Comprised of two drafts:

1. 'The Aspern Papers', opera in one act from the story by Henry James, typescript with extensive emendations and cut and paste inserts, 21 leaves, [David Malouf’s 2017 note: First written for the Canadian composer Owen Underhill. Commission fell through. Set by Melbourne composer Eve Duncan. Not yet commissioned for performance].
2. 'The Aspern Papers : a chamber opera. Scene One'. Libretto by David Malouf. Based on a story by Henry James, 82 pages, with letter from Eve Duncan, 6 Aug 2013. Spiral bound.

Outward correspondence, most typed, some handwritten, sent by the Ecumenical Refugee Support Group Incorporated (TERSGI). Comprises photocopies, printouts and originals. The letters are mostly administrative in nature and relate to the establishment and incorporation of TERSGI, financial audits, taxation and annual returns, insurance, processes around supporting refugee clients, grant and award applications, invitations to TERSGI events, donations from TERSGI to other organisations, and letters of thanks for donations of money, goods, or services. Also includes letters sent to the Department of Immigration and other government bodies, other refugee support organisations, and TERSGI members. Some correspondence relates to matters involving refugee clients, such as accommodation and childcare arrangements, loans, progress reports on settling families, and excursions to theme parks and similar attractions.

Box 2
Folder 1
Outward correspondence, 1990 to 1991

Folder 2
Outward correspondence, 1992 to 1993

Folder 3
Outward correspondence, 1994

Folder 4
Outward correspondence, 1995 to 1999

Folder 5
Outward correspondence, 2000 to 2009, 2012

Inward correspondence, mostly typed, some handwritten, received by the Ecumenical Refugee Support Group Incorporated (TERSGI). Comprises photocopies, printouts and originals. The letters are mostly administrative in nature and relate to financial audits, taxation and annual returns, memberships, processes around supporting refugee clients, invitations to events and other activities, grant applications, and donations. Also includes letters received from the Department of Immigration and other government bodies, other refugee support organisations, and TERSGI members. Some correspondence relates to matters involving refugee clients, such as excursions to theme parks and similar attractions.

Box 2
Folder 6
Inward correspondence, 1990 to 1992

Folder 7
Inward correspondence, 1993 to 1994
Continues into next folder.

Folder 8
Inward correspondence, 1994
Continues from previous folder.

Folder 9
Inward correspondence, 1995

Folder 10
Inward correspondence, 1996, 2012

Short stories, most of which appear in the short story collection Every Move You Make. The short stories that appeared in the publication are: The Valley of Lagoons, Every Move You Make, War Baby, Towards Midnight, Elsewhere, Mrs Porter and the Rock, and The Domestic Cantata. This sub-series contains two files of short story typescript drafts.

Ransom retells the story of the Iliad from books 22 to 24. This subseries has manuscript and typescript drafts, with handwritten emendations. By close textual comparison (including with the published novel), these versions have been put into the order in which they were likely produced.

Literary awards and nominations include:
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.

Comprises: The Long View. For male choir. Music by Noel Ancell. The Crab Feast. For piano and percussion. Music by Eve Duncan. An die Musik. For SATB choir. By Andrew Ford. The text is based on Malouf’s poem of the same name, poems by Gwen Harwood and Thomas Shapcott as well as folk poems from Malaysia, the Pueblo Indians and Finland.

273 painted panels, oil on composition board, each 20 x 20cm, which form three works collectively titled SIEV X.
Three additional painted panels, each 20 x 20 cm, in Box 4.
Template for placement of panels or tiles for display purposes (in Oversize folder 1).

Eleven framed works of relief sculpture.

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.