Sara Dowse

Sara Dowse (born 12 November 1938) is an American-born Australian feminist, author, critic, social commentator, and visual artist. Her novels include Schemetime published in 1990, Sapphires, and As the Lonely Fly, and she has contributed reviews, articles, essays, stories, and poetry to a range of print and online publications. Dowse posted a blog, Charlotte is Moved with political, social and artistic themes, from 2013 to 2016.[1]

She was a Canberra public servant, the inaugural head of the first women's unit in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet,[2][3] and oversaw the unit's growth from a section to an office. Dowse held this position from 1974 to 1977, under two prime ministers (Edward Gough Whitlam and John Malcolm Fraser), and resigned in protest of the office's removal from the prime minister's department.[4][5] Her first novel, West Block, is based on her experiences in government[6] and was one of the first works of fiction set in Australia's capital Canberra.

  1. ^ "Sara Dowse". Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  2. ^ "DEPARTMENT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET CENTRAL OFFICE". Australian Government Gazette. Public Service. No. PS12. Australia. 25 March 1976. p. 31. Retrieved 5 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ Henningham, Nikki. "Dowse, Sara". The Encyclopedia of Women & Leadership in Twentieth-Century Australia. Australian Women's Archives Project 2014. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
  4. ^ "Women's adviser to PM resigns". The Canberra Times. Vol. 52, no. 14, 963. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 21 December 1977. p. 1. Retrieved 5 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "SARA DOWSE"WHY I QUIT"". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 45, no. 35. Australia. 1 February 1978. p. 7. Retrieved 5 October 2018 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ Henderson, Margaret (2006), Marking feminist times : remembering the longest revolution in Australia, Peter Lang, ISBN 978-0-8204-8038-1