Papers of Ivan Southall, 1935-2015 [manuscript]
- Bib ID:
- 692329
- Format:
- Manuscript
- Author:
- Southall, Ivan, 1921-2008
- Related Online Resources:
- Finding aid at National Library of Australia
- Access Conditions:
- Part available for research; part requires permission for research; part not available for research. Not for loan.
- Description:
-
- [1935-2015]
- 29.52 m. (150 boxes) + 2 small folio boxes + 1 medium folio box + 2 large folio boxes + 6 folders.
- Summary:
-
The collection includes correspondence with Australian and overseas children in response to Southall's books,his family members and friends, literary agents and publishers, drafts of over fifty books and short stories, published and unpublished, speeches, scripts for radio plays, articles for newspapers and magazines, photographs,awards and medals, scrapbooks, newspaper cuttings, background materials for Ivan Southall's adult non-fiction, and papers relating to his war service, his time in Indonesia and lecture tours in Australia, England and the United States.
The papers in MS 5379 include correspondence with Australian and overseas children, literary agents and publishers, drafts of over fifty books and short stories, published and unpublished, speeches, scripts for radio plays, articles for newspapers and magazines, photographs, scrapbooks, newspaper cuttings, background materials for Ivan Southall's adult non-fiction, and papers relating to his time in Indonesia and lecture tours in Australia, England and the United States. The principal correspondents are Barbara Kerr Wilson, Beatrice Davies, John Abernethy, Alec Bolton, Norma Jean Sawicki, Susan Hirswich, Patrick Hardy, Judith Fisher, Marilyn Malin, Jennifer Rowe, Joy Southall (first wife), Elizabeth Southall (daughter), Sister Margaret Giumelli (family friend), the Australian Society of Authors and the Children's Book Council (108 boxes, 1 fol. box).
The Acc08.031 instalment comprises autobiographical papers and material relating to Stephanie Steggall's biography of Southall; Southall's letters to his mother during the Second World War; correspondence between Southall and his wife Susan Southall; other personal and professional correspondence; diaries of Susan Southall; family papers; literary manuscripts; Southall's Second World War flying logbook for the Royal Australian Air Force; pictorial and written material created by children in response to Southall's books (41 boxes, 2 small folio boxes, 1 medium folio box).
The Acc08.052 instalment comprises five items, including a letter from David Harris; three letters to the Taxation office, regarding overseas royalties, education expenses, and the requirement for an office; and a single annotated typescript page from the manuscript for Bread and honey (1 folder).
The Acc09.039 instalment comprises condolence letters received by Southall's wife, Susan, following his death in November 2008 (1 box).
The Acc12.002 instalment comprises papers documenting Southall's career as a writer, including, publishers' and Australia Council correspondence, an appointment diary, public lending right title claims and a publication (1 folder).
The Acc13.146 instalment comprises correspondence relating to Ivan and Susan Southall's move to Australia. The correspondents are Faith de Vilder, Margaret Giumelli, David Harris, Susan Hirchman, Barbara Hunger, and Moira Thomas (1 folder).
The Acc.15.075 instalment comprises a small group of letters to Southall. Correspondents include Orie Muta, Japanese children's literature specialist; Nina Demourova, Russian children's literature specialist; Stephany Steggall; and the Australian Literature Board (1 folder).
The Acc17.087 instalment comprises photographs and associated material primarily relating to Ivan Southall's service in the RAAF and several of his books. There are photographs and associated material on 461 Squadron RAAF; Southall's hand-drawn map of the U-Boat attack plan that resulted in Southall receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross; research materials for Southall's books Bluey Truscott, Softly Tread the Brave, Indonesia Face to Face and Parson on the Track, with some photographs taken by Southall, particularly in Indonesia (1 folder).
The Acc17.124 instalment comprises several Children's Book of the Year Awards, the Carnegie Medal and other awards from overseas that were given to the late Ivan Southall. The collection also includes the first book Ivan Southall wrote aged 14, an album of photographs from his last book and his Funeral Memorial Book (1 folder, 1 large folio box).
- Biography/History:
-
Children's writer. Ivan Francis Southall was born in Melbourne in 1921 and attended Box Hill Grammar School until the age of fourteen, when his father died. He occupied various positions including that of copy boy at the Melbourne Herald and, in his spare time, wrote fiction. He completed four books before he was twenty, three of which were published after the war. Southall joined the RAAF during the Second World War and it was this experience that influenced his early post-war writings. His first book for children, Hills end was published in 1962. It received immediate critical recognition and was followed by other children's novels including Ash Road (1965), To the wild sky (1967), Let the balloon go (1968), Finn's folly (1969), Chinaman's Reef is ours (1970), Josh (1971), and The fox hole (1972).
Southall also published a number of adult novels, essays and short stories. He won numerous awards including the Children's Book of the Year award and is the only Australian children's author to receive the Carnegie Medal, awarded for Josh in 1972. He toured and lectured extensively throughout Australia, England and the United States during the 1960s and early 1970s, and was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 1981. Southall died in Wantirna, Victoria in 2008.
- Notes:
-
- Manuscript reference no.: MS 5379, MS Acc08.031, MS Acc08.052, MS Acc09.039, MS Acc12.002, MS Acc13.146, MS Acc15.075, MS Acc17.087, MS Acc17.124.
- Selected items are also available on microfilm at the National Library of Australia Main Reading Room - Newspapers and Family History at mfm G 28414.
- Digital content preserved (MS 5379)
- Related Material:
-
- Ivan Southall interviewed by Hazel de Berg in the Hazel de Berg collection; Located at; National Library of Australia Oral History collection ORAL TRC 1/685-687.
- Interview with Ivan Southall, novelist; Located at; National Library of Australia Oral History collection ORAL TRC 557/2.
- Cited In:
- Guide to collections of manuscripts relating to Australia, D669.
- Index/Finding Aid Note:
- Finding aid available online.
- Subject:
- Time Coverage:
- 1935-2015
- Occupation:
- Terms of Use:
- Copying of Ivan Southall's copyright material permitted for research purposes.
- Exhibited:
- Selected items exhibited: "Story Time: Australian Children's Literature", National Library of Australia, 22 August 2019 - 16 February 2020.
- Copyright:
-
Copyright Undetermined
If you wish to copy or order copies, contact us. For access conditions return to the record display above.
- Reason for copyright status:
- A Manuscript Collection may have a range of formats and dates.
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary, dramatic or musical work
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
Request this item
Request this item to view in the Library’s reading room.