Guide to the Papers of Judith Wright
MS 5781 et al
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Judith Wright
- Title
- Papers of Judith Wright
- Date Range
- 1944-2000
- Collection Number
- MS 5781 et al
- Extent
- 15.96 metres (106 boxes, 1 folio box, 1 oversize box, 1 elephant folio, 2 folders)
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- National Library of Australia
- Sponsor
- The 2005 additions to this collection were arranged and described with the assistance of the Ray Mathew and Eva Kollsman Trust.
Introduction
Scope and Content
The papers of Judith Wright comprise literary manuscripts, correspondence, research material, newspaper cuttings, subject files, financial records and other papers. A significant proportion relates to conservation and Aboriginal concerns, with extensive files on the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland, the Australian Conservation Foundation and other organisations. Literary material includes requests for use of Wright's poems and drafts of her books Because I was invited, The coral battleground, The generations of men, Charles Harpur, The cry for the dead and We call for a treaty and of her autobiography, Half a lifetime. Correspondents include A.W. Sheppard, Rosemary Dobson, Barbara Blackman (including Wright's own letters to Blackman), Dorothy Green, Kevin Gilbert, Roberta Sykes, David Brooks, Ian Hudson, Thistle Stead, Stefanie Bennett, Julian Croft, John Reed, Roger McDonald, Henry Reynolds, Kathleen McArthur and Len Webb. Wright's family relationships are represented by a substantial correspondence between Wright and her husband, J.P. (Jack) McKinney, between Wright and her daughter, Meredith McKinney, and by Wright's letters to her brother, Peter Wright.
Conditions Governing Access
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1905928).
Conditions Governing Use
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred Citation
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Judith Wright, National Library of Australia, [class number, box number and series and/or file number]'.
Provenance
The papers were acquired from Judith Wright in a number of instalments, the first of which was received in 1978. In 2002 and 2005, further papers were acquired from Wright's daughter, Meredith McKinney. In 2005, a small consignment of papers, consisting of autobiographical material given to Patricia Clarke by Wright in 2000, was received from Patricia Clarke.
Related Materials
Correspondence of Judith Wright can be found in the personal papers of numerous writers and activists which are held in the Manuscript Collection. To locate the correspondence, search the online finding aids to personal papers via the Library's website.
The Oral History Section of the Library holds a number of sound recordings relating to Wright, including interviews and poetry readings. The Oral History catalogue can be searched online via the Library's website.
The Pictures Section of the Library holds photographs of Wright, a portrait of her by Kahan, Louis and the Britannica Australia Awards Literature medal awarded to her in 1964. The Pictures catalogue can be searched and some of these images viewed online via the Library's website.
Wright's published works, including anthologies of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, children's books and musical settings of her poems, are listed on the Library's catalogue, which can be searched online via the Library's website.
A small number of items have been digitised and are available online. Three poems from Box 37, files 281 and 282 have been digitised as part of the Library's Treasures Gallery.
The items that have been digitised are available online via the catalogue record for the collection.
Arrangement
The papers have been listed by instalment. Wright grouped her papers into manila files, and the order of the papers within each file has been maintained. Where provided, the title of the file has been used in the file descriptions for each box. This also applies to the instalments of papers received in 2005 from Wright's daughter, Meredith McKinney, and Patricia Clarke, the contents of which appear to have been arranged by the donors. Because the papers are listed by instalment, there is no discernible order.
Biographical Note
Judith Arundell Wright was a poet, essayist, conservationist and campaigner for Aboriginal rights. She was born into a family of pioneering pastoralists on 31 May 1915, at Thalgarrah station near Armidale, New South Wales, the daughter of Phillip Wright and his wife Ethel (neé Bigg). At first, Wright was educated home, but following the death of her mother, went to New England Girl's School in Armidale. She completed an Arts course at the University of Sydney in 1936 and was awarded an Hon D Litt from the following universities: University of Queensland (1962), the University of New England (1963), the University of Sydney (1977), Monash University (1977) and the Australian National University (1981).
