Picture of author.

Jill Ker Conway (1934–2018)

Author of The Road from Coorain

15+ Works 3,374 Members 46 Reviews 8 Favorited

About the Author

Jill Ker Conway was born Jill Kathryn Ker in Hillston, New South Wales, Australia on October 9, 1934. She received a history degree from the University of Sydney in 1958 and a Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1969. She took a teaching post at the University of Toronto. She became a dean in 1971 and show more a vice president in 1973. In 1975, she became the first woman to be named president of Smith College. She left Smith in 1985 to become a writer. She wrote three memoirs entitled The Road from Coorain, True North, and A Woman's Education. In 2002, the PBS program Masterpiece Theater used The Road from Coorain as the basis for a film. She also wrote When Memory Speaks: Reflections on Autobiography. She edited several books including Written by Herself: Autobiographies of American Women and In Her Own Words: Women's Memoirs from Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. In 2013, she was awarded the National Humanities Medal. She died on June 1, 2018 at the age of 83. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Cambridge Forum Speakers

Series

Works by Jill Ker Conway

Associated Works

Inventing the Truth: The Art and Craft of Memoir (1987) — Contributor — 495 copies
The Norton Book of Women's Lives (1993) — Contributor — 409 copies
The Road From Coorain [2002 TV movie] (2010) — Original book — 1 copy
THE BORZOI READER. VOLUME 1. NUMBER 1. (1989) — Contributor — 1 copy

Tagged

Common Knowledge

Members

Reviews

This book was authored by a woman who apparently went on to become the president of Smith College. She took some pretty fascinating subject matter and made it quite dull by narrating the entire book. No dialogue. No scenes. Nothing to make the book come alive. She's a history professor, and this book is written just like a history book. There are some lovely descriptive passages, but I can't really recommend this unless you are seriously interested in Australia and really enjoy reading history texts.… (more)
 
Flagged
Anita_Pomerantz | 31 other reviews | Mar 23, 2023 |
Great biography. Pro women and education.
 
Flagged
kslade | 4 other reviews | Feb 24, 2023 |
Interesting memoir of a girl in a dry part of Australia and how she grew up to value an education and self-reliance.
 
Flagged
kslade | 31 other reviews | Dec 8, 2022 |
Here's what I wrote in 2008 about this book: "Insightful into being Australian, and Australians looking to the English for their culture still in the mid 20th century. Autobiographical and insightful also with respect to women's rights and professional aspirations . . . Conway became the first woman president of Smith College." Note this was another great read recommended by friend Kevin Coleman.
 
Flagged
MGADMJK | 31 other reviews | Sep 15, 2022 |

Lists

Awards

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Zora Neale Hurston Contributor
Marian Anderson Contributor
Anna Howard Shaw Contributor
Lucy Larcom Contributor
S. Josephine Baker Contributor
Maya Angelou Contributor
Harriet Ann Jacobs Contributor
Janet Scudder Contributor
Anne Walter Fearn Contributor
Margaret Sanger Contributor
Anna Louise Strong Contributor
Gloria Steinem Contributor
Margaret Mead Contributor
Louise Bogan Contributor
Jane Addams Contributor
Meena Alexander Contributor
Mary Benson Contributor
Isak Dinesen Contributor
Shudha Mazumdar Contributor
Vera Brittain Contributor
Elspeth Huxley Contributor
Angelica Garnett Contributor
Gloria Wade-Gayles Contributor
Vivian Gornick Contributor
Ruth First Contributor
Emma Mashinini Contributor
Margery Perham Contributor
Edith T. Mirante Contributor
Rosemary Brown Contributor
Lauris Edmond Contributor
Robin Hyde Contributor
Janet Frame Contributor
Dorothy Hewett Contributor
Lillian Hellman Contributor
Gabrielle Roy Contributor
Sally Morgan Contributor
Kim Chernin Contributor

Statistics

Works
15
Also by
5
Members
3,374
Popularity
#7,553
Rating
3.9
Reviews
46
ISBNs
65
Languages
1
Favorited
8

Charts & Graphs