Patrick White, Castle Hill, Sydney

Patrick White (1912-1990), novelist and playwright, is the only Australian author to have won the Nobel Prize for Literature (in 1973). White was born in London to a family of Hunter River graziers and spent his youth between England and Australia, at one point returning from study abroad to work as a jackeroo. Having served in North Africa during World War 2, he returned to Australia to live first in rural Castle Hill, north of Sydney, and later in Centennial Park, Sydney. White's novels include The Aunt's Story, The Tree of Man, Voss, Riders in the Chariot, The Vivisector, The Eye of the Storm, and The Twyborn Affair. Piqued by criticism of Voss he wrote in 1958 'How sick I am of the bloody word AUSTRALIA. What a pity I am part of it; if I were not, I would get out tomorrow. As it is, they will have me with them till my bitter end, and there are about six more of my un-Australian novels to fling in their faces.' He was 'horrified' to be told he had been chosen as Australian of the Year for 1973, but during the Whitlam era he became political, 'first from exhilaration, then through a sense of outrage', and made star appearances at various protest rallies.
Australian of the Year 1973