AustLit

Pauline Marrington, born to English parents - Francis Stephen (an officer in the Royal Canadian Flying Corps) and Milly (Mainwaring) - had an erratic schooling divided between Canada and England. She settled in Australia in her teen years, to study at the National Art School, Sydney; and later, after a period of freelancing, she taught art at a Sydney girls' school. She married John Frederick Marrington (a medical practitioner) on October 14, 1944.

Marrington was chosen as one of fifteen 'emergent' writers to attend a Writers' Retreat at the University of New England, sponsored by the Commonwealth Government and the Myer Foundation. As an outcome of that opportunity, she wrote her first novel. She won first prize in the City of Sydney Waratah Festival Contest, 1973, for her story, 'Let Your Song Be Delicate'; and first prize from the Australian, 1975, for a mystery story, 'The Hair of Madeleine Clichy'. She was also awarded a research grant from the Literature Board in 1975. Marrington wrote the non-fiction account, In the Sweet Bye and Bye : Reminiscences of a Norfolk Islander (1981) which won the Con Weichart Award for local history in 1981. She has been a contributor of short stories to Australian editions of Vogue and Reader's Digest.