Guide to the Papers of Rosemary Dobson, 1923-2004

Summary

Collection number:

MS 4955

Creator:

Dobson Bolton, Rosemary

Extent:

(21 MS Boxes + 4 Archive Boxes)

Language:

English and English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Rosemary Dobson, National Library of Australia, MS 4955, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The papers of MS 4955 include a considerable amount of correspondence about literary, business and personal matters, drafts of poems, drafts of reviews, index cards, press cuttings, sketches, material about writers' festivals, details of seminars, papers relating to Moscow trefoil and Seven Russian poets, papers relating to Francis Webb and information about poetry competitions. Major correspondents are Margaret Horder, Christina Stead, Francis Webb, Nan McDonald, Geoffrey Bingham, Claire O'Brien, Elizabeth Marsh, Denise Levertov, Ray Mathew, Alan Tregaskis, Lady Casey, Patrick White, David Marr, David Campbell, R.D. FitzGerald, A.D. Hope, Douglas Stewart, James McAuley and Judith Wright (25 boxes).

Biographical / Historical:

Author and poet, Rosemary de Brissac Dobson, was born in Sydney 18 June 1920. She married Alec Bolton in 1951. She has had a long and distinguished career as a poet and essayist and has also worked as an editor and reader for Angus and Robertson Publishers in the 1940s, and as an art and art history teacher. Her interest in art, antiquity and mythology and her personal experiences of motherhood are reflected in her work.

Dobson’s publications include In a convex mirror (1944), The ship of ice (1948), Child with a cockatoo (18955), Australian poets : Rosemary Dobson (1963), Cock crow (1965), Focus on Ray Crooke (1971), Selected poems (1973), World of difference : Australian poetry and painting in the 1940s (1973), Three poems on water springs (1973), Moscow trefoil (1975), translated with David Campbell, Greek coins (1977), Over the frontier (1978), Seven Russian poets (1979), with David Campbell, Continuance of poetry (1981), The three fates (1984), Summer press (1987) a novel for young adults, Collected poems : Rosemary Dobson (1991) and Untold lives (1992). Dobson has contributed to many Australian publications including Sydney Morning Herald, Age, Australian, Meanjin, Quadrant, Bulletin, Southerly, Luna, Westerly, Island magazine, Overland, LiNQ, Poetry Aust, Hemisphere, Australian letters, Poetry review and others. Her overseas contributions include Antaeus, Texas quarterly, Voices (USA) and Poetry review. She has also written articles, essays and radio scripts on various writers and artists including Denise Levertov (1985), Natalya Gorbanyevskaya (1988) and Vasko Popa (1988). A selection of her poems, L’Enfant en Cacatoès, was translated into French in Autour du Monde (1967).

Dobson has received the following recognition and awards for her work: Sydney Morning Herald award for poetry, 1948 (The ship of ice); FAW Christopher Brennan Award, 1978; Robert Frost Prize, 1979; Senior Fellowship, Literature Board of the Australia Council, 1980; Patrick White Award, 1984; Grace Leven Poetry Prize, 1984 (The three fates); Victorian Premier’s Literary Award, 1985 (The three fates); Emeritus Fellowship, Literature Board of the Australia Council, 1996.

Dobson was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1987 for her outstanding contribution to Australian literature. She is a member of the Australian Society of Authors and was made an honorary life member of Association for the Study of Australian Literature in 1985.

Immediate Source of Acquisition:

The papers were donated to the Library under the Cultural Gifts Program by Rosemary Dobson in several consignments between July 1986 and December 2004. Three publications were separately donated to the Library by Rosemary Dobson in 2005.

Conditions Governing Access:

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn388124).

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 Rosemary Dobson, National Library of Australia, MS 4955, [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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