Joan Lindsay

Joan Lindsay (1896–1984) was an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and artist, best known for her 1967 novel, Picnic at Hanging Rock.

She was born Melbourne, Australia, where she went to school at Clyde Girls Grammar in Eat St Kilda. She knew and loved the Macedon district, the setting for Picnic at Hanging Rock, from early childhood. She studied at the National Gallery of Victoria Art School, Melbourne, and, as well as her career as a novelist, exhibited watercolour and oil paintings throughout her lifetime.

Her other novels included Through Darkest Pondelayo and Time Without Clocks. Picnic at Hanging Rock was published in 1967 to critical acclaim, and was adapted into a film of the same name in 1975, directed by Peter Weir. The book continues to be considered one of the most important Australian novels of all time.

In 1922 in London, Joan married Sir Daryl Lindsay. The Lindsays travelled together in Europe and the USA, Daryl with his paints and Joan with her typewriter. Sir Daryl died in 1976. Joan lived at their country home on the Mornington Peninsula, Mulberry Hill, Victoria, Australia. She died in December 1984.