Thomas 'Tony' Riddell was a lifelong friend of Australian poet Gwen Harwood (nee Foster). Letters written by her to him from Brisbane in 1943, when he was stationed as a soldier in Darwin, were published in 1990 as Blessed City : The Letters of Gwen Harwood to Thomas Riddell, January to September 1943. Harwood continued to write to Tony Riddell until her death in 1995. All but the last of her volumes of poetry are dedicated to him. Riddell kept every letter and postcard Harwood wrote to him. Much of their correspondence was published in Greg Kratzmann’s A Steady Storm of Correspondence: selected letters of Gwen Harwood, 1943-1995 (UQP, 2001).

Indian poet and novelist. Friend of Gwen Harwood.

Affiliated with the University of Tasmania. Rex Hobcroft was the conductor of TUMS from 1961 until an unknown date. Began as the Tasmanian University Choral Society (TUCS) but later changed its name to Tasmania University Musical Society (TUMS).

Helen Mills was a close personal friend of Gwen Harwood.

Born in Geelong in 1915. Educated at Scotch College and Trinity College in the University of Melbourne. Graduated with first-class honours in English in 1936, and a MA in 1938. Ordained priest by the Archbishop of Brisbane in 1939 and served his curacy at the Anglo-Catholic parish All Saints, Wickham Terrace, near St John's Cathedral, where he met Gwen Harwood, who would become a close friend. Was warden of St Paul's College at Sydney University from 1963 to 1985. Died in Brisbane in 2002, aged 87.

Patrick (Paddy) Victor Martindale White was born in London in 1912 as the oldest child of an Australian grazier, Victor (Dick) Martindale White, and his wife, Ruth (née Withycombe), England-born but of an Australian family. He was enrolled at Cranbrook School in Sydney and two years later was sent to board at Tudor House, near Moss Vale, with the hope the climate would be better for his asthma. Having developed a passion for the theatre, a passion he shared with his mother, Patrick wrote his first play 'Love's Awakening'. In 1924 he published a poem in the school magazine. In 1925 the White family travelled to England, where Patrick spent 4 years at Cheltenham College, studying, reading widely and writing poems. After returning to Australia and working for a brief period on a station in the Snowy Mountains, as well as a jackeroo at Walgett, Patrick enrolled at King's College, University of Cambridge, to study modern languages. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1935. By then he had a few poems published, as well as his first book, an anthology titled Ploughman And Other Poems, and a play produced. More publications followed, including his debut novel Happy Valley (1939), for which he was awarded the Australian Literature Society’s gold medal for the best novel of the year, and later Voss (1957), which became the first winner of the Miles Franklin literary award.

In late 1940 Patrick joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve and served in various intelligence roles across North Africa, the Middle East and Greece during World War II. He rose to temporary flight lieutenant and acting squadron leader before leaving the RAF in May 1946. During his time in Alexandria, Egypt, he met Manoly Lascaris, who would become his lifelong partner.

White declined a knighthood and other literary awards but in 1973 became the first Australian to receive the Novel Prize for Literature. He was unable to attend the award ceremony in Sweden due to poor health, therefore the award was accepted on his behalf by friend and painter Sidney Nolan. Patrick used the prize money to establish the Patrick White Literary Award, aiming to support writers whose work had not received appropriate recognition.

Patrick's final years were plagued by health issues. Three Uneasy Pieces (1987), a collection of short stories, was his last work of fiction to be published. Patrick died in 1990 at Highbury, the home he shared with Lascaris, in Centennial Park, Sydney. Per his wishes, his ashes were scattered in the park.

Academic specialising in immigration studies. Worked at Flinders University, South Australia. Wife of John Harwood and daughter-in-law of Gwen Harwood.

Novelist, poet and literary critic John Harwood was born in 1946 in Hobart, Tasmania, to poet Gwen Harwood and linguist Frank William (Bill) Harwood. He married his first wife, Jeanie Deprose, in 1966. Harwood attended the University of Tasmania, as well as Cambridge University on a scholarship, then worked as Head of the School of English and Drama at Flinders University, Adelaide. He married his second wife, Robin F. Haines, in 1986. He left the post at Flinders University in 1997 to focus on writing. In 2005, Harwood's debut novel was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and won the International Horror Guild Award for Best First Novel.

Examinations board for musical education originally launched in 1887 by the University of Melbourne and Adelaide. It became a national body in 1918. Resources and examinations for speech and drama were also introduced in the 1920s.