Louise Mack
Marie Louise Hamilton Mack (1870-1935) was an influential Australian poet, novelist, journalist, and editor, renowned for her contributions to literature and her pioneering role as a war correspondent. Born in Hobart Town, Tasmania, she was the eldest of thirteen children in a religious family, which led to a childhood marked by frequent relocations. Mack's education at Sydney Girls' High School ignited her passion for writing, and her early work included editing a school newspaper and submitting poetry to periodicals.
Her literary career began with the publication of her debut novel, *The World Is Round*, in 1896, followed by popular books focusing on school life. Mack's adventurous spirit led her to leave her first husband and move to London, where she gained acclaim for her serialized romantic stories and served as a journalist during World War I, documenting her experiences in occupied Belgium. After the war, she traveled extensively, lectured on her adventures, and married again in 1924.
Mack's writing is celebrated for its authentic portrayal of characters and settings, particularly in her school fiction, and she is recognized as a significant figure in Australian literature and journalism. Her legacy includes a range of novels and essays, and she remains known for her valuable insights into the conditions of World War I.
Subject Terms
Louise Mack
Australian young adult fiction novelist, nonfiction writer, and poet.
- Born: October 10, 1870
- Birthplace: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
- Died: November 23, 1935
- Place of death: Mosman, New South Wales, Australia
Biography
Marie Louise Hamilton Mack was born on October 10, 1870, at Hobart Town in Tasmania, Australia, to the Reverend Hans Hamilton Mack and Jemima James Mack. She was the oldest sister to twelve siblings, including writer Amy Eleanor Mack. Mack lived in several South Australia and New South Wales communities, moving when her father was assigned to various Wesleyan churches. By 1882, she resided in Sydney with her family. Mack enrolled at the Sydney Girls’ High School. She served as editor of a newspaper, Gazette, at school, competing with a classmate she befriended, Ethel Turner, who edited another school paper, Iris. Those experiences inspired the school stories Mack later wrote.
After completing school, Mack secured a governess position but soon focused on a writing career. In the latter 1880s, Mack submitted her poetry and short fiction to a weekly Sydney periodical, Bulletin. Editors invited Mack to write more for them. Mack married John Percy Creed on January 8, 1896. They had no children.
A London publisher accepted and printed Mack’s debut novel, The World Is Round, in 1896. She then published her first books about school life, Teens: A Story of Australian Schoolgirls and Girls Together. In 1898, Mack, writing as a Bulletin staff member, began penning the column Woman’s Letter, using the pseudonym Gouli Gouli.
By 1901, Mack, seeking adventure, left her husband and sailed northwest by steamship to England. Settling in London, she lived frugally and wore her shoes thin sightseeing. She wrote another novel, An Australian Girl in London, receiving critical acclaim that enhanced her writing aspirations when editors invited her to contribute to Review of Reviews and work as a Daily Mailjournalist. Earning substantial income from her serialized romantic stories, Mack enjoyed traveling and moved to Florence, Italy, where she was editor of the Italian Gazette from 1904 to 1907.
By 1910, Mack returned to London. Determined to report from the front during World War I, she went to Belgium to write first- person accounts for London newspapers, including the Daily Mail and the Evening News. In October, 1914, Mack observed German troops invading Antwerp. She prepared dispatches during the occupation of Brussels before fleeing to the Netherlands with Belgian refugees.
In 1915, Mack published her account, A Woman’s Experiences in the Great War. She sailed to Australia and lectured throughout that country in 1917 and 1918, collecting Australian Red Cross Society donations. For more than a decade beginning in 1919, Mack visited schools in Australia, New Zealand, and several Pacific islands, showing documentaries and discussing her adventures.
Mack, whose first husband died in 1914 during her absence, married Allen Illingworth Leyland on September 1, 1924, at Melbourne, Australia. She wrote the Australian Women’s Weekly column Louise Mack’s Diary. Mack died on November 23, 1935, in Mosman, Australia.
Critics and readers described Mack’s school fiction as appealing due to its authentic characterization, dialogue, and school and home settings. Mack is best known as Australia’s pioneering female war correspondent. Scholars considered her reports useful for interpreting World War I conditions in Belgium.
Author Works
Long Fiction:
The World Is Round, 1896
Teens: A Story of Australian Schoolgirls, 1897 (illustrated by Frank Mahony)
Girls Together, 1898
An Australian Girl in London, 1902
Children of the Sun, 1904
The Red Rose of Summer, 1909
Theodora's Husband, 1909
In a White Palace, 1910
The Romance of a Woman of Thirty, 1911
Wife to Peter, 1911
Attraction, 1913
The Marriage of Edward, 1913
The House of Daffodils, 1914
The Music Makers: The Love Story of a Woman Composer, 1914
Teens Triumphant, 1933
Maiden's Prayer, 1934
Nonfiction:
A Woman's Experiences in the Great War, 1915
Poetry:
Dreams in Flower, 1901
A Song, 1904
Bibliography
Gelder, Ken, and Rachel Weaver. "Louise Mack and Colonial Pseudo-Literature." Southerly, vol. 70, no. 2, 2010, pp. 82–95. Discusses Mack's role in Australian literature, especially through the lens of her fellow novelist and journalist Alfred Buchanan.
Mack, Louise. A Woman's Experiences in the Great War. T. Fisher Unwin, 1915. Project Gutenberg, http://www.gutenberg.org/files/35392/35392-h/35392-h.htm. Accessed 28 June 2017. Mack's memoir provides insight into an important period in her life, as well as into general conditions during World War I.
Phelan, Nancy. "Mack, Marie Louise (1870–1935)." Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, adb.anu.edu.au/biography/mack-marie-louise-7375/text12815. Accessed 28 June 2017. Provides biographical overviews of Mack and her sister Amy Eleanor Mack, including discussion of their major works.
Phelan, Nancy. The Romantic Lives of Louise Mack. U of Queensland P, 1991. A standard biography of Mack, written by her niece.
Tasker, Meg. "'The Sweet Uses of London': The Careers 'Abroad' of Louise Mack (1870–1935) and Arthur Maquarie (1874–1955)." PORTAL: Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies, vol. 10, no. 1, Jan. 2013, pp. 1–20. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=90148465&site=eds-live. Accessed 28 June 2017. Examines Mack's career in London, England, and how the experience living abroad informed her writing.