Wright was 25 when her first poem was published and her first collection of verse, The moving image, was published in 1946. She went on to publish many other works including poetry, a biography of her pioneering family, children's books and her autobiography.
Wright was awarded Commonwealth Literary Fund Fellowships in 1949 and 1962, a Creative Arts Fellowship (ANU) in 1974, a Senior Anzac Fellowship in 1976 and a three-year Australia Council Literature Board Senior Writers Fellowship in 1977. Further recognition of her writing includes the following awards:
Grace Leven Poetry Prize, 1949
Encyclopaedia Britannica Prize, 1963
Christopher Brennan Award, Fellowship of Australian Writers, 1974
Robert Frost Memorial Award, Fellowship of Australian Writers, 1976
Alice Award, Society of Women Writers of Australia, 1980
Order of the Golden Ark (Netherlands), 1980
NSW Premier's Special Award for Poetry, 1991
The Queen's Gold Medal for Poetry, 1991
Wright was actively involved with issues relating to conservation, wildlife preservation and Aboriginal rights. These interests were reflected in her poetry and writings, which included her book, The cry for the dead (1981), about the treatment of Aborigines by settlers in Queensland from the 1840s to the 1920s. Organisations with which Wright was involved include:
Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland - founding member and President, 1962-1976
Australian Society of Authors - foundation council member, 1963
Australian Conservation Foundation - council member, 1964-1972. Made an honorary life member in 1980
Committee of Enquiry into the National Estate - committee member, 1973-1974
Australian National University - council member (1975-1979) and the first woman to be appointed to the council as the Governor-General's nominee
Aboriginal Treaty Committee - Secretary, 1979-1983
Judith Wright died of a heart attack in Canberra on 25 June 2000.
Item Descriptions
Class MS 5781. Original consignment
Comprises literary manuscripts, correspondence, research material, newspaper cuttings, subject files, financial records and other papers. A significant proportion of the collection relates to conservation and Aboriginal concerns, with extensive files on the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland, the Australian Conservation Foundation and other organisations. Literary material includes requests for use of Wright's poems and drafts of her books Because I was invited, The coral battleground, The generations of men, Charles Harpur, The cry for the dead and We call for a treaty and of her autobiography, Half a lifetime..
Correspondents include A.W. Sheppard, Rosemary Dobson, Barbara Blackman, Dorothy Green, Kevin Gilbert, Roberta Sykes, David Brooks, Ian Hudson, Thistle Stead, Stefanie Bennett, Julian Croft, John Reed, Roger McDonald, Henry Reynolds, Kathleen McArthur and Len Webb. Wright's close family relationships are represented by a substantial correspondence between Wright and her husband, J.P. (Jack) McKinney, and with her daughter, Meredith McKinney
Contained in 105 boxes, 1 folio box, 1 elephant folio, 1 oversize box.
