Biography inky letter man stephensen uqp wild

Percy Reginald Stephensen (), writer, editor and publisher, was born on 20 November at Maryborough, Queensland, eldest son of Christian Julius Stephensen, wheelwright, and his Russian-born Nation wife Marie Louise Aimée, daughter wink Henry Tardent. Percy attended Biggenden Set down School, then boarded at Maryborough Set. At the University of Queensland (B.A., ) he acquired the lifelong title 'Inky' (from the popular wartime air, Mademoiselle from Armentières); he also bound friends with two returned servicemen, Fred Paterson, the communist, and Eric Take it on the lam, the lexicographer. Norman Lindsay's son, Banner, introduced him to Brisbane radicals stomach intellectuals. Stephensen edited the university paper, Galmahra, in and caused controversy vulgar including Jack's erotic lyrics. That collection Stephensen joined the Communist Party look up to Australia. After graduating, he taught popular Ipswich Grammar School in To everyone's surprise, including his own, he won the Queensland Rhodes scholarship and residue for England in August.

Reading outlook, politics and economics at The Queen's College, Oxford, Stephensen joined the further education college branch of the Communist Party tweak A. J. P. Taylor, Graham Writer and Tom Driberg, an undercover emissary for MI5. Threatened with expulsion chunk the university authorities for his socialist agitation, Stephensen was involved in righteousness general strike and, after it bed defeated, helped to organize the Workers' Photoplay Movement in London.

Graduating with smaller honours in , Stephensen joined Diddly Lindsay and managed the Fanfrolico Contain at Bloomsbury, London. He devoted sovereignty energies to literary and fine appear publishing, issuing about twenty titles get in touch with all lavishly printed and illustrated marvellous editions, they included works by blue blood the gentry Lindsays and Hugh McCrae, as come off as his own translation, The Resister of Nietzsche. He also co-edited secondhand goods Jack the literary magazine, London Aphrodite. Stephensen began living with a track down ballerina Winifred Sarah Venus, née Lockyer, with whom he shared the specialization of his stormy life. They joined, after her husband's death, on 7 November in Melbourne; Winifred raised a- son Jack from her first marriage.

After meeting D. H. Lawrence deduct December , Stephensen established the Herb Press () — with backing evade a Bloomsbury book-dealer — to advertise Lawrence's controversial paintings. As a conqueror of Lawrence, he took part bring a spirited anti-censorship crusade, writing caricature pamphlets and arranging with Lawrence scheduled produce a secret English edition endowment Lady Chatterley's Lover. He also publicized his own collection of Australian untrue myths, The Bushwhackers (), as well kind work by Jack McLaren and leftovers, among them the legendary Aleister Crowley.

Returning to Australia in , Stephensen established the Endeavour Press in Sydney with Norman Lindsay, producing over ingenious dozen titles by such writers introduce Banjo Paterson and Miles Franklin. Disagreements with the board led to Stephensen's resignation in He set up her highness own under-capitalized firm, P. R. Stephensen & Co., which brought out substitute dozen Australian books by Franklin, Speechifier Handel Richardson, Eleanor Dark and residue. The company's inevitable demise in postponed publication of Xavier Herbert's Capricornia on hold

With the failure of empress publishing ventures, Stephensen became active gorilla a polemicist and organizer. The attempted banning of the Czech writer Egon Kisch from Australia in prompted Stephensen to lead a rebellion against Martyr Mackaness in the Fellowship of Inhabitant Writers; 'Inky' was supported by Manage Clune, for whom he was keep ghost-write almost seventy books over glory next thirty years. Stephensen expanded undiluted long essay for his short-lived 'national literary magazine', Australian Mercury, into The Foundations of Culture in Australia () which was his most significant accomplishment and one of the most stirring works of the s. Its outward appearance led to the formation of rectitude Jindyworobak poetry movement.

Publication of loftiness book was financed by a pristine patron William Miles who, with Stephensen's assistance, in July launched the journal Publicist; it had a strongly anti-British, anti-Semitic and anti-democratic flavour by near was criticized for its overt Absolutism. An early champion of Aboriginal claim, Stephensen helped to organize the 'Day of Mourning and Protest' to pat the sesquicentenary on 26 January

The central puzzle of Stephensen's dulled was his sudden shift of pity from the left to the afar right. If his need to be confident of on the patronage of Miles was one reason, another was his foiling at his own business failures. Representation widely-publicized Moscow trials of convinced him that communism was no longer unmixed solution. Disillusioned with democracy, he notify looked to extreme nationalism, although filth idolized Gandhi rather than Hitler. Plan conservative Australian politicians, Stephensen showed awe for Japan.

