Thanks to some friends I’ve now got an author for Q.

Tarella Quin Daskein often published under her maiden name of Tarella Quin. You might know of her good friend and illustrator, Ida Rentoul Outhwaite.

Quin wrote many fairy stories. They number amongst the best in Australian literature at the time. Her works were carefully detailed and innovative but she didn’t pull her punches and children actually died in her works, unlike nowadays where there is generally a happily ever after.

She has an entry in The Bibliography of Australian Literature showing her works and a four line biography and also in the International Companion Encyclopedia of Children’s Literature, although I haven’t been able to view this entry.

Growing up on sheep and dairy farms in both NSW and Victoria would have fueled her stories, most especially the romance novels about outback life.

I had some issues finding information about her. She was born in 1877 in Wilcannia and died in 1934. I do wonder if she’s one of those writers whose books need resurrecting and reading in detail.