Guide to the Papers of Alan Seymour, 1938-2002

Summary

Collection number:

MS 9198, MS Acc99.067, MS Acc01.037, MS Acc01.137.MS Acc03.133, MS Acc04.203.MS Acc17.092

Creator:

Seymour, Alan

Extent:

(30 boxes, 4 cartons, 1 folio packet)

Language:

English and English

Preferred citation:

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

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers include approximately 600 letters (in-letters and out-letters), cards and faxes about personal and business matters, notebooks, research notes, drafts of published and unpublished plays, novels and screenplays, reviews, newspaper clippings, photographs, printed material and papers relating to Seymour's travels and domestic life.

The major correspondents are his sisters, Mary, Eleanor, Winifred and Mabel, his niece Anna Petterson, his nephews David Petterson and Clem Gorman, his great-niece Nicole Petterson and partner Ron Baddeley.

Biographical Note:

Alan Seymour was born on 6 June 1927 in Perth, Western Australia. He was brought up by his eldest sister May, after the death of his parents when he was nine years old. He was educated at Perth Modern School, leaving at 15 after failing to complete the Junior Certificate. After leaving school he found work as a radio announcer in a commercial radio station 6PM. During his two years there he wrote a number of short radio plays that were broadcast live.

In 1945 Seymour moved to Sydney where he worked as an advertising copy-writer with 2UE. He returned to Perth after the war where he worked as a free-lance writer for ABC Radio, choosing the music and writing the script for a series 'A little night music'. Seymour became ABC Radio's film critic, writing a quarter-hour script each week reviewing new films. He joined a commercial radio station 6KY as an announcer and copy-writer and after six months was offered an announcing post at the ABC. After the death of his sister May in November 1949, Seymour returned to Sydney where he became an educational and freelance drama writer for ABC Radio and later television. From 1953 to 1957 he was theatrical director for the Sydney Opera Group. His first play, Swamp creatures, premiered by the Canberra Repertory Society, was a finalist in the London Observer play competition in 1957.

In 1960 his play, The one day of the year, was first performed by an amateur organisation, the Adelaide Theatre Group. The play had been rejected by the Adelaide Festival's Board of Governors on the basis that it might cause offence to former armed forces personnel for its treatment of Anzac Day commemorations. In 1961 the play was performed professionally with great success in Sydney with the support of the Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust. It was also performed in London. Seymour flew to the U.K. to attend this production.

In 1961 Seymour left Australia to live overseas where he resided for over 30 years. Initially, he lived and worked in London where he became a successful television writer, producer and editor with BBC and was also theatre critic for the London Magazine, 1963-65. From 1966 to 1971 Seymour lived in Turkey and wrote novels, stage plays and magazine articles. In 1974-81 Seymour was a script editor and occasional producer with BBC Television, after which he returned to free-lance writing. Seymour returned to live in Australia in January 1995.

Seymour has won the following awards:

Sydney Journalists' Club competition, 1960 for Donny Johnson

Royal TV Society special Creativity Award, 1979, for Eustace and Hilda

BAFTA Award, 1984, for Box of delights.

A production of The one day of the year by John Sumner and the Union Theatre Company won an Awgie Award for best TV drama production in 1962. Although Seymour is best known in Australia for The one day of the year, his reputation overseas relates not only to this early play, but also to his many screenplays, television scripts and adaptations of novels for film and television.

PlaysSwamp creatures, 1958.The one day of the year, 1960 (published Angus and Robertson, London, 1962)Gaiety of nations, 1965 (produced in the U.K.)A break in the music, 1966.Pope and the pill, 1968 (produced in London)'The shattering', 1973. (never produced)Structures, 1973.Float, 1980.The wind from the plain adapted for the theatre, from the novel by Yashar Kemal.Film, television and video scripts and adaptations for the screenCalling Sydney Harbour (Australian Commonwealth Film Unit, Australia, 1960)The earth reveals (Australian Commonwealth Film Unit, Australia, 1960)North of the centre (News and Information Bureau, Australia, 1960)Not by choice (Double Crown Productions, Australia, 1960)The living north (Australian Commonwealth Film Unit, Australia, 1960)41 backyards, 1962.The Runner, 1962 (produced by ATN Channel 7 in 1960 or 1961)Lean liberty, 1962.It wasn't just the feathers, 1962.Auto-stop, 1964.Trial and torture of Sir John Rampayne, 1965.Stockbrokers are smashing but banks are better, 1965.Eustace and Hilda, dramatised by Seymour, from the trilogy by L.P. Hartley, 1977.Sara Dane adapted by Seymour from the novel by Catherine Gaskin for ABC Radio in the 1950s and for television (South Australian Film Corporation) in 1981.The fortunes of Richard Mahony dramatised for television by Seymour for the South Australian Film Commission, from the trilogy by Henry Handel Richardson (not produced).Frost in May dramatised by Seymour, from the four autobiographical novels of Antonia White, 1981. The three other novels aired under the title Frost in May were The lost traveller, The sugar house and Beyond the glass.Box of delights, dramatised by Seymour, from the novel by John Masefield, (BBC TV, 1984).Care of time, (ITV, 1989).Tudawali written by Seymour, photographed by Michael Edols, produced by Julia Overton, Paul D. Barron (SBS, Australia, 1987)Menace unseen, 1988.The chronicles of Narnia dramatised by Seymour, from the novels by C.S. Lewis (BBC TV in association with Wonderworks, London, 1987-88)The house of Eliott, Series 1, vols 2-3 (BBC Worldwide, London, 198-)

'One red rose for Valentino' (feature film outline- not produced)

'Narrow corner' (feature film outline - not produced)

Radio scripts and adaptations for radioA winter passion, 1960.Donny Johnson, 1965.Little moron.Sara Dane by Catherine Gaskin.Swamp creatures.Other writingsThe coming self-destruction of the United States of America (novel, published by Souvenir Press, London, 1969)Anzac : meaning, memory, and myth, edited by Seymour and Richard Nile (London, Sir Robert Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, 1991)The one day of the year, (Souvenir Press, London, 1967) - a novel-adaptation of his playArticles

Contributions to various Australian publications including Sydney Morning Herald, Western Mail, Meanjin, Overland, Bulletin, Age, and Masque and to various overseas publications including Observer, London Magazine, and New Stories

Provenance:

The papers were purchased by the Library from Alan Seymour in three consignments dated 17 May 1993, 18 July 1996 and 9 September 1996. Further material was received from Alan Seymour in 1999, 2001, 2003 and 2004.

Arrangement:

Seymour's consignments were received by the Library in unsorted bundles of files and packages with some bearing brief labels describing general contents. Although the Library staff have attempted to arrange some of the correspondence in rough chronological order, the basic random arrangement of papers has been preserved. While preparing his papers for delivery to the Library, Seymour added many explanatory comments and notes.

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn457326).

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 Alan Seymour, National Library of Australia [class/series/file/box number]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

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