Guide to the Papers of Alan Gould, 1972-2017

Summary

Collection number:

MS 6635, MS Acc22.069

Creator:

Alan Gould

Extent:

(30 boxes, 1 carton, 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 Gould, National Library of Australia, [class/series/file/item number(s)]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Part available for research; part requires permission for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers include personal and business correspondence, poems, notebooks, travel journals, drafts and proofs of Alan Gould's published works of fiction, poetry and essays, applications for literary grants, talks, articles, reviews, cuttings and photographs. Comments on his draft works by friends and publishers, and reader's reports and comments on them, are also included.

The collection gives a good account of Gould's literary activities, and provides an insight into his relationship with other Australian poets, especially in his correspondence with Les Murray, Philip Mead, David Brooks, Mark O'Connor and Bronwen Levy.

The bulk of Gould's personal correspondence from 1990 to 1998, with family, friends, writers and publishers, is on four disks.

Biographical Note:

Alan Gould was born in London in 1949. His father was a brigadier in the British Army and Gould lived in Armed Forces camps in England, Northern Ireland, Germany and Singapore before coming to Australia in 1966. He has worked in short term positions including nuclear physics technician and agricultural labourer. Since 1975 Gould has written novels, poetry and essays almost full time, supplementing his income with relief teaching and literary journalism. In 1999 Gould was awarded the Philip Hodgins Memorial Medal.

Gould's books have won several awards. His second volume of poems, Astral Sea (1981), won the New South Wales Premier's Award for Poetry in 1981. His first novel, The man who stayed below (1984), won the Foundation For Australian Literary Studies Best Book of the Year Award in 1985, his third novel, To the burning city (1991), won the National Book Council Banjo Award for Fiction in 1992 and in 1999 The Tazyrik Year (1998) won the Royal Blind Society Audio Book of the Year Award. Volumes of poetry include Icelandic solitaries (1978), The pausing of the hours (1984), The twofold place (1986), Years found in likeness (1988), Formerlight (1992), Momentum (1992), and Mermaid (1996). Works of fiction include The enduring disguises (1988), Close ups (1994), and The Tazyrik year (1998). Published essays include Three streets in search of an author (1993) and The totem ship (1996).

Collection Retrieval Advice:

Please note: each consignment in this collection has a separate box number sequence (i.e. there are multiple Box 1's). Please cite the relevant Class number as well as the Box number when requesting retrieval of material from the collection.

Provenance:

The papers were purchased by the Library in 1982, 1987, 1991, 1997 and 1998. Further papers were added in 2005 and 2011.

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-vn2185034).

Conditions Governing Use:

Conditions for copying and publishing of this collection may apply, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn2185034).

Preferred citation:

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

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

Contact us