Leslie Haylen was a politician, playwright, novelist and journalist. The youngest of twelve children, he spent his early years on a small farm in rural New South Wales, before his family moved to Sydney. In 1918 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force, and was discharged in 1919. He subsequently became a journalist in Wagga Wagga and Sydney, and married Sylvia Myrtle Rogers in 1927.
He joined the Australian Women's Weekly as news editor in 1933, and some of his work was published in that magazine before being published elsewhere. He worked for the Daily Telegraph but was sacked by Frank Packer when he gained pre-selection for the Australian Labor Party. Between 1943 and 1964 he served as the Labor member for the Federal seat of Parkes. In his maiden speech, he argued the case for a national theatre, and for greater financial resources for Australian artists and writers. Widely read, he was an energetic and witty debater in the House. His novel A for Artemis (1960), written under the pseudonym 'Sutton Woodfield', was a satire on politics and the press.
As a member of the ALP he led the first Parliamentary delegation to China after the Communist Party took over the country. He visited China again in 1957 at the height of the Cold War, writing Chinese Journey: The Republic Revisited on his return.
Haylen continued to write throughout a turbulent political career, and his varied experiences in war, journalism and politics significantly influenced his novels and plays. He was involved in the founding of the Fellowship of Australian Writers in New South Wales in 1928, and served two terms as its President between 1946-1947 and 1957-1958.
