Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1987-1995 (Creation)
- 1945 (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
2 folders.
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Novelist, poet and literary critic John Harwood was born in 1946 in Hobart, Tasmania, to poet Gwen Harwood and linguist Frank William (Bill) Harwood. He married his first wife, Jeanie Deprose, in 1966. Harwood attended the University of Tasmania, as well as Cambridge University on a scholarship, then worked as Head of the School of English and Drama at Flinders University, Adelaide. He married his second wife, Robin F. Haines, in 1986. He left the post at Flinders University in 1997 to focus on writing. In 2005, Harwood's debut novel was longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award and won the International Horror Guild Award for Best First Novel.
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
Name of creator
Biographical history
Helen Mills was a close personal friend of Gwen Harwood.
Repository
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
20 letters, handwritten and typed; one note; 23 postcards; 23 cards; four empty envelopes and one black and white pencil illustration, 9 x 19 cm.
The letters, postcards and cards include information on family matters and homelife; Gwen's involvement in literary competitions and events, such as the Circular Head Arts Festival, Melbourne Literary Festival and Fellowship of Australian Writers (Tasmania) awards; her travels for professional and personal engagements; excerpts from poems and stories sent to Gwen; her honorary doctorates; her publications, such as Blessed City; her church duties; The Golem; and Gwen's health troubles. The letter from Vikram Seth (1995) to Gwen includes a poem he wrote for her in light of her health struggles.
People mentioned are, among others, Vikram Seth; Gregory Kratzmann; A.D. (Alec) Hope; Craig Powell; Judith Wright; Alan Farrell; Geoffrey Dutton; Larry Sitsky; Peter Goldsworthy; Thomas Shapcott; Virginia Blain; Barbara Giles; and Dorothy Porter.
Folder 2: all correspondence is written by Gwen (with the exception of the Vikram Seth letter) and addressed to John Harwood and Robin F. Haines, either individually or jointly.
Folder 3: all correspondence is addressed to Gwen and written from friends and associates. One card is from 1945 and is from a former employer, congratulating Gwen and Bill on their marriage. Another card, from Helen Mills (formerly Helen Hetherington), contains an original pencil illustration insert depicting a person on a horse or donkey, holding an umbrella.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Box 2
Folder 2
17 letters, 15 postcards, nine cards, four empty envelopes, one business card, one poem, 1992 to 1995.
Includes the letter and poem from Vikram Seth to Gwen.
Folder 3
Three letters, one note, eight postcards, 14 cards, one black and white pencil illustration, 1945, 1987 to 1995.
Includes the black and white pencil illustration.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Unrestricted access.
Conditions governing reproduction
In copyright. 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 2 Folders 2-3.
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Harwood, Gwen (Subject)
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Level of detail
Minimal
Dates of creation revision deletion
Created, Kymberley Bax, 12-Apr-2024.