MS 9346

Papers of Robin Lucas (1947- )



Scope and content note

Papers

1968-95

84 cm. (6 boxes)

Available for reference, except for Series 1, Folders 4 and 5 which are restricted until 2010

The collection was purchased from Robin Lucas by the National Library in 1995.

The papers comprise correspondence, photographs and papers relating to Lucas' journalism (including the 'Foreword' column for the Weekend Australian and the 'New paperbacks' column for the Sydney Morning Herald) and writings (including reviews of The Allen & Unwin good reading guide and the Wilder shores).

The correspondents include Archie and Milly Colquhoun, Emma Baulch, Rhyll McMaster, Chris Henning, Margaret Jones, Shirley Hazzard, Alister Kershaw, Russel Ward and Lyn Tranter.


Biographical note

The journalist, editor and author Robin Lucas was born on 3 January 1947. She has written book reviews for the Weekend Australian (the 'Foreword' column, under the pseudonym Elizabeth Swanson), the Sydney Morning Herald (the 'New paperbacks' column), Voices, The Bulletin, Brisbane Review and the Courier Mail.

Her published works include The Allen & Unwin good reading guide (1990), the Wilder shores: women's travel stories of Australia and beyond (1992) and Balancing act: being a stepmother (1996).

Lucas married Geoffrey Dutton in April 1985.


Series list

Series/Title

1 Correspondence, 1968-95

2 'Foreword' column, Weekend Australian, 1987-88

3 'New paperbacks' column, Sydney Morning Herald, 1987-90

4 Other journalism, 1982-94

5 Writings, 1981-93

6 Photographs, 1982-94

7 Other papers, 1988


Series description

Series 1 Correspondence, 1968-95

The series includes letters of Archie and Milly Colquhoun, Emma Baulch (daughter of Lucas, some of the letters were written in Indonesia), Rhyll McMaster, Chris Henning, Ian Hicks, Kate Grenville, Mirka Mora, Bob Brissenden, Lyn Tranter, Helen Garner, Margaret Jones, Roger McDonald, Shirley Hazzard, Alister Kershaw, Russel Ward and Yasmine Gooneratne. Many of them relate to the 'New paperbacks' column in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Folder

1 Letters of Archie and Milly Colquhoun, 1968

2 Correspondence, 1983-88

3 Correspondence with Chris Henning, 1988-92

4 Letters of Emma Baulch, 1988-95 Restricted

5 Letters of Rhyll McMaster, 1989-95 Restricted

6 Correspondence, 1989

7 Correspondence, 1990-91

8 Correspondence, 1992

9 Correspondence, 1993

10 Correspondence regarding Geoffrey Dutton's book Out in the open, 1994

11 Correspondence, 1994-95

Series 2 'Foreword' column, Weekend Australian, 1987-88

Lucas wrote the 'Foreword' column in the Weekend Australian under the pseudonym 'Elizabeth Swanson'.

The series comprises correspondence, cuttings and typescripts of the reviews. The correspondents include members of the public (with comments on the reviews), Mary Wright (Fremantle Arts Centre Press), Peter Fuller (The Canberra Times), Michelle Anderson (Hill of Content Publishing), Rod Usher (The Age), Michael Heyward and Peter Craven (Scripsi) and David Brooks.

The papers had been kept in files and the Library has been preserved this arrangement.

Folder

1 Elizabeth Swanson correspondence, 1987

2 Elizabeth Swanson correspondence, 1988

3 Cuttings of 'Foreword' column, 1987-88

4-6 Typescripts for 'Foreword' column, 1987-88

Series 3 'New paperbacks' column, Sydney Morning Herald, 1987-90

Lucas wrote the reviews of new paperbacks for the Sydney Morning Herald between 1987 and 1990. The small series comprises cuttings, arranged in chronological order, of the articles.

4 folders

Series 4 Other journalism, 1982-94

Lucas reviewed books for the Sydney Morning Herald, Voices, The Bulletin, Brisbane Review and the Courier Mail. The small series contains cuttings of the articles.

3 folders

Series 5 Writings, 1981-93

The series includes drafts and cuttings relating to Lucas' writings, including The Allen & Unwin good reading guide (1990) and Wilder shores: Australian women's travel stories (1992).

Folder

1 Published short stories and poems, 1981-82

2 Reviews of The Allen & Unwin good reading guide, 1990

3 Reviews of The Allen & Unwin good reading guide, 1992-93

Series 6 Photographs, 1982-94

The small series comprises about 38 photographs of Lucas' wedding to Geoffrey Dutton (April 1985), an album containing photographs of friends (including Peter Carey, Arthur Boyd, Barry Humphries, Robert Hughes and Yevgeny Yevtushenko) and a small album containing pictures taken at the launch of Wilder shores (1992).

Series 7 Other papers, 1988

The series comprises correspondence (1984-86) relating to Robin Lucas (Baulch) divorce proceedings, a small quantity of photocopies of articles, cuttings (mostly of book reviews) and printed material. The photocopies include articles entitled 'White's short stories' by Andrew Taylor (Overland, Aug. 1965), 'The short stories of John Morrison' by A.A. Phillips (Overland, Winter 1974) and 'Notes on Frank Moorhouse' (Overland, Spring 1973). The printed material includes a folder on the Melbourne Spoleto Writers Festival 1988, a copy of the 1988 'Occasional Newsletter of the Australian Literary Management' and Fontana Book News, August 1988.

7 folders


Box list

Box Series Folder/item
1 1 1-3; 6-8
2 1 8-10
2 2 1-5
3 2 6
3 3 1-4
3 4 1-3
4 5 1-3
4 6 1-3
4 7 1-2
5 7 3-7
6 1 4-5 Restricted
August 2000