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 5 June 1984 - The cry for the dead
Notes, summaries, extracts from books and articles etc., also from archival material in Queensland State Archives, A - H (File 48-55) - Box 7
Notes, summaries, extracts from books and articles, also from archival material in Queensland State Archives, J - W (File 56-63) - Box 8
Copies of maps, sketches, C.S.I.R.O. and other information on Dawson Valley area (File 73-75) - Box 10
Copied extracts from Albert Wright's Diaries 1867-1885, and from later diaries of C. May Wright, also from family letters relating to Queensland stations (File 81-84) - Box 11
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 19 September 1984
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: Australian Conservation Foundation correspondence, 1965-1969 (File 102) - Box 15
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: Australian Conservation Foundation correspondence 1970-1975, undated (File 103) - Box 15
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: Focus on Cape York: Reports, workshop ideas, talks etc (File 105) - Box 15
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: National Estate: Correspondence 1973-1981: Record of phone calls etc (File 107) - Box 15
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: National Estate: Forests - correspondence, 1973-1975 (File 109) - Box 15
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: Wildlife Preservation Society Submissions, talks, reports etc (File 111) - Box 16
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: The Cooloola Committee: Wildlife Preservation Society: Symposium 'The Future of Noosa' (File 112) - Box 16
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: National Forest Action Council: Canberra and South East NSW Branch (File 114) - Box 16
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: Queensland Littoral Society: Surveys: Minutes Royal Commission Committee, 24.7.1970 (File 118) - Box 17
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: Top End National Park: Yirrkala and woodchip proposals (File 122) - Box 17
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: Correspondence - formation of Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland (WPSQ), 1962 - 1969 (File 125) - Box 17
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: Undated correspondence, memos, drafts etc. WPSQ (File 135) - Box 19
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: Australian Conservation Foundation- Great Barrier Reef (File 138-139) - Box 19
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: Congress on Human Relations, Melbourne, 1972: Delegates file (File 141) - Box 19
Conservation, Great Barrier Reef: Restoration seminar papers, Ballina, 13-14 September 1980 (File 149) - Box 20
Literary Papers: The American Poetry Review Sept./Oct. 1980, Vol. 9, No. 5: Screenplay by Dano R. Gunzburg, adapted from the short story 'The Clown and the Mind-reader' by Judith Wright (File 167) - Box 23
Literary Papers: Witnesses of Spring - typescript : notes and correspondence, 1968 - 1971 (File 193) - Box 26
Literary Papers: Requests for articles and talks (undated), plus miscellaneous items (File 200) - Box 27
Literary Papers: Requests for use of poetry, includes correspondence with A. W. Sheppard, 1966, 1968, 1977-1980 (File 201-203) - Box 27
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 6 May 1987
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 21 October 1988
Correspondents represented in this consignment include: Tim Aslanides (9), Stefanie Bennett (9), Barbara Blackman (6), John Bligh (6), Winifred Cawley, Dymphna Clark, Julian Croft (2), Margaret Diesendorf (4), Rosemary Dobson (14) Silvana Gardner (3+), Barbara Giles (6), Dorothy Green (2), A. D. Hope, Lou Klepac, Patricia Laird, Joyce Lee, Kathleen MacArthur (10), Mark O'Connor,Elizabeth Perkins (6), Barrie Reid (2), A. L. Rowse, Heather Rusden (2), W. N. Scott (6), Peter Skrzynecki (10), Thistle Stead (4), John Tarrant (3+).
Papers re Adelaide Festival, 1982 and re opposition to the Commonwealth Games Writer's Week in Brisbane, 1982 (File 343) - Box 45
Papers re deep ecology and rainforest preservation, 1982-88, including correspondence with John Reed (File 344) - Box 45
Correspondence re Aboriginal education and imprisonment, 1970-86, including Kevin Gilbert, Richard Martin and Les Russell (File 346) - Box 46
Copies of Black Women's Action newsletter and correspondence with Bobbie Sykes, 1979-88 (File 348) - Box 46
Papers re review of Henry Reynold's book The Law of the Land, published in the Age on, 12 December 1987 (File 349) - Box 46
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 1990
Many cuttings and photocopies re Aboriginal rights and the movement for a treaty (File 353-360) - Box 47
Photocopied papers including court transcripts re a jailed Aboriginal elder, Denis Walker. Two letters from Susan Ryan and a copy of her address to International PEN, 1988. Copies of seminar papers by Judith Wright and others (eg G. S. Lester, R. Falk, V.G. Venturini, Peter Bayne, Henry Reynolds, Penny Figgis) on human rights issues, especially concerning Aborigines. (Most material in this box is photocopied.)
Correspondence (File 361-364) - Box 48
File with about 115 letters, late 1980s, some with notes of her replies, re permissions etc. for the publication of work by Judith Wright; correspondents include David Brooks, Angus & Robertson (Richard Walsh, Jane Scurr, Sue Phillips), Brian Sweeney, A. W. Sheppard (Wright's agent) and others.
