Guide to the Papers of Brian Kiernan, 1955-2011

Summary

Collection number:

MS 7017, MS Acc07.025, MS Acc17.101

Creator:

Kiernan, Brian, Professor

Extent:

2.55 metres and (17 ms boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

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

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Part available for research; part not available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

MS 7017 comprises correspondence, notes, draft manuscripts, and miscellaneous papers relating to the research, writing and publication of major works Brian Kiernan has either written or edited, as well as contributions he has made to other publications. Also included are 18 audio tapes of research material relating to Kiernan's biography of David Williamson (14 boxes).

MS Acc07.025 comprises correspondence to Brian and Suzanne Kiernan, including from David Williamson, Frank Moorhouse, Barry Oakley, Judah Waten and Jim Davidson (1 box).

MS Acc17.101 includes letters and other materials that have a literary or professional component: misc. correspondence; contracts with publishers; correspondence relating to biographies of David Williamson and others; correspondence relating to Professor Michael Wilding; papers of Kiernan's wife Suzanne Kiernan, editor of the Sydney Review; correspondence relating to Kiernan's sabbatical leave in 1976 when he visited universities in Europe and had a semester in Yale (2 boxes).

Biographical Note:

Brian Francis Kiernan is an author and an academic. He was born on 24 July 1937, and completed a Master of Arts Degree and a Diploma of Education at Melbourne University.

In the late 1960s Kiernan was appointed as a lecturer in Literature at the Swinburne College of Technology in Melbourne. He left there in 1972 to join the English Department of the University of Sydney as a lecturer, teaching American and Australian literature. In 1987 he was appointed as an Associate Professor of English at the University of Sydney, a position he still holds.

As well as his work as a university teacher, Kiernan has written and edited books on Australian fiction, poetry and drama and contributed articles and reviews to a number of newspapers and journals.

Kiernan's publications include Images of society and nature: seven essays on Australian novels (Oxford University Press, 1971), Criticism (Oxford University Press, 1974), Henry Lawson (University of Queensland Press, 1976), The most beautiful lies: a collection of stories by five major contemporary fiction writers (Angus and Robertson, 1977), Considerations: new essays on Kenneth Slessor, Judith Wright and Douglas Stewart (Angus and Robertson, 1977), Patrick White (Macmillan, 1980), The essential Henry Lawson (Currey O'Neil, 1982), David Williamson: a writer's career (Heinemann, 1990 and revised edition Currency Press, 1996) and Studies in Australian literary history (Sydney Studies, 1997).

Provenance:

MS 7017 was acquired in four instalments. The Library purchased the first instalment in 1981, the second and third instalments were acquired under the Tax Incentives for the Arts Scheme in 1990 and 1991, and the fourth instalment was donated in 1999.

Further papers were added in 2007 and 2017.

Arrangement:

The original arrangement of the papers has been preserved by the Library.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Literature
Academic

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2226504).

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 Brian Kiernan, National Library of Australia, [class/series/file/item number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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