User:Jediahhh/sandbox

Early Life
James Devaney (also known as Jim or Shamus) was born at the Bendigo Hosptial in Victoria in 1890. Devaney was the 4th child of Patrick Devaney, an Irish labourer and Mary nee Conroy, a native born Australian. He was educated at the St. Joseph’s College in Hunter’s Hill, Sydney, where he chose to enter the Marist Brother’s Juniorate (Marist Brothers) in 1915, swearing an oath to help the under privileged; following the Marian Tradition (Mariology). Devaney then took up the religious name ‘Fabian’, after the 3rd-century Pope & Martyr, Pope Fabian, which later became his literary pen-name.

Before Literature
Before his literary career, his primary occupation was authorship, tutor, freelance journalist, school master and primary school teacher for over ten years. He also worked for the U.S. Armed Forces during the War period, working as a transport clerk, counting trains and trams for 11 hours a day. When Devaney joined the Marist Brotherhood, he served his time as a teacher in various primary schools around New Zealand, Sydney and Western Queensland as well as tutored in various outback stations, before heading to Rockhampton. After 1950, Devaney traveled around the Eastern States doing various private tutoring jobs and several short term teaching contracts before ending his teaching career in Newcastle Waters as a Principal for a school, specifically for Aboriginal students.

Illness
No later had Devaney arrived in Rockhampton to continue teaching, he was diagnosed with a form of Tuberculosis in his early 30s’ and for a year Devaney was treated at the Westwood Sanatorium (located in a small town West of Rockhampton), but was then later transferred to the Diamantina Hospital in Brisbane, where he made a full recovery. Although being cured from Tuberculosis, it had left Devaney in a weakened state and thus forced him to retire from his teaching career, which also led to his departure from the brotherhood in 1921.

Love Life
While recovering at the Dianantina Hospital, he met his attending nurse Phyllis Norah de Winton; not only was Winton an expert nurse but she also happened to be the cousin of Sir Dallas Brooks, the former Governor of Victoria. Soon after they met, Devaney married Phyllis at the Church of Mary Immaculate in Waverley on the 29th of November, 1924. Devaney was very fond of his wife, whom he considered “my best critic” in Rex Ingamells’s biography of Devaney titled, James Devaney. She also contributed immensely to his work, including Dark Road. Phyllis passed away on July 9th, 1962 at the aged of 65 and was buried in the Redcliffe Cemetery. Devaney dedicated a tribute to her, consisting of 6 short poems, dated from 1936. Since only 25 copies were ever printed, this collection is considered to be the most rare in the literature archived.

After Illness
During his recovery process at Westwood, James became very interested in nature studies, specifically the Australian environment, and through his time teaching at various Aboriginal schools, Devaney also had a soft spot for the rights and equal treatment of the Aboriginal people, specifically Aboriginal Law, which sparked his new found passion for becoming a full-time writer. Devaney passed the time by writing about his Religious doubts, personal denials, emotional despairs, life and affirmations which resulted to his first book, which he reluctantly called Fabian (1923). In Gary Catalano (2001) biography of Devaney, he believed that the events of Devaney’s life, including his critical illness had made a mark in his writing and hence has turned him in to a literary genius, which in turn has helped him along in his career path. William Hatherell also made a similar comparison in his article, James Devaney and the Brisbane Resistance to Modernism.

Achievements and jobs
Between the year 1924 to 1943, James Devaney worked for the Queensland Courier-Mail for over 20 years, publishing weekly nature columns under his pen-name Fabian. He also served his time as the principle editor, and writer of reviews and essays for the Catholic Leader. Other Australian papers Devaney were associated with was the Bulletin, Daily Mail, the Australian and Southerly, to name a few as well as contributed to various Australian and Literary Magazines such as the Southwellian, Jindyworobak and Scope.

Moreover, he was a contributor to the literary magazine Meanjin, founded in Brisbane by Clem Christesen, who edited the magazine from Melbourne. Although Deavney highly regarded the magazine, he played no major part in the running of it, “considering it to be for the young and modern not for the ancients such as himself”. The Avant-Garde Club (link) and the Barjai Group (link) are also other associations Devaney has mentioned.

During his time in the literary industry, James Devaney conducted various workshop classes for the Writers Guild of Queensland, teaching young writers about the aspects of English literature and journalism as well as held seminars for play writing to various writing groups around Queensland, such as the Brisbane Realist Writers Group (link) and delivered lectures to various Literary Societies that invoked his interest, such as the Communist Front Group (link). He was also associated with the Brisbane’s Catholic minority (link), as well as the Catholic Poetry Society (link), formed by Paul Grano in 1936. Thanks to his contribution to the association, The Writer’s Guild elected Devaney as an honorary member of their society and he went on to conduct the Guild’s Creative Writing Course for the year 1962 and 1963. James also had the privileged to deliver lectures in various Capital cities, funded by the Commonwealth Literary Fund.

James was a foundation member and supporter of the Queensland Branch of The Fellowship of Australian Writers (QAAA/FAW (Q), serving a term as president from 1943 to 1945 and was then made a life member in 1955.

Death
James Devaney passed away in 1976 in Brisbane, at the age of 86 and was buried in the Redcliffe Cemetary (Mortan Bay Region Cemeteries Database).