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KSP Writers' Centre
‘Katharine's Place’ was the name her friends gave to the Australian author's Greenmount home. When the Katharine Susannah Prichard Foundation was established in 1985, it was decided to retain this already recognised name. Now also known as the Katharine Susannah Prichard (KSP) Writers' Centre, the oldest of its kind in Australia, the house is a familiar meeting place for writers of all persuasions.
'The sweet peace of home enfolding me again.... Here I am reclining on the verandah with the garden looking at its beautifullest - lavender, cerise pelargonium and Christmas lilies, pink honeysuckle and nasturtiums all mixed and growing wild together. A golden-breasted whistler pouring out his song, too! I'm so grateful for the peace and loveliness.' From Katharine to her son Ric, in a letter written during the 1960s
For over thirty years, the voluntary Board of Management for the KSP Foundation has maintained the heritage-listed property and also run a vibrant Writers’ Centre. All activities and events held at the Centre honour the objective to help writers of all levels to develop their craft – and in this, we honour the memory of Katharine Susannah Prichard.
‘Katharine's Place’ was the name her friends gave to the Australian author's Greenmount home. When the Katharine Susannah Prichard Foundation was established in 1985, it was decided to retain this already recognised name. Now also known as the Katharine Susannah Prichard (KSP) Writers' Centre, the oldest of its kind in Australia, the house is a familiar meeting place for writers of all persuasions.
The official National Trust Statement of Significance acknowledges the cultural importance of Katharine’s Place:
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the place has a long and close association with the important Australian literary figure and political activist, Katharine Susannah Prichard;
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the place is held in esteem by the local community and by particular literary groups for its association with writer Katharine Susannah Prichard;
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the place demonstrates a particular aesthetic relationship between the buildings and the site, and the wild and varied character of the garden; and,
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the place demonstrates a writer's way of working and living.
ABOUT...
Katharine Susannah Prichard
Katharine Susannah Prichard was an author and historically significant person who lived most of her life in the Perth hills region of Western Australia. She was notably the first Australian novelist to gain international recognition for her 1915 novel, The Pioneers, which won the prestigious Hodder and Stoughton All Empire Literature Prize for Australasia. She was also wife to the famous Anzac hero, Hugo 'Jim' Throssell VC, and a controversial political activist and advocate for peace.
It seems natural that Katharine would become an author, as she descended from literary stock. Her father was Editor of The Fiji Times when she was born on the 4th December 1883 in Levuka at the height of a hurricane. 'The Child of the Hurricane', the Fijians called her. Also serving as a tragic metaphor for her life, it was to be the title of her autobiography. Image: Katharine at age 3, courtesy KSP Foundation Inc.
References and Further Reading > Child of the Hurricane by Katharine Susannah Prichard (A & R Classics, 1974) > Wild Weeds and Wind Flowers: The Life and Letters of Katharine Susannah Prichard by Ric Throssell (Collins: A & R Imprint, 1990). > Katharine Susannah Prichard: Her Place by Pam Portman and Sally Clarke (Gooseberry Hill Press, 2010) > Ric Throssell, My Father's Son (William Heinemann Australia, 1989) > Poem reprinted with permission of Karen Throssell
Katharine Susannah Prichard was an author and historically significant person who lived most of her life in the Perth hills region of Western Australia. She was notably the first Australian novelist to gain international recognition for her 1915 novel, The Pioneers, which won the prestigious Hodder and Stoughton All Empire Literature Prize for Australasia. She was also wife to the famous Anzac hero, Hugo 'Jim' Throssell VC, and a controversial political activist and advocate for peace.