This series is comprised of draft typescripts and related documents for eight Opera Libretti by David Malouf (both published and unpublished): Voss : Opera in Two Acts After the Novel by Patrick White, Invocation to Earth, Remembering Babylon, 'The Aspern Papers', 'You can't think of everything', 'A Winter's Tale', The Fox and the Magpie. In addition there are two versions of 10,000 Miles Away, written by Malouf for theatre.

Voss is an opera in two acts based on the novel by Patrick White. The score is by Richard Meale and the libretto by David Malouf. This subseries includes a handwritten outline of Voss, a typescript of the libretto with many handwritten corrections, and a photocopy of the music score, inscribed by Richard Meale to David Malouf.

Correspondence to David Malouf regarding the opera Voss:

1. Peter Hemmings to Malouf, 1p, 20 Mar 1979
2. Peter Hemmings to Malouf, 1p, 23 May 1979
3. Tim Curnow (Curtis Brown) to Malouf, 1p, 14 Jun 1979, includes two letters from Peter Hemming to Curnow
4. Antony Jeffrey to Malouf, 2p, 17 Aug 1979
5. Peter Hemmings to Malouf, 1p, 6 Sep 1979
6. Antony Jeffrey to Malouf, 1p, 18 Sep 1979
7. Jim Sherman to Malouf, postcard, 8 Oct 1979
8. Antony Jeffrey to Malouf, 1p, 13 Oct 1979
9. Richard Meale to Malouf, 2p, 13 Oct 1979
10. Richard Meale to Malouf, 2p, 16 Jun 1980
11. Antony Jeffrey to Malouf, 2p, 8 Jul 1980
12. Richard Meale to Malouf, 3p, 14 Mar 1981
13. Richard Meale to Malouf, 2p, 11 Aug 1981
14. Copy of letter from Moffatt Oxenbould, Artistic Administrator, Australian Opera to Tim Curnow regarding the contract for Voss, 1p, 2 Jun 1983
15. Richard Meale to Malouf, 1p, 4 Jul 1983
16. Stuart Challender to Malouf, 1p, 22 Apr 1986
17. Jim Sharman to Malouf, 4p, 29 Apr 1986

The file is comprised of: Early notes for dialogue, 2 leaves ; Letter to Richard Meale from Malouf, 1 leaf, 20 Jun 1979, with early dialogue notes on verso; Marked up copy of the Penguin Modern Classics 1960 published edition of Voss by Patrick White, sections of text marked in black pen, handwritten notes on last page and inside back cover.

Rehearsal notes for Voss, by Christopher Williams. Copy for David Malouf. [Note: Company notes on first performance of Voss, Adelaide, 1986, March]

Two publications and 26 published reviews, articles, short stories, speeches and interviews.
Folder 1: The School Window, Brisbane Grammar School, no. 8, Sept 1948. Contains an illustration on page 11 and three stories by David Malouf, Form IV. A. The stories are: Dream Journey, pages 18-19; The Longest Hour, page 26, winner of the first Thomas Thatcher Memorial Prize; Et tu, Brute, page 28.

Malouf, D., & Australian Broadcasting Corporation. (1999). A spirit of play : the making of Australian consciousness, Sydney: ABC Books for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 128 pages, with many manuscript emendations.

Folder 2:
A group of 26 published reviews, articles, short stories, speeches and interviews, extracted from magazines and newspapers. Includes: What we know – A Meditation on Experience, Knowledge and Memory. An edited version of an address delivered at the Supreme Court of New South Wales Annual Conference on 13 June 1997. Extract from Judicial Officers’ Bulletin. Vol. 9, No. 11. December Pp. 81/82 and 87/88.

Correspondence, incoming, from 1996:
1996 – 42 letters: Dymphna Clark (1); Geoffrey Dutton (1); Nin Dutton (1); Nick Enright (1); Elizabeth Jolley (1); Kate Grenville (1); David Marr (1); David Rowbotham (1); Others (34).

Correspondence, incoming, from 1997:
1997 – 31 letters: Dymphna Clark (1); Margaret Olley (31 Jan - enclosing a photograph of Malouf and Philip Bacon); Others (29)

Correspondence, incoming, from 2008-2009, undated:
2008 – 12 letters: Gail Jones (2); Others (10).

2009 – 14 letters: Ihab Hassan (2); Gail Jones (1); John Ralston Saul (1); Others (10).

2000s undated – 19 letters: Eve Duncan (1); Gail Jones (1); David Rowbotham (1); Jaya Savige (2, one is a fragment only); Others (14).

Correspondence, incoming, from 2013-2016:
2013 – 14 letters: Bruce Beresford (1); Eve Duncan (1); Ihab Hassan (4); Gail Jones (4); Others (4).

2014 – 8 letters: Eve Duncan (2); Ihab Hassan (1); Gail Jones (1); Others (4).

2015 – 9 letters: Eve Duncan (2, incl. one unsent letter from Malouf to Duncan); Ian Sinnamon (1); Others (6).

2016 – 4 letters: Eve Duncan (2); Others (2).