Vale Veronica Brady

Fremantle Press extends its deepest sympathy to the family, friends and colleagues of Veronica Brady, former Fremantle Press board member, who died in Perth last week at the age of 86.

Brady was known for championing Western Australian writing and was formerly Professor of Literature at the University of Western Australia. Fremantle Press Chair Ian Lilburne and Editor Wendy Jenkins were both among her students, as were many Fremantle Press writers.

‘I was her student at UWA in the mid 1970s. She taught me Australian Literature, and was a crucial figure in my education. She introduced me to the writings of Patrick White, Dorothy Hewett, Christina Stead, Randolph Stow, Alexander Hope, Jack Hibberd, Joseph Furphy and countless other classic Australian writers,’ said Lilburne.

Jenkins pointed out that as well as being a board member, Brady was the editor responsible for Fremantle Press’s first poetry title, Soundings: a selection of Western Australian poetry, published in March 1976.

In her introduction at the time, Brady wrote: ‘the predominant flavour of Western Australia here is a kind of freshness, of standing on the earth and facing the work of exploration and settlement, though burdened this time by with the knowledge of its outcome.’

In addition to her work for Fremantle Press, Brady was on the board of the Library and Information Service of Western Australia, chaired the Perth branch of International PEN and was the author or many books, articles and essays on Australian culture and beliefs. In 2009 UWA presented Brady with an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters.