Jack Lindsay

Paul Gillen (University of New South Wales)

Ed. by Susan Kossew, Monash University
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 9.1.1: Australian Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Susan Kossew (Monash University), Fiannuala Morgan (University of Melbourne)

Dates

Born 20 Oct 1900
Died 1990
Activity 1920-1990

Places

Born in Australia
Active in Australia

Activities

Primary

Editor
Literary Critic/ Historian
Novelist

Resources

Erudite, capable, and uniquely prolific, Jack Lindsay made significant contributions to almost every sphere of literary activity. His radical politics, ambiguous nationality, and immense range and productivity have all mitigated against his finding a secure place in the literary canons of Australia, Britain, or the cosmopolitan twentieth century literary arena Michael Denning dubbed the “the novelist’s international” (61f). Currently he is best known for historical novels set in periods of political turmoil in Ancient Rome and Britain, and as a significant contributor to the development of British cultural Marxism.

According to family legend, Jack Lindsay was conceived in Melbourne’s Fitzroy Gardens in early 1900. An attempt at abortion failed, and Norman Lindsay and Katie Parkinson married five months before his birth. His twenty-year-old parents were middle class but jobless and impoverished. J. F. Archibald, editor...

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2061 words

Citation: Gillen, Paul. "Jack Lindsay". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 12 January 2026 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=2741, accessed 09 June 2026.]