AustLit logo

AustLit

Charles Rodda Charles Rodda i(A6110 works by) (a.k.a. Percival Charles Rodda)
Also writes as: Gavin Holt ; Gardner Low ; Eliot Reed
Born: Established: 9 Jun 1891 Port Augusta, Port Augusta area, Mid North South Australia, South Australia, ; Died: Ceased: 1976
c
United Kingdom (UK),
c
Western Europe, Europe,
Gender: Male
Expatriate assertion
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

BiographyHistory

Rodda initially worked as a journalist in Adelaide, and then in Melbourne with the Age, before leaving for America in 1919. In New York he became a music critic with the long-running periodical Musical America and won an award for his libretto for the unpublished musical drama 'The Marriage of Aude', performed May 22 1932 by the Rochester Civic Orchestra. Rodda moved to England in 1939 and settled in Cornwall. Rodda's first novel, The Fortunes of Geoffrey Mayne (1919), appeared in A.C. Rowlandson's Bookstall series. Both it and The Scarlet Mask (1926) are stories of the Australian bushranging days. There are only incidental associations with Australia in his other novels.
Rodda shared the 'Eliot Reed' pseudonym with influential English crime writer Eric Ambler (1909-1998).

Most Referenced Works

Notes

  • According to John Loder, two 'Eliot Reed' titles, Charter to Danger and Passport to Panic were written by Rodda alone. This claim, repeated in The Bibliography of Australian Literature appears to be an error in view of the copyright information in the House of Stratus editions.
Last amended 4 May 2011 16:31:34
See Also
Eric Ambler
Other mentions of "" in AustLit:
    X