Stella Maria Sarah Miles Franklin was born in 1879 in rural New South Wales. My Brilliant Career , her first novel, was published to much excitement and acclaim. She moved to Sydney where she became involved in feminist and literary circles and then onto the United States of America in 1907.

She was committed to the development of a uniquely Australian form of literature, and she actively pursued this goal by supporting writers, literary journals, and organisations of writers. She has had a long-lasting impact on Australian literary life through her endowment of a major literary award known as the Miles Franklin Award.