Guide to the Papers of Dorothy Hewett, 1883-2002 (bulk 1952-2001)

Request this via the Catalogue
 

Online content

Some materials from this collection are available online.
Show only online content

Online content

View online

Summary

Collection number:
MS 6184
Creator:
Hewett, Dorothy
Extent:
5.1 metres and (34 ms boxes + 2 medium folio boxes + 1 map folio + 22 sound/av carriers)
Language:
English
Preferred citation:
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Dorothy Hewett, National Library of Australia, MS 6184, [series and/or file number]'.
Availability:
Available
Access conditions:
Available for reference. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:
The papers consist of correspondence, literary works, photographs, sound and video recordings, theatre programs, posters and press cuttings, with the largest part of the collection being preparatory notes, drafts and manuscripts of Hewett's literary works. Major correspondents include Robert Adamson, Josephine Barnes, Rolf Hennequel, Elizabeth Jolley, Drusilla Modjeska, Stephen Murray-Smith, Hal Porter, Max Williams and Fay Zwicky. Other correspondents include Frank Hardy, Alan Marshall, David Martin, Katharine Susannah Prichard and Richard Wherrett.
Biographical Note:

Dorothy Coade Hewett was born on 21 May 1923 on a farm near the Western Australian wheat belt town of Wickepin, the elder daughter of Arthur Thomas (Tom) and Doris Irene (René, née Coade) Hewett. She was educated by correspondence as a child, and then at Perth College and the University of Western Australia (UWA), where she completed a Bachelor of Arts in 1963. Hewett began writing poetry as a child. Her first published poem was 'Dreaming', which appeared in an anthology of children's work in 1938. At nineteen her poetry was published in Meanjin and by twenty-two she had won drama and national poetry competitions.

At nineteen she joined the Communist Party, remaining a member until her resignation in 1968. In 1944 she married Lloyd Davies, with whom she had one child. The marriage failed and in 1948 Hewett moved to Sydney where she lived for nine years with another Party member, Les Flood, with whom she had three sons. The couple lived in inner city suburbs and Hewett took jobs in factories. Her book Bobbin up (1959) was based on these experiences.

In 1960 the couple parted and Hewett returned to Perth, where she completed her studies and subsequently taught English at UWA. There she also married Merv Lilley and bore him two daughters. In 1974 the family moved back to Sydney. Here Hewett was successful in applying for a number of grants from the newly formed Literature Board of the Australian Council for the Arts, enabling her to concentrate on her writing. Towards the end of her life she moved with Lilley to Faulconbridge in the Blue Mountains.

Hewett's career as a writer spanned fiction, poetry, plays and articles for which she received numerous awards and fellowships throughout her life. Her contribution to Australian literature was recognised with an Order of Australia medal (AM) in 1986. Hewett held the position of writer-in-residence at least nine times at Australian universities and once overseas. Her publishing record is vast and includes three novels, a first volume of memoirs, Wild card (the second volume was in process at the time of her death), fifteen plays, anthologies of poetry, radio and screen plays, short stories, musicals, librettos and articles for Australian and overseas journals. In addition, Hewett and her works have been the subject of much analysis and review by other authors.

It is difficult to separate Hewett's writing from her persona. Her early bohemian lifestyle and political and social activism earned her a reputation as an unrepentant rebel. Students, political colleagues from both sides of politics, theatre people and literati alike were drawn to her outgoing personality and vast intellect. Hewett's flamboyant image and creative output never waned.

Dorothy Hewett died in Springwood, New South Wales, on 25 August 2002, survived by husband Merv Lilley and five of her children.

Bibliographic Reference(s)

  • Austlit database entry on Dorothy Hewett, c. 2007, http://www.austlit.edu.au.
  • Bennett, Bruce. 'Obituary: Dorothy Hewett', The (London) Independent, 3 September 2002, http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20020903/ai_n12646372
  • Cunningham, James and Wyndham, Susan. 'An unbridled rage to live', The Sydney Morning Herald, August 26 2002, http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/08/25/1030053009320.html
  • Hewett, Dorothy. Wild card. Ringwood, Victoria: Penguin Books, 1990.
  • P.L. Duffy Resource Centre, Trinity College W.A. 'Dorothy Hewett (1923-2002): Playwright, novelist, poet', 2006 http://www.trinity.wa.edu.au/plduffyrc/subjects/english/aust/hewett.htm.
  • Wikipedia entry: 'Dorothy Hewett', c. 2007 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_Hewett.
Provenance:

The papers of Dorothy Hewett were received by the Library in a number of instalments between 1979 and 2005: between 1979 and 1999 four consignments of papers were purchased from Ms Hewett; in 2003, papers that Hewett had left with Bill Dunstone in 1988 were donated to the Library by Dunstone; and in 2005 a final instalment was purchased from Hewett's husband, Merv Lilley.

Arrangement:

Since the first consignment was received in 1979 a number of different approaches to arrangement and levels of description have been applied to the collection, differences which are reflected in the file titles and notes. No discernible order was apparent in the contents of the consignments. Order has been imposed by the Library to the extent of grouping similar material into a series arrangement whilst retaining the order of adjacent papers wherever possible. In this way Hewett's apparently random approach to filing has been maintained to some degree.

Papers received in 1979, 1984 and 1992 consignments were sequentially arranged and described using a simple box/file approach with continuous file numbers, totalling 131 files. In 2007 these three consignments were rearranged into series, and subsequent consignments of papers were incorporated into the new arrangement. Whilst the contents of files in the original listing (i.e. of the 1979, 1984 and 1992 consignments) have not been rearranged or moved, the file numbers have changed. Researchers seeking to locate this material should refer to 'Appendix 1: Locations of material moved in 2007 review of collection and guide' (see attached).

The order of material within each series adheres to the chronological order in which the consignments were received (i.e. 1979, followed by 1984 etc.). For identification of files relating to each consignment, see 'Appendix 2: Record of Instalments' (see attached).

Container List:
Series File Box
1 1-8 1
1 9-16 2
1 17-22 3
1 23-24 4
2 1-4 4
2 5-6 Folio Box 1
3 1-3 4
3 4 Elephant folio
3 5 Folio Box 1
4.1-4.4 1-8 5
4.4-4.5 9-15 6
4.5-4.8 16-21 7
4.9-4.13 22-27 8
4.13-4.15 28-33 9
4.15-4.19 34-41 10
4.19 42-49 11
4.20-4.22 50-58 12
4.22-4.23 59-65 13
4.23 66-74 14
4.23 75-79 15
4.23 80 Folio Box 2
4.23-4.24 81-82 15
4.25 83-88 16
4.26-4.28 89-95 17
4.28 96-100 18
4.29 101-104 19
4.29-4.30 105-110 20
4.30-4.31 111-119 21
4.31 120-127 22
4.31 128 Folio Box 2
4.31 129-131 23
5 1-4 23
5 5-12 24
5 13-19 25
5 20-26 26
5 27-31 27
5 32-33 28
5 34-37 29
5 38-40 30
6 1-4 30
6 5-10 31
7 1-2 31
7 3-10 32
7 11-12 33
8 1-3 33
9 1-4 33
9 5 Folio Box 2
9 6 34
9 7 Folio Box 2
10 1-3 34

Indexed terms

Names:
Hewett, Dorothy

Access and use

Conditions Governing Access:
The collection is available for reference.
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 Dorothy Hewett, National Library of Australia, MS 6184, [series and/or file number]'.
Location of this collection:
Parkes Place
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Contact:
Contact us