This subseries is comprised of:
Folder 1 An imaginary life. Based on the novel by David Malouf. The Australian Elizabethan Theatre Trust. Folded sheet with insert. First performed on 19 Feb 1986. With associated review. Blood relations. The State Theatre Company and the Sydney Theatre Company. 1987. 24p. Voss. The Australian Opera at the Sydney Opera House. 18 Oct 1990. Single-leaf sheet. Contained in a red folder with gilt-embossed title and string. Also contains six cards in envelopes addressed to Malouf.

Folder 2 Mer de Glace. The Australian Opera, 1991. Baa-baa black sheep. An opera in three acts. Music by Michael Berkeley. Cheltenham International Festival of Music 3 Jul 1993. [and] Opera North 15 (Leeds, UK). 13, 16, 17 and 19 Nov 1993.

Folder 3 1914. Inspired by Fly Away Peter. The Australian Ballet. 7-27 Apr 1998. Exotic pleasures. From stories of Peter Carey and David Malouf. Theatre of Image at the Seymour Centre at the University of Sydney. York Theatre. 12 Mar to 3 Apr 1999. A3 broadsheet programme. [Mary Ellen Snodgrass: Peter Carey. A literary companion dates this adaptation to mid-January 1999, and describes it as a ‘dance-cinema-puppet montage’. In January 1999 Theatre of Image offered a workshop based on Exotic Pleasures at Macquarie University. With copies of newspaper reviews. Johnno. Adapted for the stage by Stephen Edwards. Derby Playhouse and La Boite Theatre. 14 Jul – 5 Aug 2006. Powerhouse Theatre.

Ephemera relating to awards won by Malouf.
Comprises flyers for:
1982 winner The Age Book of the Year Award — Book of the Year - Fly Away Peter.
1988 Programme for the Inaugural Pascall Prize: Australian 'Critic of the Year', won by David Malouf.
2004 Certificate of Appreciation to David Malouf, Winner of the 2004 One Book One Brisbane Reading Campaign.
2010 winner International Awards — John D. Criticos Prize. Awarded to David Malouf for his novel Ransom.
2010 shortlisted Prime Minister's Literary Awards — Fiction - for Ransom.
2010 Australian Literature Society Gold Medal ... presented to David Malouf for his novel Ransom.
2010 shortlisted New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards — Christina Stead Prize for Fiction - for Ransom.
2011 shortlisted International Awards — International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award - for Ransom.

This subseries consists of a copy of a letter from David Malouf to Yvonne Smith discussing the writing of An Imaginary Life, and extracts selected and typed by David Malouf from the diary he kept when writing An Imaginary Life. The letter and diary extracts show that the various pieces were written within a short time frame, commencing with the “poppy passage” on Sunday 24th October 1976 and with the rest following soon after.
Comprises: Photocopy of original letter from David Malouf to Yvonne Smith, 29 Nov 2001, 4 p., handwritten [original water-damaged]; Typed copy of letter from David Malouf to Yvonne Smith, 29 Nov 2001, 3 p.; Photocopy of diary extracts selected and typed by David Malouf from the diary he kept when writing An Imaginary Life, 21 Oct 1976 to 10 Nov 1976, 3 p., typescript [original water-damaged]; Re-typed version of the diary extracts, with explanatory material by Yvonne Smith, 4 p.

Correspondence from Chatto & Windus / Carmen Callil – 60 letters (1978 to 1991)
[File 1]: 1978 to 1991.
Letters from editors at Chatto & Windus.
1978 to 1982: Norah Smallwood and D J Enright (6)
1982 to 1991: Carmen Callil.
A few letters by others at Chatto & Windus, including Andrew Motion

Correspondence from Bruce Beaver – 22 letters
Comprises:
[File 1]: 1975 to 1999

Correspondence from Peter Porter - 24 letters
Comprises:
[File 1]: 1974 - 1999

Eustace, a short story, was first published in 1982 with the novella Child's Play and short story The Prowler. Further editions were published in 1983 and 1999, and Eustace was included in Malouf’s The Complete Stories published in 2007. There are two typescript drafts in this subseries. The first is an early typescript draft, 10 leaves, extensive handwritten emendations, word count on last page, and undated. The second is a typescript draft, 21 leaves, including the title page, handwritten emendations, word count on last page, and undated.

The Prowler, a short story, was first published in 1982 with the novella Child's Play and short story Eustace. Further editions were published in 1983 and 1999, and The Prowler was included in Malouf’s The Complete Stories published in 2007. There are three drafts in this subseries. Possibly the first draft is: typescript, on 25 x 20.5 cm paper, 11 leaves, extensive handwritten emendations in biro, unnumbered pages, incomplete, and undated. Second draft: typescript, on 23.5 x 14.5 cm, extensive handwritten emendations in biro, unnumbered pages, last page has word count and note '2nd draft Sept 12-13-14 '79). Draft typescript: 34 leaves, first leaf has handwritten title 'The Prowler', handwritten emendations, 29.5 x 22 cm, and undated.

Fly Away Peter is a novella, set in Queensland before the First World War, the story of Jim Sadler, a dedicated bird watcher, Ashley Crowther, his employer and Imogen Harcourt, an eccentric English photographer. It was first published in 1981 with Child’s Play under the title The Bread of Time to Come. It was republished in 1982 as Fly Away Peter. This subseries includes “original first hand-written drafts of Fly Away Peter (usually referred to as Birds)” [D.M.]; rewritten first draft in Brisbane; first typescript draft; second typescript draft; rewritten passages in second typescript draft; chapters 8, 10, 15 of first typescript reworked and replaced and afterword to Fly Away Peter.

Fly Away Peter was the winner of the 1982 Age Book of the Year Award.

The central figure of Harland’s Half Acre, Frank Harland, is another study of the artist-figure which continues to intrigue Malouf. Partly structured like Johnno and An Imaginary Life around two opposite individuals, the novel returns to the lush, exotic world of Queensland with a chronological narrative covering several decades. From his youth Harland is obsessed with the need to reclaim his family’s lost inheritance, the pastoral land with the nostalgic name Killarney. The dream turns sour when tragedy intervenes but Harland grows to understand that he has created another unexpected but more real legacy in his art. Harland’s Half Acre was first published in 1984. This subseries consists of two notebooks of 200 pages each with background material, notes and drafts, correspondence, various typescript drafts with handwritten corrections and additions, and a complete typescript of the finished novel.