Interesting small file re proposed (later failed) Braidwood Festival, 1989, with one or two letters from Vincent Plush (musical director). Wright was a patron.
Thick file 1982-89 re restoration of Dalwood House, Branxton, on the Wyndham estate. (Wright a Wyndham descendant.) Some letters of Wright's: many from Ian Hudson, prime mover in the restoration.
Thick file of cuttings and photocopies, 1984-86, on Aboriginal questions. Used by Wright 'as references for articles'.
Requests, photographs (File 365-369) - Box 49
File of about 90 requests, 1980s, for publication, support, patronage, etc. Requesters include Roger McDonald, Rod Shaw.
Copy of Jane Ahlquist's play Growing Up With Judith.
File of about 170 requests, 1987-88: rainforest action groups, Amnesty, the Save Wyewurk committee, the Sydney Peace Squadron, etc. contains a good letter to Joan Davis about the Commonwealth Literary Fund, also three or four letters from Roberta Sykes, two or three from Malcolm Williamson, two or three from Anne Boyd, Thistle Stead, and others.
Box of coloured photos, 'Jewellery exhibition based on poems'.
Prose file (File 370) - Box 50
This file, 'typed copies, drafts, rejects', contains two prose pieces. The first is 'Save the First Dance', a boarding-school story of 6 pages, about a girl from the Dutch East Indies at what seems to be the New England Girls Grammar School. It is not in Judith Wright's collection of stories The Nature of Love (1966), and may be unpublished. The same goes for 'For Christine', 4-1/2 pages, a first-person story by a white woman about an Aboriginal child and family in an alien community.
Australian Conservation Foundation file (File 371) - Box 50
Contains extensive documentation relating to the ACF conference of 1988 in Sydney, at which Judith Wright delivered the keynote address, 'Facing the Past and the Future'. There are several drafts and a final version, 8-1/2 pages of one-and-a-half-spaced typing.
Miscellaneous file (File 372-373) - Box 50
This is endorsed 'Drafts of talks and articles, conservation and literature' and contains various pieces, mostly on conservation and related topics, but some indeed on literature, including the literature of New Zealand. A good deal of the material has been printed in publications such as the Age Monthly Review, Nation Review, Australian Quarterly, Social Alternatives, Landfall,Australian Society and Overland. Items that appear to be unpublished include: 'A philosophy of urban wildlife', a 1976 talk for the Wildlife Preservation Society of Australia, revised 1989, 8 pages; Opening speech for the Forests Art exhibition, Studio Altenberg, Braidwood, August 1989, 2 pages (several copies); One page of thoughts on the prime-ministry (ie, what I would do if I were PM), noted as requested by the Herald and Weekly Times but 'returned'; 'The nucleus and my generation', superseded draft talk for a Writers Against Nuclear Arms meeting, 3-1/2 pages. Another version appeared in the Canberra Times; 'It's not the planet that's the problem. It's us.' Two drafts for a 1982 talk in Queensland, noted as 'not delivered'; Peace Movement talk, 3-1/2 pages, for a 1984 meeting in Albury Wodonga. Also another version, entitled 'We are all of us afraid'; Opening speech for the opening of the Association for the Study of Australian Literature meeting, University of New England, 1985, 3 pages (several copies); Three versions of 'Trees protect us--protect them', conservation addresses in Queensland and Victoria, 1981, each about 9 pages; 'Looking back from 2010' - 5 pages for the Commission for the Future, noted as having been commissioned in early 1990, but 'unused?'.
