Guide to the Papers of Mark O'Connor, 1968-2002

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 7744
Creator:
O'Connor, Mark, Mr.
Extent:
2.25 metres and (16 ms boxes)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Mark O'Connor, National Library of Australia, MS 7744, [series and/or folder number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Restricted until access determined.

Background

Biographical Note:
Date Event
1945 Born in Melbourne
1965 Graduated English-Classics Hons 1 from Melbourne University. Taught English Literature at the University of Western Australia and at the Australian National University
1972 First poems published
1973 Won the Biennial Poetry Australia International Prize, and again in 1975
1977 Awarded a Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarship to spend two years living and writing in the Mediterranean region. Travelled extensively until late 1980, mainly in Greece and Italy, and attended the Poets Corner readings in Westminster Abbey in September 1980
1979 Won the Shell-Artlook $1,250 poetry prize with <em>The rainbow serpent</em> and the British Commonwealth Short Story Prize with <em>The black cabaret</em>. In June 1980, won the <em>London Time's</em> Kenneth Allsop Memorial Award
1983 Won the Tom Collins Poetry Prize and the South Pacific ACLALS Short Story Prize. Edited the Australian section of London literary annual <em>Aquarius</em>, 1983
1983 Writer-in-residence at James Cook University, Griffith and Darwin (twice), SACAE, Gippsland College, Charles Sturt and Monash Universities, and UNSW and Queensland State Library
1984 NSW National Parks Writing Fellowship (1984 and 1985)
1985 Series of six talks on ABC television program <em>Science Show</em>
1985 ABC TV documentary broadcast on <em>A Big Country</em>
1986 One-month poetry reading tour of Britain arranged by the British National Poetry Society
1987 Appointed the Thomas Ramsay Science and Humanities Scholar at the Museum of Victoria (one-year residency) to write a book of verse T<em>he ship trans-time</em>, which was published in 1989
1987 Edited and introduced <em>Two centuries of Australian poetry</em> published by Oxford University Press, Melbourne in 1988 (reprinted six times)
1988 Married Janet Eagleton and moved to Canberra
1988 Attended the Australian Literature Conference in Denmark
1988 Joined with Judith Wright, Dorothy Green and Anne Edgeworth to form the environmental writers group WESP
1990 Guest on SBS television program <em>Face the press</em>
1990 Sent to Russia (Vladivostok conference) by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
1990 Overseas writer-in-residence (Australia-China Bilateral Exchange) at East China University, Shanghai
1990 Received $3,000 grant from ACT to produce lyrics with musician Judith Clingan, recently completed as <em>The Canberra song cycle</em>
1991 Sent by the Australia Council to represent Australia at World Conference of Poets
1991 Received a $30,000 grant from the NSW National Parks Foundation to work on poems about the High Country
1993 Awarded ACT Literary Fellowship
1994 Appointed Humanities Research Fellow, University of Oregon, USA
1995 Poetry Editor for <em>The Canberra Times</em>
1995 Sent by the Australia-India Council on a one-man tour of universities in India
1996 Published <em>Tilting at snowgums</em>, and was the subject of two ABC documentaries, one in <em>The words to say it</em> series
1996 Poem 'A new ballad of the man from Snowy River' published in the Christmas edition of the <em>Bulletin</em>
1996 Revised expanded edition of <em>Two centuries of Australian poetry </em>published by Oxford University Press in 1996
1998 Published <em>This tired brown land</em>
1999 Appointed H.C. Coombs Creative Arts Fellow at the Australian National University
1999 Appointed as Olympic Games Poet for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, with a two-year Literature Fund Fellowship from the Australia Council
2000 Published <em>Forever lands: Australia's Northern Territory in words and images</em>
2000 Published <em>Olive tree: collected poems 1972-2000</em>

Bibliographic Reference(s)

O'Connor is a poet, with a particular interest in the natural environment. He has published a number of books of his verse, many of them based on regions of Australia. His poems have been included in poetry anthologies and published in numerous journals and newspapers. O'Connor has received a number of grants for specific writing projects both in Australia and overseas. In 1999 he was appointed HC Coombs Creative Arts Fellow at the Australian National University. Also in that year, O'Connor was appointed as Olympic Games Poet for the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

Provenance:

The papers were purchased from O'Connor in three instalments received in 1983, 1999 and 2002.

Arrangement:

The papers have been arranged into series by the Library. Because they have been added to the collection in instalments, the order of papers within some series may not necessarily be chronological.

The following item has been transferred to the Oral History Section of the Library: CD recording (No. 9837), one of only four made by the ABC, of the program Encounter recorded on 24 July 1998 and broadcast later that year. Entitled 'A.D. Hope, poet of love and mortality', the script and narration were by O'Connor, with the voices of Anne Edgeworth, Michael Thwaites, Jenni Mitchell and Anne Fairbairn.

Container List:
Series File Box
1 1-7 1
1 8-14 2
1 15-19 3
2 1-2 3
3 1-2 4
4 1 4
5 1-4 4
5 5-8 5
6 1 5
7 1 5
8 1 5
9 1-2 6
10 1-2 6
11 1-2 6
12 1-2 6
12 3-5 7
13 1-6 7
13 7-10 8
14 1-3 8
15 1-6 9
16 1-8 10
17 1-7 11
17 8-9 12
18 1-2 12
19 1-3 12
20 1 13
21 1-7 13
21 8-15 14
21 16-18 15
22 1 15
23 1-3 15
23 4-5 16
24 1-3 16

Indexed terms

Names:
O'Connor, Mark, Mr.

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
Access conditions may apply to this collection, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1875799).
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 Mark O'Connor, National Library of Australia, MS 7744, [series and/or folder number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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