AustLit

Graduating from the University of Sydney in 1956, Roger Milliss worked as a teacher before initiating his career as a journalist. He subsequently spent two years (1962-1964) based in Moscow where he was employed as a sub-editor on the Moscow News. Between 1965-1966 he then spent time working in Nairobi and travelling through various parts of East Africa. After returning to Sydney, Milliss worked as a sub-editor and feature writer for the Tribune (1966-1970).

A 'committed communist', Milliss published what has been described as 'one of Australia's most striking autobiographies', Serpent's Tooth : An Autobiographical Novel (1984). Beginning and concluding with the death of the author's father in 1970, this work partly takes the form of 'an elegiac study of a passionate father-son relationship' which was shaped by 'the explosive influence' of their 'diverging political beliefs'.

In addition to his autobiography, Milliss' non-fiction writing includes, City on the Peel : A History of Tamworth and District, 1818-1976 (1980), Waterloo Creek : The Australia Day Massacre of 1838, George Gipps and the British Conquest of New South Wales (1992), and (with Barry Dwyer and Bruce Thomson) he co-authored Mastering the Media : A Guide to the Discriminating Use of the Mass Media (1971).

An experienced actor and director with Sydney's New Theatre, Milliss has also written for television and radio.