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 7 May 1992
Drafts and correspondence re article 'A Shaft of Light' for Island magazine re the Mabo land rights case (File 379) - Box 51
Broadsheet poems by David Brooks, Geoff Page, Alan Gould, Kevin Hart, Vincent Buckley, Mark O'Connor and others, 1975-77 (File 380) - Box 52
Photocopy of typescript 'Taming the Great South Land' by W.J. Lines, 1990 (Judith Wright was asked to write an introduction for this work, but declined) (File 381) - Box 52
Typescript poems by Victoria Williamson, 1977-88; carbon typescript of 'Sea Sonnets' by John Blight, n.d (File 384) - Box 52
Typescript and photocopies of articles by Judith Wright, 1976-90, collected in Born of the conquerors; ecopolitics Conference papers, Brisbane, 1986 (File 385) - Box 52
Correspondence, etc. re Writers Against Nuclear Arms, 1987-89 Papers re Environmental Defender's Office and Infoterra, 1986-87 (File 386) - Box 53
Correspondence and other papers re the Australian Conservation Foundation and south-eastern New South Wales, 1978-91 (includes articles by JW on woodchipping) (File 388) - Box 53
Roneoed copy of Lambert Wilson's Agony in the Pacific, 1969, a history of sealing in Bass Strait (File 391) - Box 53
Correspondence and other papers re successful campaign to prevent gold and mercury mining and dredging of the Mongarlowe River near Braidwood, 1986-89 (File 392-394) - Box 54
Papers re conservation, including anti-Concord campaign, 1975; uranium mining, 1977 and the Australian Conservation Foundation Conference, 1988 (File 397) - Box 54
Drafts and proofs of articles by J.W. on conservation and Aboriginal Australians, 1980s (File 400) - Box 55
Newsletters and other papers re Australian Society of Authors, National Book Council and PEN, 1984-88 (File 401) - Box 55
Correspondence re translations of Judith Wright's works into German, Italian and Chinese, 1982-90 (File 402) - Box 55
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 27 November 1992
Correspondence re support for Aborigines in Queensland and Tasmania, 1975-91 (File 443-444) - Box 61
Australians for an Ecologically Sustainable Population: correspondence and newsletters, etc, 1989-92 (File 449) - Box 61
H.C. Coombs - correspondence, photographs, clippings and other papers, including papers re the Nugget Coombs Forum for Indigenous Studies, 1973-92 (File 455) - Box 62
Draft of article on the National Estate, 1992; drafts of 'Accepting a Landscape' by Mark O'Connor and 'Sealskin' by Val Plumwood.Notes re Saxe Bannister, 1990 (File 466) - Box 64
Correspondence re proposed Clayton Joyce tribute to Judith Wright, 1990-92. Correspondence with Butterfly Books re Going on talking 1990-92 (File 467) - Box 64
Newsletters, etc, re Black Women's Action in Education Trust, 1987-91. Correspondence with Oodgeroo Noonuccal and papers re the Noonuccal scholarship, 1989-91 (File 469) - Box 64
Correspondence with Kath Walker/Oodgeroo Noonuccal, 1966-84 (File 470) - Box 64
Includes 53 letters from Walker and 21 carbon and fair copies of letters by Wright. Also includes a further 42 items of related correspondence, both personal and official in original and copy, and other material. Notable correspondents include Charles Perkins, Dennis Walker (Kath's son), Katrina Smith, Jean Battersby, Al Grassby, the Australian Society of Authors, the National Aboriginal Cultural and Educational Centre, the Office of the Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Other related items include an 11 page carbon typescript of Wright's account of the Moongalba Museum/Art Gallery - 'An island meeting place'; an inscribed corrected typescript of the poem 'Sister Poet' written by Walker for Wright with Wright's response in carbon typescript attached; and material related to Oodgeroo's participation in a Fullbright Scheme based at Bloomsburg State College, Pennsylvania.
Correspondence, photographs and other papers re awards and honorary degrees bestowed upon Wright, 1976-92 (File 472-473) - Box 65
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 14 May 1993
Aboriginal Rights Support Group (Canberra) file on Aboriginal Treaty negotiations, 1987-90 (File 476) - Box 66 - Aboriginal papers
Includes correspondence, notes of meetings, statements by the Prime Minister and a letter from Kevin Gilbert.
