John Gordon Morrison (29 January 1904 – 11 May 1998)Jones, Philip, "Obituary: John Gordon Morrison: Author", The Age, (Friday, 22 May 1998), p.24. was a British-born Australian novelist and short story writer.
Life John Morrison was born in Sunderland, England on 29 January 1904.Galimond, Paul, "John Morrison: Writer of Proletarian Life", Sydney Review of Books, 11 August 2015. His interest in flora and the natural world saw him begin work at the Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens at the age of 14.John Morrison, “Blue and Yellow Macaw,” Overland, 40, 1968, pp.17-19. Reprinted in, John Morrison, The Happy Warrior (1987), Fairfield (Victoria), Pascoe Publishing, pp.137-41. After two and a half years there he went to work as a learner-gardener for a wealthy shipowner at East Boldon
His first wife was Frances Jones (?-1967)."John Gordon Morrison: He Said He Would Write", Smith's Weekly, (Saturday, 1 March 1947), p.15. They had two children: John, and Marie. He married his second wife, Rachel Gordon (?-1997), in 1969.
Australia He migrated to Australia in 1923 and initially worked on sheep-stations in New South Wales. His first Australian job was in the garden of historic Zara Station at Wanganella, outback of Deniliquin. The wide open spaces gave him a sense of freedom: warm friendship with his mates imbued him with the confidence to explore the Australian working class milieu in his stories, and he determined to live out his life in this place of "glamor and independence".Family pressure took him back to England in 1927 — there was a crippled brother suffering from infantile paralysis — but the brief visit was disastrous due to his intense homesickness for Australia. From this unhappy time comes one of his best short stories, The Incense Burner.Morrison, John, "The Incense-burner", Meanjin, Vol.13, No.1, (Autumn 1954), pp.49-61. An Aussie digger exiled to a shabby London rooming house lives and dies with no comfort other than the scent of smouldering eucalyptus leaves.
On his return to Australia, he and Frances settled in Melbourne in 1928, where he began a ten-year stint working on the Melbourne waterfront and, later, as a gardner.John Morrison, The Happy Warrior (1987), Melbourne, Pascoe Publishing, p.4. He subsequently joined the Communist Party of Australia.M.P.s' New Attack on Literary Fund, The Sydney Morning Herald, Friday, 5 September 1952), p.3. He worked as a gardener at Caulfield Grammar School from 1950 to 1963.
Writer He published his first stories under the name of "Gordon", and later as "John Morrison",For example, Morrison, John, "No Admittance! except on business", The (Sydney) Tribune, (Thursday, 20 July 1944), p.4; Morrison, John, "Powder Ground", The Australasian, (Saturday, 3 November 1945), pp.12, 52, 54, 55; Morrison, John, "The Delightful Voice", The Australasian, (Saturday, 5 January 1946), p.16; Morrison, John, "All I Ask", The Australasian, (Saturday, 16 March 1946), pp.22, 23, etc. in trade union publications during this time. He was later a member of the Realist Writers Group and went on to publish a number of short stories in newspapers,Morrison, John, "Lascar Laughs Last", Supplement to The (Adelaide) Mail, (Saturday, 8 September 1945), p.1.The Argus Competition Short Story: "At This Very Moment", by John Morrison, The Argus, (Saturday, 5 May 1945), p.10Morrison, John, "Return of a Warrior", The (Sydney) Tribune, (Wednesday, 6 January 1954), p.5.Morrison, John, "Way of Life", The (Sydney) Tribune, (Wednesday, 12 March 1958), p.7. two novels, four collections of stories and a book of essays.
After leaving the waterfront he worked as a jobbing gardener based in Mentone.Stephen Murray-Smith, introduction, p.x, in, John Morrison, The best stories of John Morrison, Penguin, Melbourne, 1988. He later worked as a gardner at Caulfield Grammar School until 1963, when he became a full-time writer; publishing also book reviews and journalism.
Morrison, “likened the writer to the man who comes across an interesting rock or stone and puts it in his pocket. For months, perhaps years, he carries it about, rolling it in his hands from time to time until it is polished. His stories, he said, were like these stones.”Morrison, The Happy Warrior, p.7-8.
His literary friends and associates included John Behan, Alan Marshall, Frank Dalby Davison, Frank Hardy and Judah Waten. He was a member of the Realist Writers Group.See: Martin, David, "Three Realists in Search of Reality", Meanjin, Vol.18, No.3, (1959), pp.305-322.For example: Morrison, John, "What shall we do about the Australian tradition", The Realist (Melbourne), no. 15, (1964), pp.24-26.
