Judah Leon Waten AM (29 July 1911 – 29 July 1985) was an Australian novelist who was at one time seen as the voice of Australian migrant writing.
Judah Waten | |
|---|---|
| Born | Judah Leon Waten 29 July 1911 Odessa, Russian Empire |
| Died | 29 July 1985 (aged 74) Melbourne, Australia |
| Occupation | Writer, novelist |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Notable works | Alien Son (1952) Distant Land (1964) |
Life and career
editBorn in Odessa to a Russian-Jewish family, after a brief sojourn in Palestine,[1] Judah Waten arrived in Western Australia in 1914, where the family settled in Midland Junction, before shifting to Perth.[2] He attended Christian Brothers' College, Perth and, moving to Melbourne in 1926, University High School, Melbourne. He joined the Communist Party of Australia while still at school.[3] Between 1931 and 1933, he visited Europe, where he engaged in left-wing political activities in England, and spent three months in Wormwood Scrubs Prison.
He wrote novels, short stories and a history of the Great Depression in Australia. He is best known for two books, his autobiographical novel, Alien Son, first published in 1952 and for Distant Land, a story about a Yiddish-speaking Polish couple, the husband a former Talmudic prodigy turned intellectual and his wife Shoshanah, as they struggle to recreate and conserve their Jewish culture in a strange land. He travelled to the Soviet Union several times, once with Manning Clark and James Devaney.[4] He was involved in the Realist Writers Group, International PEN, the Fellowship of Australian Writers and served on the Literature Board of the Australia Council.
In 1967, he became a member of the National Committee of the Communist Party. However, he left the party in 1972 to join the pro-Soviet Socialist Party of Australia.[3]
In 1985 he died on his birthday in Heidelberg, and was survived by his wife, who was of Scottish descent,[5] and their daughter.[3]
Honours and awards
editIn 1979 he was awarded membership of the Order of Australia.[6]
In 1985 he was posthumously awarded the Patrick White Award.
Bibliography
editNovels
- Alien Son (Angus & Robertson, 1952)
- The Unbending (Australasian Book Society, 1954)
- Shares in Murder (Australasian Book Society, 1957)
- Time of Conflict (Australasian Book Society, 1961)
- Distant Land (F. W. Cheshire, 1964)
- Season of Youth (F. W. Cheshire, 1966)
- So Far No Further (Wren Publishing, 1971)
- Scenes of Revolutionary Life (Angus & Robertson, 1982)
Non-fiction
- The Depression Years, 1929-1939 (F. W. Cheshire, 1971, Australia Since the Camera series)
Memoir
- From Odessa to Odessa: The Journey of an Australian Writer (F. W. Cheshire, 1969)
- "My two literary careers", essay (Southerly, 1971)
- "Why I came home - naked - fifty years ago", essay (The Bulletin, 24 April 1984)
References
edit- ^ Judah Waten, From Odessa to Odessa, Cheshire 1969 p.1
- ^ Waten, From Odessa to odessa, pp.1-3.
- ^ a b c Carter, David. "Judah Waten". Australian Dictionary of Biography.
- ^ Waten, From Odessa to Odessa, p.9
- ^ Judah Waten, From Odessa to Odessa, p.14.
- ^ It's an Honour: AM
Further reading
edit- David Carter, A Career in Writing: Judah Waten and the Cultural Politics of a Literary Career, Toowoomba: Association for the Study of Australian Literature, 1997
- David Carter, Waten, Judah Leon (1911–1985) at Australian Dictionary of Biography
External links
edit- Guide to the Papers of Judah Waten (NLA MS 4536), at National Library of Australia
- WATEN, Judah Leon: Personal files, alpha-numeric series, A6119 from Australian Security Intelligence Organisation held by National Archives of Australia
- WATEN, Judah Leon: Personal files, alpha-numeric series, A6119 (Part 2) from Australian Security Intelligence Organisation held by National Archives of Australia
- Judah Waten interviewed by Hazel de Berg in the Hazel de Berg collection (sound recording) at National Library of Australia
- Judah Waten interviewed by Suzanne Lunney (sound recording) at National Library of Australia - click here to listen
- Judah Waten at IMDb
