Miles Frankin a.k.a. Brent of Bin Bin a.k.a. Mr. and Mrs. Ogniblat L’Artsau
Way before building each other up was cool or trendy, there was a woman already doing it all.
Miles Franklin was born Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin on October 14, 1879 in Talbingo N.S.W., Australia. She wrote historical fiction from feminist and nationalist perspectives. Because of these views, her books were controversial in Australia. The controversy even delayed the sequel to her first novel! Miles Franklin wrote not only under her own name but under two different pseudonyms: Brent of Bin Bin and Mrs. Ogniblat L’Artsau.
Franklin grew up on a cattle farm owned by her father near Tumut. Later it was changed to a dairy cattle farm. At sixteen, an article of hers was published in the Hebblewhite’s newspaper, the Goulburn Evening Penny Post. Some articles which appeared earlier may have been written by her, but no one knows for sure.
Her best-known novel, My Brilliant Career, was also her first one. She wrote it in her teens. The story is about a teenage girl growing up in the Australian brush who longs to break free and become her own person. Franklin published My Brilliant Career in 1901 when she was only 21. It was published by Blackwoods of Edinburgh. By the end of 1901, it had sold 1,012 copies. It would go on to sell another 1,105 copies in 1902. That is crazy amazing!
Image Credit: http://monumentaustralia.org.au/themes/people/arts/display/21623-miles-franklin
Franklin became a celebrity at only twenty-two. While she got fame, she didn’t receive money. Since My Brilliant Career was reprinted many times in Britain, and she was from Australia, she only received twenty-four euro equivalent for all the sales of her book. Between 1902 and 1915 she wrote the sequel to My Brilliant Career, My Career Goes Bung. But she was unable to publish it, as it was too controversial for anyone to print. It was eventually published in 1946.
After writing her first book, Franklin went off to America (‘Murka as she called it - so ahead of her time!), Chicago specifically, and began work as a secretary of the National Women’s Trade Union League of America. She held editorial positions on the League’s journal, Life and Labor, throughout her time there. She also suffered from ill health. She realized she needed some help and had the courage to ask for it. In 1912, she spent some time in a sanatorium. She did publish Some Everyday Folk and Dawn in 1909. This book was not well received. In Australia women had the right to vote (and the book describes this with a love story intertwined) and American’s were still fighting for the right. After this book, she decided to write under pseudonyms for twenty years!
She then wrote The Net of Circumstance under the pseudonym Mr. and Mrs. Ogniblat L’Artsau.
In 1915, Franklin moved to England. She helped during World War One as a cook and earned some money from journalism. From 1919 to 1926, Franklin worked as a Secretary with the National Housing and Town Planning Association in London. She organised a women’s international housing convention in 1924.
Franklin completed six novels under the pseudonym Brent of Bin Bin by 1933. Five were published in Franklin’s lifetime, one posthumously. The first, Up the Country, appeared in 1928, and was quickly reprinted a number of times. Ten Creeks Run followed in 1930 and Back to Bool Bool in 1931. She even concealed Brent’s identity from her publisher in the beginning.
Franklin made a point not to marry. She seemed to believe if she was married, she would have limitations or less time for things she enjoyed. After her father died, Franklin returned to Australia in November 1932. She lived for the rest of her life in the family home at Carlton. While in Australia, she did many things to help the writing community. She went to many events, from lunches to radio interviews to committees. Franklin stood for Australian literature.
In July 1936, Franklin won the S. H. Prior Memorial Prize of £100 for All That Swagger.
Miles Franklin died on September 19 1954. At her death, she left her estate to establish the Miles Franklin Literary Award. This award goes to the person who has written the best book or play that features “Australian life in any of its phases”. The first award was granted in 1957.
Not a bad life for a woman that took her nickname from an ancestor, Edward Miles, who had arrived in Australia as a convict in 1788.
If you want to learn about Franklin, please look here and here. By: Alex Berg
Sources:
https://www.connotations.de/article/sanjay-sircar-my-career-goes-bung-genre%E2%88%92parody-australianness-and-anglophilia/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miles_Franklin#Selected_works
https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/author-biography/franklin-sarah-miles/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Miles-Franklin
http://pandora.nla.gov.au/pan/77226/20071011-0000/www.sl.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/miles/miles_guide.pdf
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