Eve Pownall

{{Infobox writer

| name = Eve Pownall

| birth_name = Marjorie Evelyn Sheridan

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1902|1|12|df=yes}}{{efn|name=fn1}}

| birth_place = Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1982|11|15|1902|1|12|df=yes}}

| death_place = Forestville, New South Wales

| occupation = Writer and historian

| language = English

| nationality =

| ethnicity =

| citizenship =

| education =

| alma_mater =

| notableworks = The Australia Book

| awards = Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers 1952

| years_active = 1945–1982

| image = Eve Pownall.png

| honorific_suffix = {{post-nominals|country=AUS|MBE|size=100}}

}}

Marjorie Evelyn "Eve" Pownall {{post-nominals|country=AUS|MBE}} ({{née|Sheridan}}; 12 January 1902{{efn|name=fn1}} – 15 November 1982) was an Australian writer for children and historian. Her best known work was The Australia Book (1952). She was a founding member of the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA), and the Eve Pownall Award for Information Books is presented each year by the CBCA in her honour.

Early life and education

Marjorie Evelyn Sheridan was born on 12 January 1902{{efn|name=fn1|Some sources cite 1901,{{cite web | title=Eve Pownall | website=AustLit | url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A24314 | access-date=10 June 2025}} and Trove shows different years in heading and text.{{cite web | title=Pownall, Marjorie Evelyn (1901-1982) | website=Trove | url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/people/460280 | access-date=10 June 2025}}}} in Kings Cross, Sydney, Australia, the eldest of three children. Her father was Percival Joseph Sheridan and her mother Evelyn Irene, née Lane. The family lived in Kiama, Windsor, Muswellbrook, and Sydney, where Eve attended North Sydney Girls High School.{{cite web | last=Roberts | first=Jan | title=Marjorie Evelyn (Eve) Pownall | website=Australian Dictionary of Biography | url=https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/pownall-marjorie-evelyn-eve-15495 | access-date=10 June 2025|quote=This article was published in hardcopy in Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 18, (Melbourne University Press), 2012}}

She undertook a secretarial course before finding work at Fox Film and then at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, until her marriage in December 1929.

Pownall began to review children's literature for Australasian Book News and Literary Journal, and later began writing children's fiction and non-fiction of her own. She was appointed an MBE in 1978 and was the first recipient of the Lady Cutler award for distinguished service to children's literature in New South Wales.

Pownall was a founding member of the Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) in 1945, and was associated with it for the rest of her life.

Recognition and honours

Pownall was appointed a Member of the British Empire (MBE) in 1978, for services to literature.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=|title=Marjorie Evelyn Pownall|url=https://honours.pmc.gov.au/honours/awards/1087300|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-12-17|website=It's An Honour}}

She was the first recipient of the Lady Cutler Award for Distinguished Services to Children's Literature in New South Wales.

The CBCA presents the annual Eve Pownall Award for Information Books in her honour.

= For specific works =

1952 – winner Children's Book of the Year Award: Older Readers for The Australia Book[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18515643 "Children's Book of the Year: An Australian Classic?", The Sunday Herald, 10 August 1952, p11]