Hazzardโs oeuvre effortlessly reflects and represents the author's life and times, encapsulating the prominent feelings, anxieties and questions of the second half of the 20th century. It is these qualities, along with Hazzardโs lyrical style that place her among the most noteworthy Australian writers of the 20th century.
Hazzardโs work has been duly praised and admired by many including the critic Bryan Appleyard who describes her as โthe greatest living writer on goodness and loveโ. In 2011, novelist Richard Ford observed: โIf there has to be one best writer working in English today itโs Shirley Hazzard.โ
Brigitta Olubas is an associate professor of English at the University of New South Wales.