J. L. Ranken

{{Short description|Australian author (1878–1945)}}

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Jean Logan Ranken {{Postnom|country=UK|MBE}} (1878–1945) was an Australian poet and novelist.

J. L. Ranken was born in 1878, the daughter of John Logan Campbell Ranken, a Scottish migrant to Australia, and Alice Catherine Ranken. Her uncle was surveyor George Ranken.{{Cite web |last=Austlit |title=J. L. Ranken {{!}} AustLit: Discover Australian Stories |url=https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A15512 |access-date=2023-11-16 |website=www.austlit.edu.au |language=en}}

She published a number of poems, including the poetry collection Dream Horses and Other Verses (1912). Her poem "The First Night in Sydney Harbour" was anthologized in The Oxford Book of Australian Women's Verse (1995).{{Cite book |last=Lever |first=Susan |url=http://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195535051 |title=The Oxford book of Australian women's verse |date=1995 |publisher=Melbourne; New York : Oxford University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-19-553505-1}} She published a science fiction novel, Tzane (1926), about the invention of a dangerous chemical formula.{{Cite web |title=SFE: Ranken, J L |url=https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/ranken_j_l |access-date=2023-11-16 |website=sf-encyclopedia.com}} She was an editor of and contributor to Murder Pie (1936), a collaboratively written mystery novel.{{Cite book |last=E Morris |url=http://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.183913 |title=Australian Literature |date=1940}}

She was active in arts and historical organizations in Sydney, including Australian Authors Week, the British Drama League, the Pageant Committee, and the Pioneers' Club.{{Cite news |date=1945-07-04 |title=DEATH OF MISS JEANIE RANKEN |work=Sydney Morning Herald |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27923014 |access-date=2023-11-16}}

J. L. Ranken was awarded the Member of the Order of the British Empire in 1939 for her charity work.

Ranken died on 2 July 1945.