Hazel Rowley

British-born Australian biographer and essayist.

  • Born: November 16, 1951
  • Birthplace: London, England
  • Died: March 1, 2011
  • Place of death:New York City, New York

Biography

Hazel Rowley was a writer who specialized in thoroughly researched biographies of famous authors. She said that her goal as a researcher and biographer was to discover the intellect, culture, history, and emotion that motivated her subjects.

Rowley was born in 1951 in London, England, the daughter of scientist Derrick Rowley and Betty Rowley. She had a brother, Martin, and a sister, Della. Her family moved to Adelaide, South Australia, Australia, when she was eight years old, and Rowley spent much of her adult life in Australia and other countries. While attending college, Rowley studied French and German literature, and she earned a Ph.D. in French literature from the University of Adelaide in 1982. She began teaching literary studies at Deakin University in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, in 1989, and became a senior lecturer there in 1995.

Rowley’s first book, Christina Stead: A Biography (1993), received widespread critical acclaim. The book chronicles the life of Stead, an Australian novelist who wrote The Man Who Loved Children, published in 1940. Since Stead destroyed almost all of her personal papers before she died, Rowley’s research offered valuable information for students of Stead. Rowley provided details of Stead’s early years based on personal interviews, letters, and articles. The book won the Australian National Book Council Award for Nonfiction as well as the Walter McRae Russell Award from the Association for the Study of Australian Literature. It was short-listed for many of Australia’s literary prizes, and in 1994 it was selected as a Notable Book by The New York Times.

After six years at Deakin, Rowley spent a year as the resident scholar at the University of Texas in Austin. She moved to the United States in 1997 and began working at the W. E. B. DuBois Institute at Harvard University. While at the institute, she wrote Richard Wright: The Life and Times (2001), a biography of the African American author. Rowley conducted her research on Wright by examining 136 boxes of his papers and discovering Wright’s experiences as a writer living in Chicago and his association with Ralph Ellison, another African American writer. The book was included on The Washington Post Book World’s 2001 Raves List.

Rowley was a popular speaker at universities in the United States and abroad, and she traveled widely. Her book Tête-a-Tête: Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre (2005), was written while she was in Paris. Rowley ran into difficulty with publishing Tête-a-Tête, however, because Sartre's daughter and one of Beauvoir's former lovers objected to some of the material within it; ultimately two versions were printed, an American one with the objectionable content and an international edition without.

Rowley was a member of PEN and the Australian Society of Authors. She experienced several strokes and heart attacks, and died on March 1, 2011, in New York City. Her sister, Della, subsequently established a literary fellowship in her name to support the work of other Australian biographers.

Author Works

Nonfiction:

Christina Stead: A Biography, 1993

The Art of Self-Invention, 1996

Richard Wright: The Life and Times, 2001

Tête-a-Tête: Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre, 2005

Franklin and Eleanor: An Extraordinary Marriage, 2010

Translation:

The Last Friend, 2006 (of Tahar Ben Jelloun's novel; with Kevin Michel Capé)

Edited Text:

From a Distance: Australian Writers and Cultural Displacement, 1996 (with Wenche Ommundsen)

Bibliography

"Bio." Hazel Rowley, pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/35807/20110506-0734/www.hazelrowley.com/bio.html. Accessed 27 June 2017. A brief biography of Rowley on her official website, which was archived following her death.

Craven, Peter. "An Irrepressible and Daring Storyteller: Hazel Rowley, 1951-2011." The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 Mar. 2011. Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=anh&AN=SYD-5YP41V499C01L880XOPE. Accessed 27 June 2017. An obituary of Rowley that talks about her struggles in academia as well as her successful, intimate biographies. Mentions the controversy surrounding Tête-a-Tête: Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Rowley, Hazel. "Hazel Rowley Has a Few News Flashes about the Roosevelt Marriage." Interview by Jeff Baker. The Oregonian, 27 Nov. 2010, www.oregonlive.com/books/index.ssf/2010/11/hazel‗rowley‗has‗a‗few‗news‗fl.html. Accessed 27 June 2017. Discusses popular misconceptions about the Roosevelts, the central bond, their extramarital affairs, and Rowley's research.

Schier, Donald. "Two for the Show." Sewanee Review, vol. 115, no. 3, 2007, pp. lxvii–lxix. Literary Reference Center Plus, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lkh&AN=26080760&site=lrc-plus. Accessed 27 June 2017. A positive review of Rowley's Tête-a-Tête: Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre.

Smith, Joan. "Tête-a-Tête, by Hazel Rowley: Lying in Theory and Practice." Independent, 20 Jan. 2006, www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/tecircte-agrave-tecircte-by-hazel-rowley-6111156.html. Accessed 27 June 2017. A review of Tête-a-Tête: Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre highlighting Sartre's contradictions and cruelty, based on Rowley's depiction.