The Muddle-headed Wombat author dies

Ruth Park. Photo / Supplied

SYDNEY - New Zealand-born Ruth Park resonated with generations of Australians, novelist Thomas Keneally said today.

Keneally was commenting after the death, aged 93, of the author of well-loved Australian books including The Harp in the South and The Muddle-headed Wombat series.

"[Park] resonated with a number of generations and she remains enormously popular", Keneally told AAP.

Park was a child of The Great Depression, and never forgot the hardships she endured.

After moving to Sydney with her husband, Darcy Niland in 1942, she wrote about Australians in inner-city Surry Hills doing it tough in The Harp In The South, published in 1948.

"The most talented voices often come from the economic margins. Ruth Park's depiction of Irish Australian poverty were remarkable", Keneally said.

"She spanned a long period of Australian writing - she was so accomplished."

Park wrote another novel about poverty, Poor Man's Orange, before winning the Miles Franklin Award in 1977 with Swords and Crowns and Rings.

She went on to write children's books, including the Muddle-headed Wombat, which became as popular as her books for adults.

Keneally said he first met Park when she was running a bookstore on Norfolk Island in the 1980s.

"She told me about the times that she and Darcy were living cheque to cheque, when publishers were late paying her, yet she retained a warmth and generosity of spirit. She was so genial.

"It's good that she had such a long, strong and rich career."

- AAP