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Date(s)
- 1948-1965. (Creation)
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Extent and medium
1 folder (10 items); 30 cm.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Poet, opera critic, and academic Valentine (Val) Thomas Vallis was born on 1 August 1916 in Gladstone, Queensland. He attended school in Gladstone, then continued his secondary education in Rockhampton. He worked in the Gladstone Town Council offices before joining the army in 1940. In New Guinea, he served as a major in the Army Education Service under Tom Inglis Moore. After the war he attended the University of Queensland, graduating with first class honours in philosophy in 1950. While an undergraduate he published his first volume of poetry, Songs of the east coast (1947), and made the acquaintance of Judith Wright, with whom he would maintain a lifelong friendship. He worked at the University of Queensland as an assistant lecturer in philosophy while completing his bachelor degree and his Master of Arts (1953). After completing a PhD (1955) in philosophy at the University of London, he returned to UQ to lecture in philosophy from 1956. His second volume of poetry, Dark wind blowing, was published in 1961. That same year, he became a Senior Lecturer, then transferred to the English Department in 1965, where he retired as a Reader in 1981. Val was passionate about music, specifically opera. After his retirement from UQ, he lectured on the history of opera at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music. Over the years he contributed criticism and articles to various publications, including The bulletin and The Australian. He also reported in Brisbane for London magazine Opera. He was a member of the Queensland working party of the Australian Dictionary of Biography for a decade. He died on 14 January 2009.
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Angus & Robertson Ltd. is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer.
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Contents includes:
596a: Letter from E.F. Bozman of J.M. Dent and Sons Ltd. to Val Vallis 1960 Jul 29 re possible titles for inclusion in J.M. Dent's series of Australian classics in Everyman's Library;
596b: Val Vallis's reply 1960 Nov 2;
596c: Memorandum of agreement 1948 Mar 12 between Val Vallis and Angus and Robertson Ltd. of Sydney;
596d: Poem 'December Sunday, Hyde Park, London' with explanatory note by author;
596e: Poems: 'The jerry-builder', 'Venture at Outer Rock', 'For this, the tide', 'To a poet, begetting', 'The mullet-smoker', 'High tide by night', 'Song for a moonlit night';
596f: Poem 'The mullet-smoker';
596g: Poem 'Tea at four', also entitled 'Old lady at 3:30' and '3:30';
596h: Poem 'Wave-break' with 5 work-sheets showing its development, prepared in response to a request from the Lockwood Memorial Library, University of Buffalo (poem subsequently published in The Bulletin 1952 Dec 31 and included in 'Australian poetry 1953');
596i: Radio script: 'A discussion of the main characteristics of Australian poetry', senior school broadcast script, 1965 Jun;
596j: Radio script: 'The Australian short story', secondary school broadcast script, 1953 Mar 30.
Titles: December Sunday, Hyde Park, London.-- The jerry-builder.-- Venture at Outer Rock.-- For this, the tide.-- To a poet, begetting.-- The mullet-smoker.-- High tide by night.-- Song for a moonlit night.-- Tea at four.-- Wave-break.
Correspondence with J.M. Dent and Sons re Everyman's Library of Australian classics, memorandum of agreement with Angus and Robertson in 1948, drafts of poems and radio scripts.
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Unrestricted access.
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- English
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Note
Mainly typescript, some drafts of poems handwritten.
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Migrated
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Dates of creation revision deletion
Migrated from LMS: April 2019, P.A.