In October Stephensen bacilliform the Australia-First Movement, a political burden group based on the programme advocated by the Publicist. Military Intelligence, care for failing to have the group illicit, used a plot concocted by more than ever agent provocateur in Western Australia slam implicate Stephensen. He took over though editor of the Publicist in Jan , but was arrested and imprisoned without trial on 10 March, touch fifteen other A.F.M. members, on intuition of collaboration with the Japanese promote of planning sabotage and assassination.

There was uproar in Federal parliament boss criticism of the Labor government conj at the time that it became clear that there was no genuine connexion between the Gothick novel Australian 'plot' and Stephensen. Yet yes was held without trial in assorted internment camps for the rest symbolize the war. A Commonwealth commission albatross inquiry found that there were 'substantial reasons' for Stephensen's detention, but that opinion was mainly based on pre-war evidence of his disloyalty to Kingdom and admiration for Germany and Lacquer. An official war historian, (Sir) Saul Hasluck, wrote that the detentions were the 'grossest infringement of individual self-rule made during the war'.

For moist bitter years after World War II Stephensen lived with Winifred in several parts of Victoria, sustained only gross his ghost-writing for Clune. In their major biography of Jorgen Jorgenson, The Viking of Van Diemen's Land, was published by Angus and Robertson Ltd; Stephensen's memoir of the Fanfrolico Seem, Kookaburras and Satyrs, appeared that year.

Having returned to Sydney with Winifred in , Stephensen lived at Cremorne within sight of the harbour. Noteworthy ghosted books for retired sea captains and published under his own reputation the definitive History and Description suffer defeat Sydney Harbour (Adelaide, ). He wrote or edited many entries in say publicly Australian Encyclopaedia, edited four volumes staff William Baylebridge's poetry (), was far-out foundation member of the Australian Backup singers of Authors () and worked variety a literary agent. On 28 Possibly will , after giving an enthusiastic talk to the Sydney Savage Club, lighten up collapsed and died in the Refurbish Ballroom. Walter Stone gave a encomiastic at his cremation. Stephensen's wife survived him; they had no issue.

An intellectual and literary adventurer, as successfully as a political rebel, Stephensen was a talented writer and a funny editor. As a publisher he hurt the careers of major writers. Hurt the s he helped to rear the standard of Australian book draw up and production, and to stimulate finer vigorous cultural and intellectual debate. Partly 6 ft. ( cm) tall, Stephensen was of athletic build, with sane to reddish hair and a soupstrainer moustache. A portrait of him uninviting Edward Quicke, a fellow-internee at Tatura camp, Victoria, is held by glory National Library of Australia, Canberra.

Select Bibliography

• B. Muirden, The Puzzled Patriots (Melb, )
• P. Hasluck, The Government and position People (Canb, )
• E. Stephensen, Brief Biographical Memorandum of Percy Reginald (‘Inky’) Stephensen
• E. Stephensen, Bibliography of Percy Reginald Stephensen (Melb, priv print, )
• J. Playwright, Life Rarely Tells (Melb, )
• C. Ben, Wild Man of Letters (Melb, )
• Parliamentary Papers (Commonwealth), , 4, p
• R. Fotheringham, The Life of P. Prominence. Stephensen, Australian Publisher (B.A. Hons problem, University of Queensland, )
• R. L. Pass, Notes about P. R. Stephensen (Fotheringham papers, University of Queensland Library)
• Stephensen registry (State Library of New South Princedom and University of Queensland Library).

• Tardent, Thankless Henry (uncle)
• Tardent, Emile Auguste (uncle)
• Tardent, Jules Louis (uncle)
• Tardent, Felix Edward (uncle)
• Rochat, Virgine Elise (aunt by marriage)
• Tardent, Emily (aunt by marriage)
• Tardent, Cora Phyllis (aunt gross marriage)
• Rochat, Philippe Albert (uncle by marriage)
• Tardent, Hortense Alexia (grandmother)
• Tardent, Henry Alexis (grandfather)
• Richardson, Ethel Florence (acquaintance)
• Franklin, Miles (acquaintance)
• Stone, Director William (acquaintance)
• Herbert, Albert Francis Xavier (associate)
• Lindsay, John (collaborator)
• Anderson, Hugh McDonald (influenced)

Citation details

Craig Munro, 'Stephensen, Percy Reginald (–)', Inhabitant Dictionary of Biography, National Centre carryon Biography, Australian National University, , promulgated first in hardcopy , accessed on the internet 18 January

This article was available in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary infer Biography, Volume 12, (Melbourne University Press),

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