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, incoming, from 1974-1979:
1974 – 16 letters: Geoffrey Dutton (6 Nov 1974); Christopher Edwards (25 Nov 1974); Les Murray (1 Sep 1974); Pixie Pratt [Pixie O’Harris] (25 Nov 1974); UQP - Roger McDonald and Craig Munro (editors), 6 letters - one of 18 Nov 1974 advising that the Publications committee at UQP ‘has approved the publication of your manuscript entitled “Johnno”.; Gough Whitlam (6 Jun 1974); Others (5)

1975 – 15 letters: Geoffrey Lehmann (19 Feb, 19 Dec 1975); UQP - Frank W Thompson, Roger McDonald and Craig Munro (5 letters)
Gough Whitlam (7 Apr 1975); Others (7).

1976 – 32 letters: John Blight (20 May, 16 Nov 1976); Nancy Cato (8 Nov 1976); Christopher Edwards (30 Oct 1976); Geoffrey Lehmann (24 Aug 1976); UQP - Roger McDonald and Craig Munro (editors – 8 letters); Others (19).

1977 – 20 letters: Geoffrey Dutton (4 Jun 1977); Geoffrey Lehmann (6 Mar 1977); Christina Stead (28 Aug 1977); Others (17).

1978 – 17 letters: Jim Davidson (editor of Meanjin) (15 Aug 1978); Elizabeth Harrower (20 Nov 1978); Others (15).

1979 – 23 letters: Jim Davidson (27 Apr, 7 May, 12 Jun, 30 Jul 1979); Don Dunstan (11 Jun, 13 Jul 1979); Elizabeth Harrower (22 Jan, 6 Apr, 18 Sep 1979); Others (14).

1970s (undated) – 12 letters: Geoffrey Lehmann; Others (11).

Correspondence, incoming, from 1990:
1990 – 41 letters: Luciana Arrighi (1); Michael Berkeley (3); Alison Clark (4); Nick Enright (1); Elizabeth Jolley (1); Others (31).

Correspondence, incoming, from 1991:
1991 – 51 letters:
Murray Bail (2);
Alison Clark (3);
Dymphna Clark (1);
Nin Dutton (18 Apr 1991);
Nick Enright (1);
Kate Grenville (1);
Elizabeth Jolley (8 Jul 1991);
David Marr (27 Jun 1991 – ‘I’ve now seen the PW [Patrick White] book […]. I took the first copy round to show Manoly. […] Even though it was cold we had tea on the terrace and M started telling me things I wish I had in the book. He talked about meeting Patrick: that first night they went out for a meal. M said, ‘I found I could talk to him. He understood what I was saying and I understood him […]. We talked for hours. He made me happy at once, and I think I made him happy.’ I’d have given pages of my own prose to have ‘He made me happy at once…’;
Drusilla Modjeska (1);
Frank Moorhouse (6 Nov, 26 Nov 1991);
Janette Turner Hospital (15 Apr, 22 Oct 1991);
Others (35).

Correspondence, incoming, from 1992:
1992 – 36 letters: Luci Arrighi (1); Murray Bail (3); Alison Clark (2); Nin Dutton (1); David Marr (1); Others (28).

Correspondence, incoming, from 1995:
1995 – 17 letters: Michael Berkeley (1); Geoffrey Dutton (1); Robyn Davidson (1); Others (14).

Correspondence, incoming, from 1998:
1998 – 39 letters: Carmen Callil (11 Jul 1998); Ian Callinan (26 Nov 1998); Dymphna Clark (7 Feb, 9 Aug 1998); Don Dunstan and Steven Cheng (1); Geoffrey Dutton (9 Sep 1998 – eight days before his death); Nin Dutton (10 Sep, 26 Sep 1998); Margaret Olley (21 Dec 1998 – enclosing a photograph of Malouf and unknown); David Rowbotham (14 Dec 1998); Lurline Stuart (27 Sep 1998 – ten days after Geoffrey Dutton’s death); Others (27).

Correspondence, incoming, from 2000-2001:
2000 – 27 letters: Michael Berkeley (1); John Coetzee (14 Jan 2000); Nin Dutton (1); Nick Enright (1); Ihab Hassan (1); Cees Nooteboom (11 Jul 2000); David Rowbotham (2); Others (19).

2001 – 24 letters: Ihab Hassan (3); David Rowbotham (3); Jaya Savige (2); Others (16).