Awards He won a number of short story competitions.Results of Literary Competitions, The (Hobart) Mercury, (Friday, 3 December 1943), p.7.Short Story Competition, The West Australian, (Thursday, 5 April 1945), p.6.
He was awarded a Commonwealth Literary Fund grant in both 1948 and 1949,Commonwealth Literary Fund, The Central Queensland Herald, (Thursday, 28 October 1948), p.10; Unionist gets literary grant, The Labor Call, (Friday, 29 October 1948), p.7.Waterfront to Lose a Novelist, The (Melbourne) Herald, (Friday, 19 August 1949), p.3; Hook Pays Off Best, The Brisbane Telegraph, (Sunday, 21 August 1949) p.8.Authors' Fund: Clash in Parlt., The (Sydney) Daily Telegraph, (Friday, 5 September 1952), p.6. the Gold Medal of the Australian Literature Society in 1963,Australian Literary Studies Gold Medal: Winners. and the Patrick White Literary Award in 1986.Wharfie wins award, The Canberra Times, (Saturday, 8 November 1986), p.7. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 1989 Queens Birthday Honours List.The Queen's Birthday 1989 Honours: The Order of Australia: To be Members in the General Division (AM): John Gordon Morrison, Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, (No.S192, (Monday, 12 June 1989), p.4; Queen's Birthday Honors: Members of the Order of Australia, The Age, (Monday, 12 June 1989), p.9.
Bibliography
Novels The Creeping City (1949) Port of Call (1950)
Short fiction Collections Sailors Belong Ships (1947) Black Cargo (1955) Twenty-Three : Stories (1962)H. McC., "John Morrison and his people, The (Sydney) Tribune, (Wednesday, 8 August 1962), p.7. John Morrison, Selected Stories (1972) North Wind (1982) Stories of the Waterfront (1984) This Freedom (1985) The Best Stories of John Morrison (1988) Stories TitleYearFirst publishedReprinted/collectedNotesTinkle, tinkle, little bell1965North Wind
Non-fiction Books Australian by Choice (essays, 1973) The Happy Warrior (memoirs, 1987) Journalism "That'll be the bloody day!", The (Sydney) Tribune, (Tuesday, 10 July 1973), p.7.
Death He died in Melbourne on 11 May 1998.
Legacy In 1974, the Victorian branch of the Fellowship of Australian Writers instituted The John Morrison Short Story Award, "an award for a story of up to 3000 words on any theme".The last award (as of 22 November 2018) was made in 2015 to Free Vreman for her short story "for Flight" (see: Free Vreman, Austlit).
See also List of Caulfield Grammar School people
References
Further reading A Wharfie Slung Ink As Well, Fact: The Up-to-the-Minute Australian News-Review: Supplement to The (Sydney) Sunday Sun, (Sunday 15 April 1945), p.4. Callander, Ron, https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/8470105 AM.", Overland, Vol.79, No,3, (Winter 1999), pp.78-91. Davidson, Jim, "Stephen’s Vector", Overland, no.216, (Spring 2014), pp.91-97. Galimond, Paul, "John Morrison: Writer of Proletarian Life", Sydney Review of Books, 11 August 2015. Gill, Rae, Approach to the Text: Stories of the Waterfront by John Morrison, NSW Dept. of School Education, Learning Materials Production Centre, (Ryde), 1983. Lowenstein, Wendy & Hills, Tom, Under the Hook: Melbourne Waterside Workers Remember Working Lives and Class War, 1900-1980 (New Edition), Bookworkers Press in association with Working Titles, (Prahran), 1998. McLaren, John, "Bias Australian?", Overland, no.217, (Summer 2014), pp.86-93. McLaren, John, "John Morrison: Memories, Reminiscences and Some Judgements", Southerly, Vol.61, No.3, (2001–2002), pp. 15–22. McLaren, John, "The British Tradition in John Morrison’s Radical Nationalism", Australian Literary Studies, Vol.20, No.3, (1 May 2002), pp. 215–234. Phillips, A.A., "The Short Stories of John Morrison", Overland, Vol.58, (Winter 1974), pp. 31–35. Rumsey, Jennifer Isabella, John Gordon Morrison: A Biography, Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of English, Faculty of Arts, University of Sydney, 2004. (Catalogue entry: .) John Gordon Morrison (1904-1998), The University of Melbourne Archives.
Portraits Kahan, Louis (not dated), felt tip pen portrait of John Morrison, University of Melbourne Library Print Collection. John Gordon Morrison, Wharf Labourer and Author; Recipient of the Patrick White Literary Award, 1986 and the Order of Australia, 1989, Australian National University Library Collection. Bolton, A.T., Portrait of John Morrison, Ripponlea, 1986, National Library of Australia.