Remembering Blanche d’Alpuget

Author Blanche d’Alpuget has died, aged 82.

Allen & Unwin writes:

Award-winning and admired writer Blanche d’Alpuget died on Tuesday, 8 September 2026. Blanche’s writing career spanned more than six decades and included acclaimed biographies, novels, essays and journalism. She was active in the arts, chairing the Australian Society of Authors in 1991 and serving on the boards of the Copyright Agency, the Film Commission and the ACT Arts Advisory Council. She was also an Austcare Goodwill Ambassador. She was at the front row of history in Indonesia in the 60s and Australian politics in the 90s.

Her lauded Robert J. Hawke: A Biography was a seminal political work and many believed paved Bob Hawke’s way to securing the Labor leadership and then prime ministership. Blanche married Hawke in 1995 and they were together until his death in 2019.

Her life was the subject of a biography by Derek Rielly, Fridays with Blanche, which she participated in through weekly interviews. She took great pleasure in sharing her thoughts and stories in this way, demonstrating her energy, curiosity and generosity. As writer Thomas Keneally says in this memoir/biography, Blanche was “altogether, a remarkable woman and one who is a feminist template for young women”.

Blanche died of influenza and is survived by her son, Louis Pratt, her daughter-in-law, Brianna, and her granddaughter, Sienna. Her final statement, shared by her family was “Our highest calling and greatest achievement is love, the rule of life. Love one another.”

Blanche will be greatly missed by everyone at Allen & Unwin. Rest in peace, Blanche.

Category: Daily obituary