lashings of ironic humour that saved her characters from excessive posturing. Much of her work was autobiographical and intensely personal, and several works were set in her childhood dreamscape of wheatbelt Western Australia. Hewett worked directly with most of the major directors and actors of the time, and was her own dramaturg during first-time performances. Female actors particularly appreciated the strong roles they were given in Hewett's plays. Various musicians have set Hewett's words to music. Weevils in the Flour has been recorded six times, most notably by Declan Affley and The Bushwackers. Robyn Archer recorded a rock version of Hewett's poem In Moncur Street. A number of composers worked with Hewett on music for her plays, notably Jim Cotter and Patrick Flynn. While the lyrics in the plays were published with the text, unfortunately the music was never published or recorded, so it usually had to be re-composed for any subsequent staging. She was appointed as Writer in Residence in eight Australian universities and one in the USA between 1975 and 1990, where she participated fully in university life, giving encouragement to younger writers. Her very late emergence as a major figure prevented her travelling abroad to publicise her work to any extent. Bobbin Up was published throughout Europe and therefore is well known internationally. However, with the exception of Man from Mukinupin, which was staged in London, her plays never found their way outside Australia. Personal life For much of her life after 1960, Hewett struggled with ill-health, apart from a very active period in the 1970s. She had thrombosis from 1965. Her ongoing gastric trouble and a slipped retina were corrected by surgery in 1971–2. Progressive osteoarthritis restricted her mobility from the late 1970s, and many of her later works were written in bed, where she also received visitors. The necessity to support a large family was also a major limitation on her activity. She only became a full-time writer from the age of 51, with the aid of Literature Board grants, intermittent earnings from writing and from university fellowships, and an ongoing bequest from her father's estate. In public, Hewett was a great entertainer and a charismatic personality who was always surrounded by a circle of admirers and friends. In private she was rather shy but also immensely entertaining. Due to a series of illnesses she spent a good deal of time after 1961 in her