Woods, Memories and Dreams: David Martin

Abstract

David Martin (1915-1997) was one of the most versatile among the so-called migrant writers in Australia in the second half of the twentieth century and certainly one of the best known. His work became popular in many genres: poetry, novels, short stories, journalism, drama, radio-scripts, autobiography, and literature for children and young adults. In the latter area alone, he published fourteen novels, two picture books, a volume of poetry and an autobiography. Many of his works have been published overseas and translated into other languages, but none so far have been reprinted. Martin also wrote political non-fiction, lectured at the Victorian Centre for Adult Education, was a sought-after speaker at literary events, and become well known as a critic and reviewer. Several groups within the Australian literary scene claimed David Martin as one of their own – socialist, Jewish, 'ethnic' or 'multicultural'. He wrote for the Meanjin, for Overland (of which he was one of the founding members), and for numerous newspapers and other periodicals. A number of his stories have been turned into television and radio scripts.