# Eve Pownall > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Eve_Pownall > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Eve_Pownall.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_Pownall > Source revision: 1330264686 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Australian writer (1901–1982) Eve Pownall MBE Born Marjorie Evelyn Sheridan (1902-01-12)12 January 1902[a] Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Died 15 November 1982(1982-11-15) (aged 80) Forestville, New South Wales Occupation Writer and historian Language English Years active 1945–1982 Notable works The Australia Book Notable awards Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers 1952 **Marjorie Evelyn "Eve" Pownall** [MBE](/source/Member_of_the_Order_of_the_British_Empire) ([née](/source/Birth_name#Maiden_and_married_names) Sheridan; 12 January 1902[a] – 15 November 1982) was an Australian writer for children and historian. Her best known work was *[The Australia Book](/source/The_Australia_Book)* (1952). She was a founding member of the [Children's Book Council of Australia](/source/Children's_Book_Council_of_Australia) (CBCA), and the [Eve Pownall Award for Information Books](/source/Children's_Book_of_the_Year_Award%3A_Eve_Pownall_Award_for_Information_Books) is presented each year by the CBCA in her honour. ## Early life and education Marjorie Evelyn Sheridan was born on 12 January 1902[a] in [Kings Cross, Sydney](/source/Kings_Cross%2C_Sydney), Australia, the eldest of three children. Her father was Percival Joseph Sheridan and her mother Evelyn Irene, née Lane. The family lived in [Kiama](/source/Kiama%2C_New_South_Wales), [Windsor](/source/Windsor%2C_New_South_Wales), [Muswellbrook](/source/Muswellbrook), and Sydney, where Eve attended [North Sydney Girls High School](/source/North_Sydney_Girls_High_School).[3] She undertook a secretarial course before finding work at [Fox Film](/source/Fox_Film) and then at [Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer](/source/Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer), until her marriage in December 1929.[3] Pownall began to review children's literature for *Australasian Book News and Literary Journal*, and later began writing children's fiction and non-fiction of her own. She was appointed an MBE in 1978 and was the first recipient of the [Lady Cutler award](/source/Lady_Cutler_Award) for distinguished service to children's literature in New South Wales.[3] Pownall was a founding member of the [Children's Book Council of Australia](/source/Children's_Book_Council_of_Australia) (CBCA) in 1945, and was associated with it for the rest of her life.[1] ## Recognition and honours Pownall was appointed a [Member of the British Empire](/source/Member_of_the_British_Empire) (MBE) in 1978, for services to literature.[4][3] She was the first recipient of the [Lady Cutler Award](/source/Lady_Cutler_Award) for Distinguished Services to Children's Literature in New South Wales.[3][1] The CBCA presents the annual [Eve Pownall Award for Information Books](/source/Children's_Book_of_the_Year_Award%3A_Eve_Pownall_Award_for_Information_Books) in her honour.[1] ### For specific works - 1952 – winner [Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers](/source/Children's_Book_of_the_Year_Award%3A_Older_Readers) for *The Australia Book*[5] ## Personal life and death She married Leslie Pownall in December 1929. The couple had two children.[3] Pownall died at her home in [Forestville](/source/Forestville%2C_New_South_Wales), Sydney, on 15 November 1982.[3] ## Bibliography ### Children's fiction - *Nursery Rhymes Told Anew* (1945) - *Squik the Squirrel Possum* (1949) - *Cousins-Come-Lately : Adventures in Old Sydney Town* (1952) - *Five Busy Merry-Makers* (1953) - *Binty the Bandicoot* (1957) - *A Drover* (1970) ### Children's non-fiction - *[The Australia Book](/source/The_Australia_Book)* (1952) illustrated by [Margaret Senior](/source/Margaret_Senior) - *Exploring Australia* (1958) - *A Pioneer Daughter* (1968) - *The Great South Land* (1969) illustrated by Christine Shaw ### Non-fiction - *Mary of Maranoa : Tales of Australian Pioneer Women* (1959) - *The Thirsty Land : Harnessing Australia's Water Resources* (1967) - *The Children's Book Council of Australia : 1945–1980* (1980) - *Australia From The Beginning* (1980) illustrated by Walter Cunningham ## Footnotes 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-fn1_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-fn1_1-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-fn1_1-2) Some sources cite 1901,[1] and [Trove](/source/Trove) shows different years in heading and text.[2] ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-austlit_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-austlit_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-austlit_2-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-austlit_2-3) ["Eve Pownall"](https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A24314). *[AustLit](/source/AustLit)*. Retrieved 10 June 2025. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-trove_3-0)** ["Pownall, Marjorie Evelyn (1901-1982)"](https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/460280). *[Trove](/source/Trove)*. Retrieved 10 June 2025. