Dorothy Hewett

Dorothy Coade Hewett was born in Perth, Western Australia in 1923. She was brought up on a farm and was home schooled through correspondence courses for her early years. She attended Perth College from her mid-teens and studied English at the University of Western Australia (UWA). She joined the Communist Party of Australia (CPA) in 1946 and began writing most of The Workers Star, the WA Communist newspaper, under pseudonyms. She won a major drama competition and a national poetry competition during her time at UWA.

Seen as a feminist writer, she often wrote about experiences in her life, producing works of social realism. She became disillusioned with the Communist Party, leaving and provoking negative reactions form long term members.

Hewett has won many literary awards and was awarded the Order of Australia.

She spent her later years in the Blue Mountains in NSW, succumbing to breast cancer in 2002.