Guide to the Papers of Judith Wright, 1944-2000

Summary

Collection number:

MS 5781 et al

Creator:

Judith Wright

Extent:

15.96 metres and (106 boxes, 1 folio box, 1 oversize box, 1 elephant folio, 2 folders)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Judith Wright, National Library of Australia, [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Part available for research; part requires permission for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers of Judith Wright comprise literary manuscripts, correspondence, research material, newspaper cuttings, subject files, financial records and other papers. A significant proportion relates to conservation and Aboriginal concerns, with extensive files on the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland, the Australian Conservation Foundation and other organisations. Literary material includes requests for use of Wright's poems and drafts of her books Because I was invited, The coral battleground, The generations of men, Charles Harpur, The cry for the dead and We call for a treaty and of her autobiography, Half a lifetime. Correspondents include A.W. Sheppard, Rosemary Dobson, Barbara Blackman (including Wright's own letters to Blackman), Dorothy Green, Kevin Gilbert, Roberta Sykes, David Brooks, Ian Hudson, Thistle Stead, Stefanie Bennett, Julian Croft, John Reed, Roger McDonald, Henry Reynolds, Kathleen McArthur and Len Webb. Wright's family relationships are represented by a substantial correspondence between Wright and her husband, J.P. (Jack) McKinney, between Wright and her daughter, Meredith McKinney, and by Wright's letters to her brother, Peter Wright.

Biographical Note:

Judith Arundell Wright was a poet, essayist, conservationist and campaigner for Aboriginal rights. She was born into a family of pioneering pastoralists on 31 May 1915, at Thalgarrah station near Armidale, New South Wales, the daughter of Phillip Wright and his wife Ethel (neé Bigg). At first, Wright was educated home, but following the death of her mother, went to New England Girl's School in Armidale. She completed an Arts course at the University of Sydney in 1936 and was awarded an Hon D Litt from the following universities: University of Queensland (1962), the University of New England (1963), the University of Sydney (1977), Monash University (1977) and the Australian National University (1981).

Wright was 25 when her first poem was published and her first collection of verse, The moving image, was published in 1946. She went on to publish many other works including poetry, a biography of her pioneering family, children's books and her autobiography.

Wright was awarded Commonwealth Literary Fund Fellowships in 1949 and 1962, a Creative Arts Fellowship (ANU) in 1974, a Senior Anzac Fellowship in 1976 and a three-year Australia Council Literature Board Senior Writers Fellowship in 1977. Further recognition of her writing includes the following awards:

Grace Leven Poetry Prize, 1949

Encyclopaedia Britannica Prize, 1963

Christopher Brennan Award, Fellowship of Australian Writers, 1974

Robert Frost Memorial Award, Fellowship of Australian Writers, 1976

Alice Award, Society of Women Writers of Australia, 1980

Order of the Golden Ark (Netherlands), 1980

NSW Premier's Special Award for Poetry, 1991

The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, 1991

Wright was actively involved with issues relating to conservation, wildlife preservation and Aboriginal rights. These interests were reflected in her poetry and writings, which included her book, The cry for the dead (1981), about the treatment of Aborigines by settlers in Queensland from the 1840s to the 1920s. Organisations with which Wright was involved include:

Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland - founding member and President, 1962-1976

Australian Society of Authors - foundation council member, 1963

Australian Conservation Foundation - council member, 1964-1972. Made an honorary life member in 1980

Committee of Enquiry into the National Estate - committee member, 1973-1974

Australian National University - council member (1975-1979) and the first woman to be appointed to the council as the Governor-General's nominee

Aboriginal Treaty Committee - Secretary, 1979-1983

Judith Wright died of a heart attack in Canberra on 25 June 2000.

Provenance:

The papers were acquired from Judith Wright in a number of instalments, the first of which was received in 1978. In 2002 and 2005, further papers were acquired from Wright's daughter, Meredith McKinney. In 2005, a small consignment of papers, consisting of autobiographical material given to Patricia Clarke by Wright in 2000, was received from Patricia Clarke.

Arrangement:

The papers have been listed by instalment. Wright grouped her papers into manila files, and the order of the papers within each file has been maintained. Where provided, the title of the file has been used in the file descriptions for each box. This also applies to the instalments of papers received in 2005 from Wright's daughter, Meredith McKinney, and Patricia Clarke, the contents of which appear to have been arranged by the donors. Because the papers are listed by instalment, there is no discernible order.

Indexed terms

Names:

Judith Wright

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1905928).

Conditions Governing Use:

Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Judith Wright, National Library of Australia, [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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