Guide to the Papers of Anthony Lawrence, 1970-2006

Summary

Collection number:

MS 9192, MS Acc06.030

Creator:

Anthony Lawrence

Extent:

3.86 metres and (16 boxes, 2 folio boxes, 2 cartons)

Language:

English

Preferred citation:

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

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers cover Lawrence's writing career from the publication of his first book of poems in 1989 to his seventh book, a novel, published in 2000. The bulk of the collection comprises drafts of Lawrence's poetry. The drafts provide an insight into his creative processes, documenting the various stages the poems go through as they are written and rewritten. There also working notes and drafts of Lawrence's play The boneyard, and his first novel In the half light.

Eight large scrapbooks covering the period 1979 to 2000 document Lawrence's career. They contain correspondence, newspaper articles relating to Lawrence, reviews of his work, cuttings of his poems appearing in publications, publicity material, photographs, invitations, programs and flyers. As well as personal letters, there are notes from editors and publishers, including Judith Rodriguez, Heather Cam, Barry Oakley, Ron Simpson, Paul Hetherington, Philip Mead, Paul Kavanagh, Michael Dargaville and David Reiter. Also included are readers' reports on manuscripts of Lawrence's published books by Les Murray, Heather Cam and Judith Rodriguez and applications to and letters from the Literature Board of the Australia Council.

Biographical Note:

Anthony Lawrence was born in Tamworth, NSW, in 1957. He has worked as a landscape gardener, fisherman, jackeroo, truck driver and teacher at both primary and secondary school. He has published six books of poetry and one novel. Lawrence has won a number of awards for his poetry including the inaugural Judith Wright Calanthe Award (Queensland Premier's Poetry Prize), the Harri Jones Memorial Award, the Gwen Harwood Memorial Prize, the Newcastle Poetry Prize, the New South Wales Premier's Awards - Kenneth Slessor Prize for Poetry and the Josephine Ulrick Poetry Prize. He has also been the recipient of several Literature Board Grants, including a six-month residency at the B.R. Whiting Library, Rome, in 1993.

Poetry: Dreaming in stone, Sydney, Angus and Robertson, 1989; Three days out of tidal town, Sydney, Hale , c1992; The darkwood aquarium, Melbourne, Penguin Books, 1993; Colds wires of rain, Melbourne, Penguin Books, 1995; The viewfinder, Brisbane, University of Queensland Press, 1996; Skinned by light: new and selected poems, Brisbane, University of Queensland Press, 1998.

Novels: In the half light, Sydney, Picador, 2000

Plays: The boneyard, co-authored with Mark O'Flynn and premiered at La Mamma Theatre, Melbourne in August 1999.

Provenance:

The papers were purchased by the Library from Anthony Lawrence in several instalments: February 1991, December 1993 and May 1996 (boxes 1-11 plus folio items) and July 2001 (boxes 12-16 plus folio items)

Arrangement:

Lawrence has organised all of his papers into titled files and the order of the contents of the files has been retained by the Library. Files relating to a particular work have been grouped together within each instalment, and this is reflected in the guide to the papers. Because the papers have been accumulated in instalments, all the material relating to one particular work may not necessarily be located together in the collection.

Indexed terms

Names:

Anthony Lawrence

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1503357).

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 Anthony Lawrence, National Library of Australia [class number, 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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