File relating to fundraising for Aboriginal treaty negotiations, 1988-90 (File 477) - Box 66 - Aboriginal papers
Major correspondents are Professor Garth Nettheim of the Aboriginal Law Centre and Dymphna Clark.
Printed items on the Mabo Case and the Nature Conservation Act 1992 (File 478) - Box 66 - Aboriginal papers
Papers re Aborigines and law, 1982-86 (File 479-80) - Box 66 - Aboriginal papers
Contains drafts entitled 'Malo's law at Murray Island, Torres Strait' by Nonie Sharp; 'Inhabited national parks: approaches to indigenous use of protected landscapes' by Stan Stevens and a transcript of evidence before the Standing Committee on Constitutional and Legal Affairs, 1982
Cuttings file, 1975-88 relating to uranium and other mining, land rights and other issues (File 481) - Box 66 - Aboriginal papers
Also includes notes for a chronology of Aboriginal land rights events, 1983-87
'Post-Barunga documents', 1988-91 (File 482) - Box 66 - Aboriginal papers
Includes correspondence, articles, cuttings, speeches and notes.
Aboriginal papers: 'Treaty '88 documents'. Contains correspondence with Kevin Gilbert and others, copy of a draft treaty, cuttings and articles, 1985-87 (File 483-84) - Box 67
Aboriginal papers: Remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Futures Conference, Townsville, 1990 (File 485) - Box 67
Aboriginal papers: Aboriginal Land Rights National Support Group papers, 1985-86 (File 486) - Box 67
Aboriginal papers: Papers on Aborigines, 1986-92 including correspondence, cuttings, articles, speeches, and notes (File 488) - Box 67
Aboriginal papers: Reports by H.C. Coombs on the role of the National Aboriginal Conference, 1983 (File 489) - Box 67
Aborigines and conservation, 1985 (File 490) - Box 68
Includes letters from Sylvia Monk and Tom Errey.
Aborigines and conservation, 1986 (File 491) - Box 68
Includes letters from Tom Uren and Vincent Serventy.
Aborigines and conservation, 1987 (File 492) - Box 68
Includes correspondence by Geoff Mosley, Nonie Sharp, Katrina Makovec and Milo Dunphy, a draft article 'Aborigines and the pastoral industry', and notes of meetings.
Conservation: Papers on conservation, 1981-85, including cuttings, articles, reports and newsletters (File 493) - Box 68
Conservation: Drafts of writings by H.C. Coombes on Aborigines, conservation and other matters (sent to Wright for comment), 1972-1992 (File 494-495) - Box 68
Personal and family papers: Miscellaneous personal correspondence, 1984-89 (File 496-497) - Box 69
Correspondents include Winifred Cawley, Nancy Cato, Rosemary Dobson, Manning and Dymphna Clark, Kath Walker, Stephanie Bennett, Dorothy Green, Thistle Stead, Bill Scott, Mark O'Connor, Barbara Giles, Peter Dwyer, Janette Condon, Timoshenko Aslanides and Alf Garland.
Personal and family papers: Personal correspondence, 1989-91 (File 498-501) - Box 69
Includes letters from Wright's daughter, Meredith, friends and members of the public.
Letters and cards of congratulations on receiving the Queen's Medal for poetry, 1992 (File 502) - Box 70
Correspondents include Michael and Honor Thwaites, Helen Lomax, Ted Hughes and Buckingham Palace.
Papers, 1974-9, on ecologically oriented construction (assembled for the construction of Wright's home at Half Moon Ridge) (File 503) - Box 70
Roneoed volume 'Extracts from Dinton-Dalwood letters from 1827 to 1853 (source for Generations of men) (File 504) - Box 70
Papers relating to publications: Correspondence relating to the publication of The moving image by Meanjin Press (File 505) - Box 70
Mostly correspondence with Clem Christesen, 1945-1967, and with Colin Roderick, 1962-83. Also includes royalty statements, letters from John Farquarson Ltd., Alan Sheppard and Meanjin Press.
