The Modern Novel

Biography

Christina Stead was born in New South Wales, Australia in 1902 and was trained as a teacher. She subsequently travelled to London and Paris and then lived in Spain but she and her husband, William Blake, a novelist and political economist, left Spain when the war broke out and moved to the United States. Stead taught at New York University and worked in Hollywood. They left the US in 1947 because of McCarthyism. They finally settled in England till Blake’s death in 1968. Stead visited Australia in 1969 for the first time since she had left in 1928 and settled there in 1974, remaining there till her death in 1983. Her books faded from sight but some were revived, particularly by the English publisher, Virago while The Man Who Loved Children is now considered a modern classic.

Books about Christina Stead

Dianna Brydon: Christina Stead
R. G. Geering: Christina Stead
Jennifer Gribble: Christina Stead (Australian Writers)
Joan Lidoff: Christina Stead
Hazel Rowley: Christina Stead: a Biography (the standard biography)
Susan Sheridan: Christina Stead
Chris Williams: Christina Stead: a Life of Letters

Other links

Christina Stead
Christina Stead
Christina Stead
Christina Stead (1902-1983)
Christina Stead at 100
Stead Collection