From the pen of a CQU academic comes a book that explores the love lives of 8 20th century writers and shows how they radically transformed our ideas of romantic love.

In 'Great Writers, Great Loves: The Reinvention of Love in the Twentieth Century', CQU’s Communications Learning Centre lecturer Dr Ann-Marie Priest delves into the delicious details of the 20-minute seduction of the young D.H. Lawrence by Frieda von Richthofen Weekley and also gives a broad analysis of the tangled love life of Vita Sackville-West and the poignant story of Australia’s own Charmian Clift.

Priest shows how these writers redefined the boundaries of love, friendship and marriage. In exploring new ideas of sexuality, marriage, same-sex relationships and passionate friendships, they forged a darker, deeper, more complex mythology of romantic love than the one that preceded it.

The book also charts the passions of Sylvia Plath, Frank O’Hara, Katherine Mansfield, Dylan Thomas and Virginia Woolf.

During the 20th century, these 8 writers experienced a period of sweeping social change. They fearlessly harnessed the freedoms of the new century, and in daring to experiment with their marriages and sexuality, forged bold new possibilities for love that continue to inspire us.

Priest said her fascinating first book grew out of her fascination with the love lives of writers.

“I had been working on a couple of writers as part of my PhD research and had started reading their journals and letters – their private writings – and I soon found that their own stories were as interesting as their work,” Priest explained.

“They were so contemporary, in a way – it was easy to identify with them.

“The whole terrain of love changed in the 20th century and these writers were mapping out those changes for us in their own lives”.

In researching writers for her PhD thesis a few years ago, which eventually led to this highly original book, Priest threw herself into some life changing experiences to understand her subjects.

“While working on Virginia Woolf and Sylvia Plath, I spent two months at a women’s monastery in the US as a scholar-in-residence and another four months at a men’s monastery. This very much challenged my views of love in the 21st century”.

As well as providing insight into relationships long over, 'Great Writers, Great Loves' sheds new light on what drives our search for intimacy today.

“I hope that readers will get a sense of who these writers were as people, and maybe experience some of the fascination that I’ve felt with their lives”.

Released last weekend (April 29) this new title has already received glowing comments from the critics. “As a result, once you start reading about these writers, you’ll find this a difficult book to put down ... This is an absolutely fascinating book, and viewing the life and work of these writers through the prism of their often extraordinary loves makes for compelling reading.” 'Canberra Times' April 22 .

Priest has been invited to be a guest at the Sydney Writers Festival in May and the Brisbane Writers Festival in September.

'Great Writers, Great Loves: The Reinvention of Love in the Twentieth Century' has just been released and is available from all good book stores at RRP $ 29.95.