, an interfaith seminary founded in 1979 by Rabbi Joseph Gelberman.[44] [43]

Since 2006, Dowrick has led an interfaith spiritually inclusive congregation in Sydney, Australia.[45] Since 2000, she has led retreats in New Zealand.

Media

Dowrick has contributed to Australia's literary and media culture over many years.[46]

She is a literary journalist and columnist for Fairfax Media on issues of ethics and social justice,[47] feminism,[48] spirituality,[49] and refugees in Australia.[50]

She has appeared as a regular guest on ABC Radio on a range of programmes including Life Matters,[51] The Spirit of Things,[52] All in the Mind,[53] and Tony Delroy's NightLife. From 1995 to 2004, she was "On the Couch" presenter on ABC Radio National's Life Matters. From 2001 to 2010, she was the "Inner Life" columnist for Good Weekend Magazine (The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age).

She was an ambassador and well-being presenter for Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA).[54] [55]

She is an ambassador for the International Women's Development Agency (IWDA).[56]

Awards

Works

Nonfiction

Fiction

Children's

External links

Notes and References

  1. Morris, Linda. "The milk of human kindness", The Sydney Morning Herald, New South Wales, 21 January 2012.
  2. https://www.nla.gov.au/events/dowrick.html Women Writing: Views & Prospects 1975–1995, Panel Session: Publishing: Fact and Fiction
  3. Sleeman, Elizabeth. The International Who's Who of Women 2002 pp 149
  4. Dowrick, Stephanie. Intimacy and Solitude: Balancing Closeness and Independence, William Heinemann Australia, Melbourne; The Women’s Press, London (1992); W.W. Norton & Co, New York (1994); revised edition, Random House, Sydney; The Women's Press, London (2002).
  5. Web site: INTIMACY AND SOLITUDE by Stephanie Dowrick . Kirkus Reviews. 17 September 2017.
  6. Jane Tolerton. Convent Girls, Penguin Books Australia, 1994
  7. Dowrick, Stephanie. Running Backwards Over Sand, Penguin Books Australia, 1985.
  8. Web site: Intimacy and Solitude - Stephanie Dowrick - 9781760111472 - Allen & Unwin - Australia. Allenandunwin.com. 17 September 2017.
  9. Book: Robinson. Roger. Robinson. Nelson. The Oxford Companion to New Zealand Literature. 1998. Oxford University Press. 33. 23 September 2017. 9780195583489.
  10. News: Incandescent Ivor Indyk turns down the heat. Cosic, Miriam. The Australian. 26 February 2011.
  11. Dowrick, Stephanie. Rainer Maria Rilke : bearing witness 2008, University of Western Sydney
  12. Kirkwood, Peter. Interfaith pioneer's search for the sacred, Eureka Street, Volume 22 Issue 23 (Nov 2012)
  13. Collins, Paul. Believers: Does Australian Catholicism Have a Future?, UNSW Press, 2008, pp 62
  14. Book: Eagleton. Mary. Emma Parker. The History of British Women's Writing, 1970–Present: Volume Ten. 2015. Palgrave Macmillan. 84. 9781137294814.
  15. Book: Munro. Craig. Sheahan-Bright. Robyn. Paper Empires: A History of the Book in Australia, 1946-2005. 2006. University of Queensland Press. 97. 9780702235733.
  16. Sydney Morning Herald, 6 January 1979; The Age (Melbourne) 10 February 1979
  17. Morris, Linda. "The milk of human kindness", The Sydney Morning Herald, New South Wales, 21 January 2012.
  18. Eagleton, Mary, and Emma Parker, eds, The History of British Women’s Writing 1970–Present, Vol. 10, Palgrave MacMillan, 2016.
  19. Book: Munro. Alice. Lives of girls & women. 1978. The Women's Press. London. 9780704338210 . 23 September 2017.
  20. Book: Townsend Warner. Sylvia. Lolly Willowes: or, The loving huntsman. 1978. The Women's Press. London. 9780704338241 . 23 September 2017.
  21. News: Waters. Sarah. Sylvia Townsend Warner: the neglected writer. 23 September 2017. The Guardian. 2 March 2012.
  22. Book: Roberts. Michèle. A piece of the night. 1978. The Women's Press. London. 9780704328235. 23 September 2017.
  23. Book: Walker. Alice. The Color Purple. 1983. The Women's Press. London. 23 September 2017. 9780704339057.
  24. News: Edemariam. Aida. Aida Edemariam. Free spirit. 23 September 2017. The Guardian. 23 June 2007.
  25. Book: Frame. Janet. An angel at my table : the complete autobiography. 2001. The Women's Press. London. 9780704346932 . 23 September 2017.
  26. News: Wallace. Arminta. An Angel At My Table by Janet Frame (The Women's Press, £10 in UK). 23 September 2017. The Irish Times. 31 March 2001.
