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Edith McKay
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Key Information
Gladys Edith McKay (20 February 1891 – 30 January 1963) was an Australian writer and nurse who served in Serbia during World War I.[1] McKay is best known for her 1947 novel "The House of Winston Blaker".
Biography
[edit]McKay was born in Rockhampton, Queensland. She worked as a solicitor's clerk in Bundaberg before settling in the Boonah district.[2][3]
During World War I, McKay volunteered as a nurse and was sent overseas to Gallipoli and Serbia with the Scottish Women's Hospitals for Foreign Service.[4][5]
Her 1947 novel The House of Winston Blaker received mostly positive reviews nationally and was later adapted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation as a radio serial.[6][7][8][9]
McKay was also known for her short stories, written under the name of Edith Dithmack.[1] More than 120 of McKay's short stories were broadcast on ABC Radio in the 1940s.[10] In 1949, McKay won the ABC's short story competition in 1949 for Faith.[3]
ABC Radio adapted another of McKay's works into a serial format in 1952. Unborn Tomorrow, inspired by the history of Kanaka labour on the Queensland sugarcane fields, was aired from Monday to Friday at 8:45am.[11]
She died in 1963.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b Author: Edith McKay, AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource. Accessed 20 August 2018.
- ^ (13 June 1946) Our Contributors: E. Dithmack, Western Mail. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 20 August 2018.
- ^ a b (12 July 1949) Boonah woman wins competition Archived 22 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Queensland Times. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 20 August 2018.
- ^ "Serbia, 1919. Portrait of nursing sisters Sterling (?Stirling) and Edith Mackay (on right)". Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 22 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ "Mackay, Edith Jane (Nurse, Scottish Women's Hospital b.1875 - d.1961)". Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 22 December 2020. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- ^ Miller, Simon (26 July 2013) The House of Winston Blaker: Business Front and Centre in a 1947 Novel, State Library of Queensland website. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
- ^ (25 November 1947) Queensland novel tells good tale, Maryborough Chronicle. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 20 August 2018.
- ^ (17 January 1948) Novel of the Week: The House of Winston Blaker Archived 22 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine, The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 20 August 2018.
- ^ (3 January 1948) Four books of fiction Archived 22 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine, The Age. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 20 August 2018.
- ^ (12 July 1949) Story winner, The Courier-Mail. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 20 August 2018.
- ^ (23 April 1952) New radio serial by Queensland writer Archived 22 December 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Weekly Times. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 20 August 2018.