Guide to the Papers of Peter Carey, 1954-1988

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Summary

Collection number:
MS 7566
Creator:
Carey, Peter
Extent:
(7 boxes + 1 packet)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should becited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Peter Carey, National Library of Australia, MS 7566, [series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Part available for research; part requires permission for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers include general correspondence, eight manuscript notebooks recording ideas for Carey's writing, drafts of several of his novels and short stories, reviews of his work, school reports and the transcript of an interview with Van Ikin. Five of the notebooks contain notes which relate mostly to Carey's novel 'Pets' which was later published as Illywhacker.

Correspondents include Phillip Adams, Noni Brahm, Clem Christesen, Laurie Clancy, Tim Curnow, Geoffrey Dutton, Brian Kiernan, Colleen McCullough, Frank Moorhouse, Stephen Murray-Smith, Bill Peach, Deborah Rogers (Carey's literary agent), Frank Thompson, Meril Yule, Judah Waten, Richard Walsh and Michael Wilding.

Biographical Note:

Peter Carey was born in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria, in 1943. He was educated at Geelong Grammar School (1954-60) and later at Monash University where he studied science. Early contact with writers Morris Lurie and Barry Oakley led him into writing and advertising. Between 1962 and 1967 he supported his early writing career by working in advertising agencies in Melbourne, writing advertising copy. In the late 1960s he travelled through Europe and the Middle East and worked in London in advertising. He returned to Australia in 1970 and worked in a number of advertising agencies in Melbourne and Sydney. It was during this period that he began to write the short stories which appear in the Fat Man in History (1974)

In the late 1970s Carey moved to an 'alternative community' at Yandina in Queensland, writing for three weeks out of the month and working the fourth for an advertising firm in Sydney. During this time he wrote most of the stories which were published in War Crimes (1979) and completed his first novel Bliss (1981).

In 1980 Carey returned to Sydney and opened an advertising agency in partnership with Bani McSpedden. In 1981 he moved to Bellingen in northern New South Wales, which provided the inspiration for Illywhacker (1985) and Oscar and Lucinda (1988).

In 1990 Carey, his wife Alison Summers and his two sons took up residence in New York, where Carey went on to write The Tax Inspector (1991), The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith (1994), Jack Maggs (1997) and True history of the Kelly Gang (2001). He teaches creative writing part-time at New York University.

Carey has won numerous literary awards, including:

Vaughan, Rebecca. A brief history of Carey's working life. 1997.

Provenance:

The initial instalment of papers was acquired from Carey in 1984, under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme. In August 2001, the Library purchased privately one volume of Carey's business correspondence and in October 2001 it purchased at auction eight notebooks containing working notes for ideas for novels and short stories.

Arrangement:

The Library has arranged the papers into six series, retaining Carey's organisation of papers within files.

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-vn2583573).
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 becited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Peter Carey, National Library of Australia, MS 7566, [series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
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