Lilith Norman

Lilith George Norman (1927–2017) was an Australian children's writer, also known for her editorship of the New South Wales School Magazine.

Lilith Norman
BornLilith George Norman
(1927-11-27)27 November 1927
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Died22 December 2017(2017-12-22) (aged 90)
Naremburn, New South Wales, Australia

Early life and education

Norman was born in Sydney, New South Wales on 27 November 1927.[1] Part of her childhood was spent in Goulburn, where she attended Bourke Street Primary School,[2] came second in Class 6A[3] and secured admission to Goulburn High School.[4] Instead she moved to Waverley and was educated at Sydney Girls High School from 1940 to 1944.[5] She won a short story prize in 1943.[5]

Career

Norman found work as an assistant at Newtown Library from 1947 to 1948 and worked as a telephonist at a London hotel 1950–1951. Returning to Sydney she became a sales assistant at Angus & Robertson in 1952–1953. She then nursed at Balmain Hospital for three years before returning to librarianship, being promoted to children's librarian at the Sydney Public Library in 1966.[6]

In 1970 Norman joined the New South Wales School Magazine as assistant editor. She was promoted to editor in 1975 on the resignation of Patricia Wrightson. After three years as editor she resigned in December 1978 to write full time.[1][7]

Her works for children were noted for their realistic depictions of families facing difficult circumstances. A Dream of Seas, for example, deals with a young boy coping with his father's death and has "elements of magic realism".[8]

Selected works

Children's fiction
  • Norman, Lilith (1970). Climb a lonely hill. Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-184351-6.
  • —— (1971). The shape of three. Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-184762-0.
  • —— (1973). The flame takers. Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-661224-7.
  • —— (1977). Mocking-bird man. Lacis, Astra (illustrator). Hodder and Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-22208-9.
  • —— (1978). A dream of seas. Bell, Edwina (illustrator). Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-184372-1.
  • —— (1979). My simple little brother. Rae, David (illustrator). Collins. ISBN 978-0-00-184391-2.
  • Lilith Norman (1993), The paddock: a story in praise of the earth, Roennfeldt, Robert (illustrator), Random House, ISBN 9780091826512
  • —— (1998). Grandpa. Young, Noela (illustrator). Margaret Hamiltion Books. ISBN 978-0-947241-52-0.

Nonfiction
  • Norman, Lilith (1983). The brown and yellow : Sydney Girls' High School 1883–1983. Young, Noela (cover designer/illustrator). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-554431-2.

Awards and recognition

References
  1. "Lilith Norman". AustLit: Discover Australian Stories. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  2. "Exam Results". Goulburn Evening Penny Post. New South Wales, Australia. 2 April 1937. p. 8 (Daily). Retrieved 20 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. "August Test". Goulburn Evening Penny Post. New South Wales, Australia. 4 September 1939. p. 2 (Daily). Retrieved 20 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Successful Pupils". Goulburn Evening Penny Post. New South Wales, Australia. 5 December 1939. p. 7 (Daily). Retrieved 20 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. Norman, Lilith (1983). The brown and yellow : Sydney Girls' High School 1883–1983. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. pp. 233–234. ISBN 0-19-554431-5. OCLC 29017391.
  6. Saxby, Maurice (15 February 2018). Hamilton, Margaret (ed.). "Vale Lilith Norman 1927–2017". Reading Time. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
  7. "Resignations". Government Gazette of the State of New South Wales. No. 53. New South Wales, Australia. 12 April 1979. p. 1841. Retrieved 21 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. Lees, Stella; Macintyre, Pam (2006), "Norman, Lilith", The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature, Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780195146561.001.0001/acref-9780195146561-e-2374, ISBN 978-0-19-514656-1, retrieved 20 May 2022
  9. "1971 awards". The Canberra Times. Vol. 45, no. 12, 859. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 10 July 1971. p. 15. Retrieved 20 May 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
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