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Helen Daniel Helen Daniel i(A23869 works by) (a.k.a. Helen E. Daniel; Helen Edith Daniel)
Born: Established: 6 Jul 1946 Woodend, Gisborne - Woodend area, Sunbury - Kyneton area, Melbourne, Victoria, ; Died: Ceased: 2000 Melbourne, Victoria,
Gender: Female
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BiographyHistory

After completing her secondary education at Camberwell High School, Helen Daniel enrolled in a bachelor of arts degree at the University of Melbourne. She taught for ten years in Victorian secondary schools before returning to the University of Melbourne to complete a PhD on Australian fiction.

After driving a taxi to support her studies, she began to write reviews for the Melbourne Age in the early 1980s, a working relationship that she maintained for the rest of her life. In 1982, she published her first book of criticism, Double Agent; David Ireland and His Work. In the 1980s Daniel ran a second-hand bookshop at the rear of her partner's furniture shop and began to work on her first significant book of literary criticism, Liars (1989). She followed this with several anthologies - Expressway (1989) and Millennium (1991) - for which she commissioned work from many high-profile Australian writers; and the kaleidoscopic collection of criticism, The Good Reading Guide (1989).

Daniel entered the most public phase of her career when she was appointed editor of the Australian Book Review in November 1994. For the next six years, she envigorated the ABR by encouraging debate and commissioning reviewers who held a variety of ideological positions. Furthermore, she organised competitions for reviewers and creative writers and participated in many literary festivals. Not afraid of controversy, Daniel was a vocal critic of the Miles Franklin Award during the Demidenko affair, and she publicly objected to the large-scale funding of The Australian's Review of Books when other magazines were struggling.

Following the death of her partner in 1996, Daniel deflected much of her emotional energy to the ABR and other projects. She died suddenly in October 2000.

Most Referenced Works

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Australian Book Review ABR 1961 Kensington Park : ABR Publications , Z887646 1961 periodical (584 issues)

The Australian Book Review (ABR) was established in 1961 to provide a forum for the review of new Australian books. Editors, Max Harris and Geoffrey Dutton, planned to 'notice' or review every new Australian book, but this desire proved difficult to realise due to a rising number of books and the difficulty of defining what an Australian book was. Nevertheless, ABR employed a range of reviewers to provide general readers with authoritative assessments of important books. These reviewers included Frank Kellaway, Olaf Ruhen, Vale Lindsay, Tom Shapcott, Brian Dibble, Bruce Beaver and Don Watson.

Rosemary Wighton became co-editor in 1962 after acting as associate editor for a short time. She and Harris remained co-editors of ABR until 1973 when the magazine ceased operation after finding it increasingly difficult to meet production costs. An attempt was made by the newly formed National Book Council (NBC) to buy ABR, but, due to legal technicalities, this was not possible at that time. In 1978, John McLaren convinced the NBC to revive ABR and the magazine was adopted as the official organ of the NBC.

John McLaren was appointed editor, proceeding in a manner similar to the first series by attempting to review all Australian books; but he also faced problems of space and definition. In 1986 Kerryn Goldsworthy replaced McLaren as editor, and introduced a stronger concentration on women's issues. Louise Adler followed Goldsworthy as editor in 1988 and attempted to provoke debate by commissioning controversial reviews, but her term concluded within twelve months. Rosemary Sorenson was appointed editor in 1989, bringing a lighter tone and a desire to attract a new readership with younger writers. Sorenson was assisted by major sponsorship from Telecom, allowing her to fund a series of essays. While ABR had always published features on various topics, the sponsorship gave the essays a more significant place. The essay feature has continued with similar sponsorship from the National Library of Australia and La Trobe University.

Helen Daniel edited ABR from 1994 until her death in 2000. She lifted the profile of the magazine by organising several series of public forums and encouraged new writers with competitions for fiction and reviewing. During this time, the NBC wound down its operations after a significant proportion of its government funding was withdrawn. This had an immediate effect on the stability of ABR, forcing the magazine to separate from its parent body and publish independently.

Peter Rose was appointed editor in January 2001 and has since expanded the scope of ABR by actively commissioning poetry and fiction. Rose also developed a sponsorship scheme to support the work of ABR. In 2002 La Trobe University became the Chief Sponsor of ABR, with the National Library of Australia as its National Sponsor. Three years later Flinders University became another key sponsor and in 2007 the wealth management group Ord Minnett took on the role of exclusive corporate sponsor.

2021 recipient The Copyright Agency Cultural Fund Cultural Fund Grants for Organisations Commentary, theatre and visual arts reviews
2020 recipient The Copyright Agency Cultural Fund Cultural Fund Grants for Organisations Two grants, in May (Commentary on cultural, political and social issues) and in July (ABR Arts – Theatre and visual arts reviews).
Last amended 13 Nov 2013 15:19:23
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