Helena Sumner Locke (4 July 1881 – 18 October 1917)[1] was an Australian novelist, dramatist/playwright, poet and short story writer.

[1] Locke began publishing short stories in such publications as The Bulletin and the Native Companion before her first play, The Vicissitudes of Vivienne, was produced in Melbourne in 1908.

[2] The writer's reputation was enhanced by the publication in 1911 of Mum Dawson, 'Boss' , a series of inter-connected comic stories about a back-blocks country woman struggling to maintain her farm and her family, in the vein of Steele Rudd's iconic "Dad Rudd" from Dad and Dave.

Locke traveled to America later in 1917 to meet her New York publisher, but was unable to join her husband in Europe due to the closing of the Atlantic crossing.

On her death, The Leader newspaper described her as "a woman of great vitality and animation, a tireless worker, with much charm of manner and an abundance of humor".