Papers relating to publications: Letters and poems re Oxford University Press anthology, 1981 (File 506) - Box 70
Papers relating to publications: Virago Press file, 1985-9 (File 507) - Box 70
Includes publisher's letters, royalty statements, newsletters, agreements, cuttings and some poems. Also includes letters from Angus and Robertson, National Book Council and Australian Society of Authors.
Papers relating to publications: File of letters on The day the mountains played, 1988-90 (File 508) - Box 70
Papers relating to publications: File on Born of the conquerors, 1990-91 (File 509-510) - Box 70
Includes correspondence, cuttings and articles.
Miscellaneous: Drafts of prose, 1969-92. Includes an article by John Rowland, 1992 (File 511) - Box 71
Miscellaneous: File on Gulf Crisis, 1990 (File 512) - Box 71
Includes correspondence with Ross Free, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister; cuttings; and papers relating to press statements from Wright and Michael Denborough of the Nuclear Disarmament Party, 1982-92.
Miscellaneous papers, 1982-92 (File 513) - Box 71
Includes proofs of 'Judith Wright: a written interview' with Carolyn Masel and Michael Schmidt, 1992; reprint of an article on Wright, 1982-3, 'The sea wasp', by John Bright, and a typescript 'New lamps for old', possibly by Leonard J.Webb.
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 21 April 1994
Papers relating to Wright's efforts to have conservation groups adopt policies on Aboriginal land rights, 1988-94. (File 525) - Box 73
Correspondence and other papers relating to Aboriginal rights, the Mabo decision, East Timor and environmental issues, 1990-94. (File 526-528) - Box 73
Papers relating to the Iguana Films Three Women project (Judith Wright, Oodgeroo, Elizabeth Riddell), 1992 (File 529) - Box 73
Papers relating to Rhonda Craven's draft Aboriginal Studies Subject curriculum, 1993 (File 530) - Box 73
Papers relating to Oodgeroo by Kathie Cochrane (File 533-534) - Box 74
Includes a draft chapter on Oodgeroo's poetry by Judith Wright, as well as tributes and correspondence received during Oodgeroo's final illness and after her death, 1990-94.
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 29 September 1994
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 6 February 1997
Papers relating to the Black Women's Action in Education Foundation, (File 586) - Box 72
Includes correspondence with Bobbi Sykes, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, MaryAnn Vin-Sallik and H.C. Coombs.
Papers relating to Oodgeroo and the Oodgeroo Trust (File 590) - Box 79
Includes letter from Bobbi Sykes.
Typescript extract from Wright autobiography (16 pp.); photocopies of correspondence with Barbara Blackman, 1950-59 (File 577) - Box 81
Correspondence, mostly relating to 1995 Japan earthquake and Meredith McKinney who was living there at the time (File 581) - Box 81
Other correspondents include Heather Rusden, Anne Edgeworth, Bruce and Barbara Wright, H.C. Coombs and John Sinclair.
