J. M. Harcourt

Born in Melbourne, Victoria, Harcourt attended Wesley College before leaving home in 1916. He joined his father on the West Australian Goldfields and worked as an assistant surveyor in Kalgoorlie. In his 20s he went to Perth to become a writer. He went to Broome hoping to make enough money as a pearler to support his writing. After two years he found a pearl: his share of the £13,000 value was £2000. He returned to Perth and began work as a journalist, while still writing fiction. In 1934 he published his second novel, Upsurge, which became the first novel to be banned by the-then Commonwealth Book Censorship Board and the first to be prosecuted by police in Australia. In 1946 Harcourt retired to build mud-brick houses in Melbourne, and later shifted to New South Wales where he died in 1970.[1]

• "J. M. Harcourt". AustLit.