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-adb_4-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-adb_4-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-adb_4-2) [***d***](#cite_ref-adb_4-3) [***e***](#cite_ref-adb_4-4) [***f***](#cite_ref-adb_4-5) [***g***](#cite_ref-adb_4-6) Roberts, Jan. ["Marjorie Evelyn (Eve) Pownall"](https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/pownall-marjorie-evelyn-eve-15495). *[Australian Dictionary of Biography](/source/Australian_Dictionary_of_Biography)*. Retrieved 10 June 2025. This article was published in hardcopy in *Australian Dictionary of Biography*, Volume 18, (Melbourne University Press), 2012 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Marjorie Evelyn Pownall"](https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1087300). *It's An Honour*. Retrieved 17 December 2020. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["Children's Book of the Year: An Australian Classic?", *The Sunday Herald*, 10 August 1952, p11](http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18515643) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF WorldCat National United States Netherlands Israel Academics CiNii People Trove Australia Other IdRef Yale LUX v t e Children's Book of the Year Award for Older Readers 1946–1949 The Story of Karrawingi the Emu by Leslie Rees (1946) Shackleton's Argonauts: A Saga of the Antarctic Icepacks by Frank Hurley (1948) 1950–1959 Whalers of the Midnight Sun by Alan Villiers (1950) Verity of Sydney Town by Ruth C. Williams (1951) The Australia Book by Eve Pownall (1952) Aircraft of Today and Tomorrow by James H. Martin & W. D. Martin (1953) Good Luck to the Rider by Joan Phipson (1953) Australian Legendary Tales by K. Langloh Parker (1954) The First Walkabout by Norman B. Tindale and Harold Arthur Lindsay (1955) The Crooked Snake by Patricia Wrightson (1956) The Boomerang Book of Legendary Tales edited by Enid Moodie Heddle (1957) Tiger in the Bush by Nan Chauncy (1958) Devil's Hill by Nan Chauncy (1959) Sea Menace by John Gunn (1959) 1960–1969 All the Proud Tribesmen by Kylie Tennant (1960) Tangara by Nan Chauncy (1961) The Racketty Street Gang by L. H. Evers (1962) Rafferty Rides a Winner by Joan Woodberry (1962) The Family Conspiracy by Joan Phipson (1963) The Green Laurel by Eleanor Spence (1964) Pastures of the Blue Crane by H. F. Brinsmead (1965) Ash Road by Ivan Southall (1966) The Min-Min by Mavis Thorpe Clark (1967) To the Wild Sky by Ivan Southall (1968) When Jays Fly to Barbmo by Margaret Balderson (1969) 1970–1979 Uhu by Annette Macarthur-Onslow (1970) Bread and Honey by Ivan Southall (1971) Longtime Passing by H. F. Brinsmead (1972) Family at the Lookout by Noreen Shelley (1973) The Nargun and the Stars by Patricia Wrightson (1974) Fly West by Ivan Southall (1976) The October Child by Eleanor Spence (1977) The Ice Is Coming by Patricia Wrightson (1978) The Plum-Rain Scroll by Ruth Manley (1979) 1980–1989 Displaced Person by Lee Harding (1980) Playing Beatie Bow by Ruth Park (1981) The Valley Between by Colin Thiele (1982) Master of the Grove by Victor Kelleher (1983) A Little Fear by Patricia Wrightson (1984) The True Story of Lilli Stubeck by James Aldridge (1985) The Green Wind by Thurley Fowler (1986) All We Know by Simon French (1987) So Much to Tell You by John Marsden (1988) Beyond the Labyrinth by Gillian Rubinstein (1989) 1990–1999 Came Back to Show You I Could Fly by Robin Klein (1990) Strange Objects by Gary Crew (1991) The House Guest by Eleanor Nilsson (1992) Looking for Alibrandi by Melina Marchetta (1993) The Gathering by Isobelle Carmody (1994) Angel's Gate by Gary Crew (1995) Foxspell by Gillian Rubinstein (1995) Pagan's Vows by Catherine Jinks (1996) A Bridge to Wiseman's Cove by James Moloney (1997) Eye to Eye by Catherine Jinks (1998) Deadly, Unna? by Phillip Gwynne (1999) 2000–2009 48 Shades of Brown by Nick Earls (2000) Wolf on the Fold by Judith Clarke (2001) Forest by Sonya Hartnett (2002) The Messenger by Markus Zusak (2003) Saving Francesca by Melina Marchetta (2004) The Running Man by Michael Gerard Bauer (2005) The Story of Tom Brennan by J. C. Burke (2006) Red Spikes by Margo Lanagan (2007) The Ghost's Child by Sonya Hartnett (2008) Tales from Outer Suburbia by Shaun Tan (2009) 2010–2019 Jarvis 24 by David Metzenthen (2010) The Midnight Zoo by Sonya Hartnett (2011) The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner (2012) Sea Hearts by Margo Lanagan (2013) Wildlife by Fiona Wood (2014) The Protected by Claire Zorn (2015) Cloudwish by Fiona Wood (2016) One Would Think The Deep by Claire Zorn (2017) Take Three Girls by Cath Crowley, Fiona Wood and Simmone Howell (2018) Between Us by Clare Atkins (2019) 2020–present This is How We Change the Ending by Vikki Wakefield (2020) The End of the World Is Bigger than Love by Davina Bell (2021) Tiger Daughter by Rebecca Lim (2022) Neverlanders by Tom Taylor (2023) Grace Notes by Karen Comer (2024) I'm Not Really Here by Gary Lonesborough (2025) Picture Book (1955–present) Early Childhood (2001–present) Younger Readers (1982–present) Eve Pownall Award for Information Books (1988–present) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Eve Pownall](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_Pownall) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eve_Pownall?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.