# Robert Close > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Close > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Robert_Close.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Close > Source revision: 1346543304 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Australian writer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2023}} '''Robert Close''' (15 July 1903 in [Camberwell, Victoria](/source/Camberwell%2C_Victoria) – 17 July 1995 in [Palma](/source/Palma%2C_Majorca), [Majorca](/source/Majorca)){{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-robert-close-1596451.html|title=OBITUARY: Robert Close|last=Williams|first=Jackie|date=16 August 1995|work=[The Independent](/source/The_Independent)|accessdate=1 September 2015}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/122099/Robert-Close|title=Robert Close (Australian writer) -- Britannica Online Encyclopedia|work=[Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica%2C_Inc.)|publisher=[Encyclopædia Britannica](/source/Encyclop%C3%A6dia_Britannica)|accessdate=16 June 2010}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/libraries/rare/3_3_1biographies.html|title=Biographies relating to collections of personal papers, correspondence and Australian literary manuscripts. Rare Books and Special Collections, University of Sydney Library.|publisher=[University of Sydney Library](/source/University_of_Sydney_Library)|accessdate=21 July 2010|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100218052316/http://www.library.usyd.edu.au/libraries/rare/3_3_1biographies.html|archivedate=18 February 2010|df=dmy-all}} was an Australian [novelist](/source/novelist). == Early life == His early life was clouded by disappointment. He hated school, and his a passion for a life at sea was blighted when he was found to have [colour blindness](/source/colour_blindness). [Tuberculosis](/source/Tuberculosis) thwarted a possible singing career. During the 1930s [Depression](/source/Great_Depression), he worked variously as a labourer, manager, salesman, and debt collector. He was an avid reader and won prizes as a short-story writer. == Writing career == In a widely publicised case, in 1946 he and "Georgian House Pty Ltd", the publisher of his 1945 novel ''[Love Me Sailor](/source/Love_Me_Sailor)'', were prosecuted in the [Supreme Court of Victoria](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Victoria) for "[obscene libel](/source/obscene_libel)".{{cite AustLII|VicLawRp|79|1948|litigants=R v Close |parallelcite=[1948] [VLR](/source/Victorian_Law_Reports) 445 |date=29 June 1948 |courtname=[Supreme Court (Full Court)](/source/Supreme_Court_of_Victoria) (Vic)}}.{{Cite web|url=http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/special/exhibitions/bannedbooks/exhibition/close.html|title=Banned Books: Robert Close|publisher=[University of Melbourne Library](/source/University_of_Melbourne)|accessdate=21 July 2010}} During the first trial, the entire 90,000-word book was read to the [jury](/source/jury) by [counsel](/source/barrister) for the prosecution twice: the first jury was discharged when the court was notified that the [foreman of the jury](/source/Jury) had discussed the case with one of Close's friends.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=gpNjAAAAIBAJ&sjid=T3oNAAAAIBAJ&pg=4511,1758038&dq=robert-close+obscene&hl=en|title=Author, Publisher Guilty of Libel|work=[Saskatoon Star-Phoenix](/source/Saskatoon_Star-Phoenix)|accessdate=26 February 2011}} Close was sentenced to three months' imprisonment and a fine of [£](/source/Australian_pound)100.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=9KQUAAAAIBAJ&sjid=s7EDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4635,1005583&dq=robert-close+obscene&hl=en|title=Robert Close Finds Fun in Puncturing the Pompous and Prudish|work=[The Age](/source/The_Age)|accessdate=26 February 2011}} This was later overturned on appeal; he served 10 days in prison and was fined £150. Close left Australia for France in 1950. His later works included ''Eliza Callaghan'' (1957), loosely based on the life of Elizabeth Callaghan, the spouse of Australian pioneer and businessman [John Batman](/source/John_Batman), and ''The Voyage Continues'' (1969). == Later life == He returned to Australia in 1975 but after two years relocated to [Majorca](/source/Majorca), where he died in 1995. His autobiography, ''Of Salt and Earth'', was published in 1977. == Oral History == Close was interviewed in 1975 by [Hazel de Berg](/source/Hazel_de_Berg) about his life and writing career. This recording can be found at the [National Library of Australia](/source/National_Library_of_Australia).Close, Robert; de Berg, Hazel (interviewer) (1975). ''[https://catalogue.nla.gov.au/catalog/1481391 Robert Close interviewed by Hazel de Berg in the Hazel de Berg collection [sound recording]],'' National Library of Australia, Retrieved 1 April 2026. ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [http://www.naa.gov.au/about-us/research-grants/margaret-george-award/former/moore-paper-2004-old.aspx Secrets of the censors: Obscenity in the Archives] from the [National Archives of Australia](/source/National_Archives_of_Australia) * [http://www.lib.unimelb.edu.au/collections/special/exhibitions/pulp/contents.pdf Robert S. Close at sections 132 and 134 of the archive] from the library of the [University of Melbourne](/source/University_of_Melbourne) {{Authority control}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Close, Robert}} Category:1903 births Category:1995 deaths Category:20th-century Australian novelists Category:20th-century Australian male writers Category:Australian male novelists Category:Writers from Melbourne --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Robert Close](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Close) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Close?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.