Guide to the Records of the Society of Women Writers (Australia), 1925-1998

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 6777
Creator:
The Society of Women Writers (Australia)
Extent:
6.44 metres and (46 boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Records of the Society of Women Writers (Australia), National Library of Australia, MS 6777, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Permission required for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
The collection consists of records accumulated by successive committees between the early 1970s to 1998. It includes documents relating to the formation and constitution of the Society, Federal Executive minutes and reports, State branch reports, Federal Executive correspondence, membership lists, newsletters, manuscripts submitted for Society competitions and workshops, grant submissions, conference papers, and legal and financial papers. The secession of the NSW Branch in 1988 and the final demise of the Federal body in 2000 is documented in records amongst the August 1996 and December 1998 additions.
Biographical / Historical:

The Society of Women Writers (Australia) was founded in 1925 as a Sydney based organisation at the time that the Imperial Press Conference was held in Sydney. Its initial objective was to meet and entertain women Conference delegates and spouses of delegates. Founding members were drawn from several existing writers groups, and included Mary Gilmore and Connie Robertson (Constance Stephens, daughter of A.G. Stephens). The Society continued to meet monthly and maintained momentum even throughout World War II.

During the 1960s and 1970s branches were established in all Australian states, although administration of the Federal body remained in Sydney until 1980. In states which had only small numbers of geographically dispersed members, such as Tasmania and the A.C.T., groups were dubbed ‘magazine branches’ and members conducted their Society activities by mail.

From 1980 the headquarters of the Federal body moved every two years to the state branch hosting the Society’s Biennial Conference. Discord between members of the NSW Branch and the Federal body from the late 1980s and workloads associated with running the conference ultimately led to the dissolution of the Society as a Federation in 2000. However its activities continued under five separate state administrations.

A Federal Constitution passed by all State Branch delegates in 1978 described the objectives of the Society as: to draw together women engaged in writing professions; to maintain the status of these professions; to promote a knowledge of literature; to encourage Australian writers; to help aspiring writers to achieve full professional status through workshops, seminars and competitions etc; and to strengthen the ties of interest between Australian and overseas writers.

The Society’s patrons have included Dame Alexandra Hasluck, Dame Mary Durack, Patsy Adam-Smith and Margaret Scott. The Society’s most prestigious award is the Alice Award, bestowed biennially on an Australian woman whose written work has made a distinguished and long-term contribution to literature. The first recipient was Eleanor Dark in 1978, followed by Judith Wright, Mary Durack, Kylie Tennant, Ruth Park, Nancy Cato, Nance Donkin, Elizabeth Jolley, Mem Fox and Patsy Adam Smith. Other awards were the Alexandra Hasluck short story Award, the Charles Meeking Award for poetry written by an Australian woman and the Kitty Archer-Burton Award for a poem written by a high school student resident in Australia. The Society produced a bimonthly newsletter, The Woman Writer, as well as various occasional publications, mainly volumes of poetry.

Reference: Lindsay, Hilarie. Handbook : the Society of Women Writers (Australia), 1980

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

The original instalment was deposited in the Library in 1982 following a decision made by the Society in 1973 during preparations for 50th birthday celebrations in 1975. Subsequent records were donated to the Library by Society executive members in several instalments between 1984 and 1998.

Arrangement:

Order has been imposed on the collection by the Library to some degree. As far as possible the arrangement of papers which were in files when they were received has been maintained. The original instalment of records was arranged into series. Each succeeding instalment has been added without continuing the series arrangement. The overall arrangement is now a simple box list with continuous File numbering.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2201755).
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], Records of the Society of Women Writers (Australia), National Library of Australia, MS 6777, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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