# Joan Phipson > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Joan_Phipson > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Joan_Phipson.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Phipson > Source revision: 1313254164 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) Australian children's writer Joan Phipson Born Joan Margaret Phipson 16 November 1912 (1912-11-16) Warrawee, New South Wales Died 2 April 2003(2003-04-02) (aged 90) Occupation Writer Language English Nationality Australian Education Frensham School Genre Children's literature Notable awards CBCA Book of the Year Award for Good Luck to the Rider and The Family Conspiracy International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) Honour Diploma for The Watcher in the Garden American Library Association Notable Books list for children for Hit and Run Became a member of the Order of Australia in 1994 Spouse Colin Fitzhardinge Children Guy and Anna **Joan Margaret Phipson** [AM](/source/Member_of_the_Order_of_Australia) (16 November 1912 – 2 April 2003) was an Australian children's writer.[1] She lived on a farm in the [Central Tablelands](/source/Central_Tablelands) of [New South Wales](/source/New_South_Wales) and many of her books evoke the stress and satisfaction of living in the Australian countryside, floods, bushfires, drought and all. Two of her novels, *[Good Luck to the Rider](/source/Good_Luck_to_the_Rider)* and *[The Family Conspiracy](/source/The_Family_Conspiracy)*, won the [Australian Children's Book of the Year Award](/source/Children's_Book_of_the_Year_Award%3A_Older_Readers).[2] ## Biography Joan Phipson was born in [Warrawee, New South Wales](/source/Warrawee%2C_New_South_Wales), on 16 November 1912, to English parents. She spent much of her childhood traveling between Australia, England and India. She attended the [Frensham School](/source/Frensham_School), where she later worked as a librarian and printer, setting up Frensham Press. She studied journalism and worked for [Reuters](/source/Reuters) in London before the war. From 1941 to 1944 she served as a [telegraphist](/source/Telegraphist) in the [Women's Auxiliary Australian Air Force](/source/Women's_Auxiliary_Australian_Air_Force).[3] She married Colin Fitzhardinge in 1944 and they settled in the NSW countryside. Her first children's book, about a girl on an Australian ranch who adopts an orphaned colt, was published in 1953, and she continued to write into the 1990s. She died on 2 April 2003, aged 90, survived by her children, Guy and Anna.[2] ## Awards *Good Luck to the Rider* was named [Australian Children's Book of the Year](/source/Australian_Children's_Book_of_the_Year_Award) in 1953. *The Family Conspiracy* won the award in 1963, and also won the [New York Herald Tribune Children's Spring Book Festival Award](/source/New_York_Herald_Tribune#Awards) in 1964. *The Watcher in the Garden* received an [International Board on Books for Young People](/source/International_Board_on_Books_for_Young_People) (IBBY) Honour Diploma. *Hit and Run* was chosen as a White Ravens Selection of the [International Youth Library](/source/International_Youth_Library) in [Munich](/source/Munich) and was also chosen for the [American Library Association](/source/American_Library_Association) Notable Books list for children and for the ALA Best Books list for young adults. In 1987 Joan Phipson was awarded the [Dromkeen Medal](/source/Dromkeen_Medal) for advancing children's literature in Australia, and in 1994 became a member of the [Order of Australia](/source/Order_of_Australia).[2][4] ## Literary significance At a time when Australian literature was dominated by English and American books, Joan Phipson provided an authentic Australian voice. Her early books concerned family life in the country, animals, riding and sailing. Her first book with an urban setting was *Peter and Butch*. Later, in the 1970s and '80s, she handled a variety of challenging subjects such as the brutal racket in rare bird smuggling (*Fly into Danger*), urban breakdown (*Keep Calm*), nuclear warfare (*Dinko*) and teenage alienation (*The Watcher in the Garden*). Maurice Saxby, the children's literature expert, wrote: "More than any other writers, [Eleanor Spence](/source/Eleanor_Spence) and Joan Phipson have perhaps helped guide the direction of Australian children's literature in the past 30 years. They have both expressed in their novels of family life not only social changes but the concerns and preoccupations of a growingly complex Australian society."[5] Most of her books were published in the UK and the US as well as Australia, and her work was translated into French, German, Swedish and Hungarian.[1] ## Bibliography - *[Good Luck to the Rider](/source/Good_Luck_to_the_Rider)* (1953) - *Six and Silver* (1954) - *It Happened One Summer* (1957) - *The Boundary Riders* (1962) - *[The Family Conspiracy](/source/The_Family_Conspiracy)* (1962) - *Threat to the Barkers* (1963) - *Birkin* (1965) - *A Lamb in the Family* (1966) - *The Crew of the Merlin* (1966) - *Cross Currents* (1967) - *Peter and Butch* (1969) - *The Haunted Night* (1970) - *Bass and Billy Martin* (1972) - *The Way Home* (1973) - *Polly's Tiger* (1973) - *Helping Horse* (1974) (US title: *Horse with Eight Hands*) - *The Cats* (1976) - *Hide Till Daytime* (1976) - *Fly into Danger* (1977) (Australian title, published 1979: *The Bird Smugglers*) - *Keep Calm* (1978) (US title: *When the City Stopped*) - *No Escape* (1979) (US title: *Fly Free*) - *Mr Pringle and the Prince* (1979) - *A Tide Flowing* (1981) - *The Watcher in the Garden* (1982) - *The Grannie Season* (1985) - *Dinko* (1985) - *Hit and Run* (1985) - *Beryl the Rainmaker* (1987) - *Bianca* (1988) ### Non-fiction - *Bennelong* (Australians in History series) (1975) - Contributed to: *The Early Dreaming: Australian Children's Authors on Childhood* (1980) – authors recall their own childhood ## References 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Austlit_1-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Austlit_1-1) ["Austlit — Joan Phipson"](https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A24341). Austlit. Retrieved 6 April 2024. 1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-obit_2-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-obit_2-1) [***c***](#cite_ref-obit_2-2) Bolton, Robert and Thurston, Elizabeth (19 April 2003). ["A country to write home about"](https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-country-to-write-home-about-20030419-gdgml1.html). *The Sydney Morning Herald*. Retrieved 11 July 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["Joan Phipson Papers at USM De Grummond Archive"](https://web.archive.org/web/20100606032243/http://www.lib.usm.edu/~degrum/html/research/findaids/phipson.htm). *lib.usm.edu*. Archived from [the original](http://www.lib.usm.edu/~degrum/html/research/findaids/phipson.htm) on 6 June 2010. Retrieved 16 November 2008. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Joan Margaret PHIPSON"](https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/869826). *honours.pmc.gov.au*. Retrieved 11 July 2024. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** Stephens, Tony (17 October 2008). ["Shaping children's literature"](https://www.smh.com.au/national/shaping-childrens-literature-20081017-gdsz4c.html). *The Sydney Morning Herald*. Retrieved 11 July 2024. 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) Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States France BnF data Spain Netherlands Norway Sweden Poland Israel Academics CiNii People Trove Australian Women's Register Other IdRef Open Library SNAC Yale LUX --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Joan Phipson](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Phipson) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joan_Phipson?action=history)). 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