Hydra Harbour
In 1951 Clift and Johnston left grey, post-war London for Greece. Settling first on the tiny island of Kalymnos and then Hydra, their plan was to live simply and focus on their writing. The result was two of Charmian Clift's best known and most loved books, the memoirs Mermaid Singing and Peel Me a Lotus.
Peel Me a Lotus told of their move to Hydra where they bought a house and coped with chaotic domestic life and three small children. The old well outside the walled garden was where the local women gathered water. It looked so lovely it was easy to forget the poverty and hard work, the difficulties of bringing up children in sparse conditions, and the ominous evidence of Johnston’s emerging TB. But her novel was clearly set among the artists’ colony of which she and George were the undisputed leaders. At the same time, they were becoming the centre of an informal community of artists and writers, including other Australians, Brits, Canadians, Americans, Germans, Scandinavians and Greeks.
The Johnson family home
and community well in the square
Clift painted an evocative picture of the characters and sun-drenched rhythms of traditional, quiet life. The fascination with Hydra arose perhaps from the great Greek artist Nikos Gikas' beautiful paintings of his ancestral island.
Canadian musician Leonard Cohen(1934–2016) was inspired by George Johnston & Charmian Clift’s writing and lifestyle when he visited the Greek island of Hydra in 1960. Cohen soon became their lodger, with his Norwegian girlfriend Marianne Ihlen (1935–2016); they invited him to stay and to work on their terrace. The Johnstons were doing exactly what Cohen hoped to do, living by their writing. In their decade in Greece, they published 14 books between them but finances were very tough. Cohen reported that the Australians “drank more than other people, they wrote more, they got sick more, they got well more, they cursed more, they blessed more, and they helped a great deal more. They were an inspiration.” On Hydra, Johnston took a pen to the fresh manuscripts that young Leonard brought him, and taught him the value of fierce editing. It was he who encouraged Cohen to play his first concert of his own material.
in Hydra
Charmian's book: Peel Me A Lotus
George Johnston wrote his excellent novel My Brother Jack (1964), a story of inter-war Melbourne. The plot copied the true murder story of 25-year-old schoolteacher, novelist and Bohemian Mollie Dean, mistress of artist Colin Colahan. George Johnston never met the victim; only 20+ years after the events did he become close to Colahan. His book won the Miles Franklin Award in 1964, providing enough money for George to return home; Charmian and their three children followed by ship as £10 migrants. The novel was serialised for the ABC in 1965.
Through her columns in Australia, Clift advocated for a bolder, more outward looking future; as someone who was naturally cosmopolitan, she was keenly interested in seeing Australia become more open to the world and better integrated into the Asia-Pacific. She raged against complacency! Sadly Clift suicided in 1969, an event that ended her voice while leaving behind thousands of loyal readers. George tragically died a year later from T.B.
There had been biographies written about the Hydra expats and they wrote about the island themselves. Now a new book has shown that there was more to be said. Half the Perfect World. Writers, Dreamers and Drifters on Hydra: 1955-1964 (published 2018).
Through her columns in Australia, Clift advocated for a bolder, more outward looking future; as someone who was naturally cosmopolitan, she was keenly interested in seeing Australia become more open to the world and better integrated into the Asia-Pacific. She raged against complacency! Sadly Clift suicided in 1969, an event that ended her voice while leaving behind thousands of loyal readers. George tragically died a year later from T.B.
There had been biographies written about the Hydra expats and they wrote about the island themselves. Now a new book has shown that there was more to be said. Half the Perfect World. Writers, Dreamers and Drifters on Hydra: 1955-1964 (published 2018).
Half the Perfect World. Hydra
by Paul Genoni and Tanya Dalziell, 2018
Genoni added that writing Half the Perfect World got lucky when they discovered a cache of 1500 photographs taken on the island by James Burke, a Life magazine photographer who was an old friend of Johnston. The best-known photo showed Leonard Cohen playing guitar with Clift and others under the olive tree at Douskos Taverna.
Years later, Cohen dedicated his 1980 Sydney performance to George Johnston and Charmian Clift who taught him how to write, opening with the Hydra-inspired song Bird on a Wire. And his mournful song So Long, Marianne which he’d written for Marianne Ihlen during their Hydra era
Years later, Cohen dedicated his 1980 Sydney performance to George Johnston and Charmian Clift who taught him how to write, opening with the Hydra-inspired song Bird on a Wire. And his mournful song So Long, Marianne which he’d written for Marianne Ihlen during their Hydra era