Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1960-1973 (Creation)
Level of description
File
Extent and medium
8 folders
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Gwen Harwood is one of Australia's best-known poets. She was born in Brisbane in 1920 and lived there until her marriage in 1945, when she moved to Hobart, Tasmania. Harwood's poetry and critical writing appeared regularly in Australian literary journals from the 1960s. She published eight books of poetry. In 1989 she was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for services to literature. She wrote under the names of Francis Geyer, Walter Lehmann, Miriam Stone and T.F. Kline. She died in 1995.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Frank William (Bill) Harwood was born in Brighton, Victoria in 1918. He graduated from the University of Melbourne with a Bachelor of Arts and Masters of Arts in 1939 and 1940 respectively. From 1941 to 1945, Harwood served as a Lieutenant in the Royal Australian Navy during World War II. After his discharge in 1945, Harwood married Gwendoline Nessie Foster in Brisbane. Soon after, the couple moved to Hobart, Tasmania where Harwood was a linguist and lecturer in the English Department at the University of Tasmania.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
A collection of approximately 150 letters, greeting cards, postcards, poems, newspaper clippings, and notes from Gwen Harwood and her husband F. W. (Bill) Harwood to Alison Hoddinott and W. G. (Bill) Hoddinott. Approximately three quarters of the letters are directly from Gwen Harwood but many with something added by Bill Harwood and vice versa. The letters are handwritten and in typescript. They provide information about the literary and academic activities of the Harwoods, include manuscript poems, and cover many aspects of Gwen Harwood's daily life, including the Bulletin literary hoax. They refer throughout to other significant literary figures. There are 15 cards identified as "Sappho cards". The correspondence began in January 1960 when the Hoddinotts left Hobart for Armidale. There are very few letters for 1960 and 1961 as the Hoddinotts destroyed letters received as per Gwen Harwood's request. Letters are maintained in the folders created and titled by Alison Hoddinott.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arranged chronologically.
Box 1
Folder 1: 1960-1961
Folder 2: 1962
Folder 3: 1963
Folder 4: 1964
Folder 5: 1965
Folder 6: 1966
Folder 7: 1967-1973
Parcel 1
Folder 1: 1960
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Unrestricted access.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright varies. Can be reproduced for personal research and study. For other uses see About copyright . Please attribute the Fryer Library.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Box 1 Folders 1-7, Parcel 1 Folder 1
Note
Parcel 1 Folder 1 previously housed as Box 1 Folder 1
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Hoddinott, Alison, 1931-2022 (Subject)
- Hoddinott, W. G. (Subject)
- Harwood, Gwen (Subject)
- Harwood, F. W., 1918-2001 (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Revised, KM, 1-Apr-2025. Created, Linda Justo, 13-Apr-2023.