Elizabeth Kata

Who was Elizabeth Kata?

Elizabeth Katayama was an Australian writer under the pseudonym Elizabeth Kata, best known for Be Ready with Bells and Drums, which was made into the award-winning film A Patch of Blue.

She was born of Scottish parents in Sydney in 1912. After marrying a Japanese man named Katayama in 1937, she lived for ten years in Japan. During the last years of World War II she was interned at the mountain resort village of Karuizawa, Nagano. She returned to Australia in 1947 with her baby son, battling the Australian Government for permission.

As well as writing novels, she also wrote for television and several Hollywood scripts. Her first novel, Be Ready with Bells and Drums, was produced as the film A Patch of Blue. Shelley Winters playing the role of Rose-Ann D'Arcey won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Guy Green, who directed, also adapted Kata's book and his screenplay was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award. After the success of the film, the novel was re-released as A Patch of Blue. The book was for many years included in the "school book list" both in the US and Australia.