Doris Gentile

Doris May Gentile (née Dinham; 30 October 1894 – 16 May 1972) was an Australian novelist and short story writer, who travelled and wrote in Africa, Europe and Canada from 1925 until the Second World War.

Doris Gentile
BornDoris May Dinham
(1894-10-30)30 October 1894
Woolwich, New South Wales
Died16 May 1972(1972-05-16) (aged 77)
Little Bay, New South Wales, Australia
Pen nameD. Manners-Sutton

Early life

She was born Doris May Dinham in the Sydney suburb of Woolwich—her parents were English engraver Harry Charles Dinham and his Tasmanian-born wife Ida Margaret Pybus.[1]

Writing career

Dinham began writing at the age of 7, with a story published in The Australasian. Subsequently writing for that publications including The Sydney Mail and the Sunraysia Daily, she published her novel, A Marked Soul, in 1923.[1]

In June 1925, Dinham departed Australia seeking "high adventure" and made her way to Africa, where she worked in South Africa for a tobacco company, and continued publishing her writing in local newspapers. In 1926, she trekked from Cape Town to the Belgian Congo, a journey which made headlines in Australia. She remarked to journalists in London: "Novelists must revise their conception of 'Darkest Africa' as a realm of adventure."—elaborating that cars, schools and hospitals were widespread on the continent.[2] Her time in Africa resulted in two novels: Black God and The Last Secret, both of which featured African settings and characters.[1]

Honours

Gentile Street in the Canberra suburb of Franklin is named after Doris Gentile.[3]

References
  1. Pesman, Ros (1996). "Gentile, Doris May (1894–1972)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. 14. Melbourne University Press. ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 5 January 2020 – via National Centre of Biography, Australian National University.
  2. "SYDNEY WOMAN'S TREK". The Register. South Australia. 30 September 1926. p. 9. Retrieved 5 January 2020 – via Trove.
  3. "Public Place Names (Franklin) Determination 2006 (No 1)". ACT Legislation Register. ACT Government. Retrieved 4 January 2020.
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