  27. Book: Dworkin. Andrew. Pornography : men possessing women. 1981. The Women's Press. London. 9780704338760 . 24 September 2017.
  28. Book: Talbot. Mary. Fictions at Work: Language and Social Practice in Fiction. 1995. Routledge. 164. 23 September 2017. 9781317896579.
  29. News: Big, but not big enough. Dowrick. Stephanie. 24 September 2017. The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 February 1998.
  30. News: Pink pigs and pandoras battle sexism in the publishing industry. Michele. Field. 27 September 2017. The Sydney Morning Herald. 19 December 1981.
  31. Munro, Craig, & Robyn Sheahan-Bright, eds, Paper Empires: A History of the Book in Australia, 1946–2005, University of Queensland Press, 2006.
  32. Wright, Katie., The Rise of the Therapeutic Society, New Academia Publishing, 2011.
  33. The Age (Melbourne), 12 October 1985
  34. Book: Dowrick. Stephanie. Running Backwards Over Sand. 1985. Viking Press.
  35. Book: Woolsey. Marijke. King. Susan. Dear Mother: an anthology of women writing to or about their mothers. 1991. The Women's Press. London. 9780704343450.
  36. News: Matthews. David. Australian Book Review. 24 September 2017. 87–97. 1987.
  37. Scobie, Claire."Choosing Happiness: Life & Soul Essentials", The Age, 28 January 2006.
  38. Scobie, Clare. 'On the path to transformation', The Sydney Morning Herald, New South Wales, 13 November 2010
  39. "Stephanie Dowrick: Seeking the sacred", Life Matters, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 8 November 2010.
  40. Dowrick, Stephanie. In the Company of Rilke, Allen & Unwin, 2009.
  41. Kirkwood, Peter. The Quiet Revolution: The Emergence of Interfaith Consciousness, ABC Books, 2007.
  42. Book: Dowrick. Stephanie. Seeking the Sacred: Transforming Our View of Ourselves and One Another. 2010. Tarcher/Penguin. New York.
  43. News: Compass: The Quiet Revolution Episode 2 - Pioneering City. 27 September 2017. ABC. 22 July 2007.
  44. Web site: The Wisdom of Rabbi Joseph Gelberman. Victor. Fuhrman. Beliefnet.com. 17 September 2017.
  45. News: Kohn. Rachael. The Spirit of Things: Day by Day These Things I Pray. 27 September 2017. ABC. 23 October 2013.
  46. Interview with Stephanie Dowrick in Wilson, Ruth. A Big Ask: Interviews with Interviewers, New Holland, 2000.
  47. Dowrick, Stephanie, "Politicians quick to speak up but strangely silent over those truly in need", The Sydney Morning Herald, New South Wales, 8 September 2016.
  48. Dowrick, Stephanie, 'Gender alone can’t make us to support Peta Credlin', The Sydney Morning Herald, New South Wales, 14 December 2016.
  49. Dowrick, Stephanie, "Ten timely reforms for institutional Christianity", The Sydney Morning Herald, New South Wales, 15 December 2015.
  50. News: Dowrick. Stephanie. Will Malcolm Turnbull exercise the greatest privilege he has as PM?. 25 November 2017. The Sydney Morning Herald.
  51. http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/lifematters/stephanie-dowrick-forgiveness/3289676 "Forgiveness"
  52. http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/spiritofthings/transcending-difference-together/2966124 "Transcending Difference Together"
  53. Web site: Self Help Obsession?. 26 August 2005. Radio National. 17 September 2017.
  54. News: Muir. Stephanie. Australian athletics legend Raelene Boyle talks to breast cancer sufferers. 27 September 2017. Daily Advertiser. 24 March 2011.
  55. Web site: Brisbane 'Living well beyond breast cancer' forum. Breast Cancer Network Australia. 27 September 2017.
  56. News: Walker. Kylie. Wilden. Necia. Espresso: Chefs share. 27 September 2017. The Age. 20 September 2005.
  57. Web site: The Nautilus Library. Mary. Belknap. Nautilusbookawards.com. 17 September 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20111019222933/http://www.nautilusbookawards.com/The_Nautilus_Library.html. 19 October 2011. dmy-all.
  58. Coalition of Visionary Resources, Best in Print – General Interest/How To
  59. Web site: 2014 GRAND/GOLD Winners. Mary. Belknap. Nautilusbookawards.com. 17 September 2017. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20170326141006/http://www.nautilusbookawards.com/2014_GRAND_GOLD_Winners.html. 26 March 2017. dmy-all.

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