Born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1913 Mary's childhood was spent on the Argyle and Ivanhoe stations in the West Australian East Kimberley area. During her lifetime Mary became a prolific writer, with her first known work being Little Poems of Sunshine (1923). Mary and her sister Elizabeth, who also became a noted author, completed their first book together Allabout: The Story of a Black Community on Argyle Station, Kimberley in 1935. Mary also wrote under the name of 'Virgilia' for The West Australian newspaper. In 1987 Dame Mary Durack became a Fellow of Curtin University and was commended by the Childrens' Book Council in 1965 for The Courteous Savage: Yagan of Swan River (1964), illustrations by Elizabeth Durack. Mary Durack died in 1994.
