Monique Rooney - Ruth Park: New Zealand-Australian author

Ruth Park is the author of the Australian classics The Harp in the South (1948) and Poor Man’s Orange (1949), and many other works of fiction and non-fiction. Due to its depiction of life in the then dilapidated neighbourhood of Surry Hills, The Harp in the South generated strong reactions in its readers. Park’s novels have been enduringly popular, but the author’s literary and professional dedication to writing has not been adequately recognised.

Dr Monique Rooney teaches English literature at the Australian National University. As 2023 Nancy Keesing Fellow, she has been researching the papers of Ruth Park in preparation for writing the first literary biography of the author.