Remembering P. R. Stephensen
(November 20, 1901-May 28, 1965)

239 words

Percy Reginald Stephensen was born on November 20, 1901. Stephensen was a writer, publisher, and political activist dedicated to the interests of the white race and the Australian nation. Like Jack London ^[2], Stephensen was an archetypal man of the racially conscious Left ^[3]. He began his political career as a Communist but later moved to the nationalistic, anti-Semitic Right. From 1942 to 1945, he was interned without trial for his pro-German and pro-Japanese sympathies.

Early in his career as a publisher, Stephensen championed the works of Nietzsche, D. H. Lawrence, and Aleister Crowley. Later, he worked to promote a distinctly Australian national literature and culture. As a political organizer and propagandist, he worked for an Australia First economic and foreign policy.

Stephensen was a prolific author. He published over thirty books under his own name. He also translated works by Lenin and Nietzsche. On top of that, he wrote nearly seventy books as a ghostwriter for Frank Clune.

To learn more about Stephensen’s life and work, read Kerry Bolton’s biographical essay, “P. R. Stephensen ^[4].” See also his profile of Lionel Lindsay ^[5], which also discusses Stephensen, who was an acquaintance, as well as the first part of his profile of Norman Lindsay ^[6].

I also wish to draw your attention to the following works by Stephensen on this site:

• Australia First Manifesto ^[7]
• “The Foundations of Culture in Australia: An Essay Towards National Self-Respect” (Excerpts from Part One) ^[8]
• “A Reasoned Case Against Semitism ^[9].”

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