Guide to the Papers of David Brooks, 1969-1996

Summary

Collection number:

MS 8075

Creator:

David Brooks

Extent:

5.46 metres and (39 MS Boxes + 5 Folio Packets)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], MS 8075, National Library of Australia, Papers of David Brooks, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

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

Background

Content Summary:

Correspondence and manuscripts of Brooks' own work, including some of his notebooks and diaries, comprise the bulk of the papers. The development of Brooks' work, from initial ideas and thoughts to a published work, can be traced in these papers. There are also manuscripts of his selections of the poetry of A.D. Hope and of R.F. Brissenden, as well as the work of other writers.

Among the correspondents are Robert and Cheryl Adamson, Silvana Gardner, Alan Gould, Paul Balnaves, R.F. Brissenden, J.P. Hardy, Rosemary Dobson, A.D. Hope, Galway Kinnell, Susan Jeffery, Robert White, Geoffrey Dutton, David King, Ruth Morse, Craig Powell and Eric Domville.

Biographical Note:

David Brooks was born in Canberra in 1953. As a very young child he lived in Greece and in Yugoslavia, where his father was posted, before returning to Canberra, where he attended school. He attended the Cleveland Heights High School in 1969-70, on an American Field Service Scholarship.

In 1971-74, while studying at the Australian National University, he was involved in the Canberra poetry magazine, both as a poet and as a photographer, and with poetry readings and handpress printing. He also founded Open Door Press with Alan Gould and others. Early friends among Canberra writers included Alan Gould, Philip Mead, Kevin Hart, R.F. Brissenden, Rosemary Dobson, A.D. Hope, David Campbell and Judith Wright. He has since continued to develop many friendships and contacts with other writers, both in Australia and overseas.

In 1975 Brooks was a part time tutor in the Department of English at the Australian National University before beginning study for an MA and a PhD at the University of Toronto. He was an Overseas Contributing Editor to New poetry and Poetry Australia and an agent for the Australian National University and the Literature Board in arranging poet/writers-in-residence. Some of his early poetry was published in the United States and in Canada and he made extensive contacts with poets in both those countries, some of them becoming close friends. Brooks also continued to publish handpress material as well as instructing on, and operating, a handpress at Massey College, University of Toronto.

Brooks returned to Australia, where he had a one-year contract at the Royal Military College at Duntroon, in 1981. At this time he completed his PhD thesis (on the early Cantos of Ezra Pound), became associate editor of New poetry and reviewed poetry for The Canberra Times.

In 1982-85 Brooks was a Senior Tutor in the Department of English at the University of Western Australia. He undertook editorial work for Westerly. His first collection of poetry, The cold front (1983), launched by A.D. Hope, was shortlisted for the New South Wales Premier's Prize and won the Anne Elder Award. His first short fiction appeared in State of the art (1984) and Transgressions (1986). His first collection of short fiction, The book of Sei, was published in 1985, when he also commenced editing Helix.

From 1986 to 1991 Brooks was a lecturer in the Department of English, Australian National University. He continued, with Nicolette Stasko, to edit Helix, which changed its name to Phoenix review, and he reviewed poetry for The Australian and other publications. He was a reader for the Fremantle Arts Centre Press, for Hale Iremonger and for other publishers, and he wrote regularly for The Age monthly review. An expanded version of Book of Sei was published in 1989 and he edited and published Poetry and gender (1989) with Brenda Walker. The necessary jungle (1990) and Sheep and the diva (1990) followed and in 1990 he also commenced work on The house of Balthus (1996) and Notebooks. During this time he was also host, together with Nicolette Stasko, of joint ANU residencies by Antigone Kefala, Jennifer Maiden, J.S. Harry and Vikki Viidikas (1989) and with John Forbes, Nigel Roberts and Robert Adamson (1990).

In 1990, Brooks resigned from the Australian National University and took up an appointment as a lecturer in Australian Literature at the University of Sydney in 1991. He was Senior Lecturer in Australian Literature from 1992, and became Associate Professor in 2005.

A.D. Hope's Selected poems and Suddenly evening: the selected poems of R.F. Brissenden, both edited by Brooks, were published in 1992. Brooks was the Chair of the NSW Literature Awards in 1993, and has served on the management committee of the NSW Writers Centre, on the Board of Directors of the Eleanor Dark Foundation, and on other boards and committees, for example, the Sydney Festival Writers' Week. The House of Balthus was published in 1995 and Black Sea in 1997. He was briefly an Australian literature columnist on the Financial review in 1997 and has been on the editorial board of Westerly and Southerly, which he has co-edited since 2000. Brooks travelled and lectured in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, France and China in 1994-95, after a two month research visit to Oxford and to Paris in 1993. He has since spent periods living in France, 1998, and Slovenia, 2005. His poetry and fiction have been widely anthologised nationally and internationally, and translated into several languages.

Brooks married Alison Summers in 1975 and separated from her in 1982. In 1983 he met Nicolette Stasko, with whom he lived until early 2004. Their daughter, Jessica, was born in 1985. Brooks married a Slovenian photographer and translator, Teja Pribac, in 2005.

Provenance:

The papers were acquired from David Brooks in two instalments. The first, in 1989, was acquired under the Taxation Incentive for the Arts Scheme, while the second was purchased from Brooks in 1998.

Arrangement:

Brooks' own arrangement of the papers has been maintained by the Library.

Indexed terms

Names:

David Brooks

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2108696).

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], MS 8075, National Library of Australia, Papers of David Brooks, [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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