Guide to the Papers of Murray Bail, 1949-1951; 1975-2001

Summary

Collection number:

MS 6645

Creator:

Murray Bail

Extent:

0.56 metres and (4 boxes + 1 folio box)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Murray Bail, National Library of Australia, MS 6645, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Partly restricted.

Background

Content Summary:

The collection includes correspondence, handwritten drafts, typescripts, notes and newspaper cuttings relating to Bail's books Contemporary portraits and other short stories, Homesickness, Ian Fairweather and Eucalyptus.

There are also papers relating to 'Healing', a short story from the Winter's Tales 25 and 'Home ownership', a short story published in Quadrant (vol. 24, nos. 1-2, 1980).

Correspondents include Helen Garner, David Ireland, Ian Fairweather, Bruce Chatwin, Frank Moorhouse, Anita Brookner, Pierre Ryckmans, David Foster, Nicholas Jose, Michael Hulse, Les Murray, John Button, Bettina Arndt, Roger McDonald, Geoffrey Dutton, Hilary McPhee and Macmillan publishers.

Biographical Note:

Murray Bail was born on 22 September 1941 in Adelaide, to Lindsay Bail and Hazel née Ward. He was educated at Norwood Technical School in Adelaide, where he worked briefly in advertising before travelling to India (1968 –1970) and England (1970-1974). During this time he wrote for the Transatlantic Review and the Times Lliterary Supplement. Whilst in England, Bail wrote several short stories and he published his first collection of short stories, Contemporary portraits and other stories in 1975 (later republished as Camouflage in 2001). Bail has published several short stories in a wide range of periodicals including Meanjin, Quadrant and The New Yorker.

Bail's first novel, Homesickness, published in 1980, won the 1980 National Book Council Award for Australian Literature and the Age Book of the Year award. Since then, he has published travel writing, short stories, novels such as Holden's Performance (1987) and Longhand, a writer's notebook (1989), as well as a study of the artist, Ian Fairweather (1981). Bail's interest in the visual arts led to his appointment as a trustee of the National Gallery of Australia (1976-1981).

In 1999 his novel Eucalyptus was critically acclaimed, winning the Miles Franklin Award and the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. Both Eucalyptus and Camouflage were also published overseas and in a number of foreign language editions.

Bail was formerly married to Helen Garner. He currently resides in Sydney.

Sources: Who's Who in Australia 2003, p. 174; The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature, pp. 71-72.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

Papers in Series 1 (File 1) and Series 2, 3 and 5 were purchased by the Library from Murray Bail in 1981. In 2003 the Library purchased another instalment (Series 1 (Files 2-3) and Series 5) from Bail. In 2004 correspondence (Series 6) was donated under the Cultural Gifts Program.

Arrangement:

The collection has been arranged into six series by Library staff.

Indexed terms

Names:

Murray Bail

Conditions Governing Access:

Part available for research, part permission required for research (Series 6/File 1 requires permission for research until 20 years after Murray Bail's death).

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 Murray Bail, National Library of Australia, MS 6645, [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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