Correspondence, 1992-95 regarding management of 'The Edge', a wildlife refuge near Braidwood, now belonging to the ANU (File 583) - Box 81
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 4 August 1998
Personal correspondence, 1993, 1997, including letter from Dymphna Clark, notes to H.C. Coombes (File 608) - Box 84
Correspondence with Veronica Brady, 1997-98, relating to South of my days, including brief note referring to the death of H.C. Coombes (File 609) - Box 84
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 20 May 1996
General correspondence, 1992-1995. Correspondents include Kathleen McArthur and Stefanie Bennett, together with various publishers and conservation organisations. There are also many requests to reproduce Wright's work (File 612-615) - Box 85
Correspondence between Wright and Kathleen McArthur (1970, 1979, 1992-1996) together with letters of Len Webb (1995-1996) (File 616) - Box 86
Correspondence relating to Wright's support for various environmental causes, 1989-1991 (File 617) - Box 86
Correspondence relating to the purchase of land comprising part of the Half Moon Wildlife Refuge at Mongarlowe, as part of a proposed Wildlife Conservation Group, 1974-1975 (File 618) - Box 86
Correspondence and papers relating to management of 'Edge', Wright's property within the Half Moon Wildlife Refuge, 1975-1992 (File 619_622) - Box 86
Correspondence and statements relating to the Public Lending Rights Scheme, 1974-1991 (File 623) - Box 87
Draft of one of the chapters of Tim Rowse's biography of H.C. Coombs, sent to Wright for comment, 1996 (File 624) - Box 87
Class MS 5781. Consignment received August 2002
Payment advice slips, mainly from publishers and the Australia Council, 1976-1992 (File 627) - Box 87
Aboriginal Treaty News, issues 1-9, Oct 1980-Oct 1983, Newsletters of the Aboriginal Treaty Committee, 1980 (File 632) - Box 88
Letters that Wright considered 'worth keeping', 1958, 1995-1998 (File 638) - Box 89
Correspondents include Barbara Blackman, Bob Brown, Dymphna Clark, Sir William Deane, Anne Edgeworth, Kathleen McArthur, Henry Reynolds, Vincent Serventy and Len Webb.
Protest letters written by Wright, together with related newspaper cuttings, 1997-2000 (File 676) - Box 94
Correspondence regarding management of funds in Perpetual Investments, 1993-1998 (File 678) - Box 94
Correspondence and papers regarding Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR), 1997-2000 (File 687-688) - Box 96
Correspondence regarding use of Wright's property, 'Edge', by the Australian National University, 1999 (File 691) - Box 96
Correspondence and papers relating to the Australian Greens Party and the Australian Conservation Foundation, 1997-1999 (File 693) - Box 96
Correspondence and cuttings regarding The nature of love, 1997 (File 694) - Box 97
Draft of a review by Wright of Kombumerri: Aboriginal people of the Gold Coast, 1997
Correspondence and brochures regarding equipment available from the Blind Society, 1997-1998, Brochures about teletypewriters (File 695) - Box 97
Correspondence regarding the Oodgeroo Trust and the ACT Treaty, together with copies of poems by Kevin Gilbert and Alan Watts, 1998 (File 696) - Box 97
'Born of fire' - 80th birthday tribute to Wright: program and copies of poems, 1995 (File 700) - Box 97
Correspondence with Text Publishing about, and reviews of, Half a lifetime, 1999 (File 711) - Box 99
Correspondence and papers mainly relating to the death of H.C. Coombs. Included is a copy of Wright's 'Recollections of Nugget Coombs the Public Servant', 1997-1998 (File 715-716) - Box 99
Correspondence and newspaper cuttings regarding ASIO's alleged interest in Wright, 1996 (File 717) - Box 100
Typescripts of stories by Wright: 'At the point' (published in Overland), 'My account of Rae Bass' and 'The granite rocks of New England' (File 719) - Box 100
Class MS 5781. Consignment received 2 March 2005
Correspondence between Wright and Jack McKinney, 1945-1946, the majority from Wright in Brisbane to McKinney at their Mt Tamborine home. Also letters from McKinney to editors, 1966, and copies of unsigned letters to Wright and McKinney, 1963-1964 (File 725) - Box 101
Correspondence between Wright and McKinney, the majority from Wright in Brisbane to McKinney at their Mt Tamborine home, c. 1946-1950 (File 726) - Box 101
Correspondence between Wright and McKinney, written whilst Wright was in hospital in Brisbane for the birth of their daughter, Meredith, 1950. Also notes and letters, c. 1966 (File 727) - Box 101
Letters and cards from Wright to Lucy Ellnor (née McKinney), Jack's eldest daughter, 1994-1999 (File 728) - Box 101
Miscellaneous letters from Wright, including letters to Alf Wesson of Oxford University Press and a letter to Jack's son, Donald McKinney, c. 1958-1984 (File 729) - Box 101
Correspondence (largely by fax) between Wright and her daughter, Meredith McKinney, 1991-1994 (File 734-737) - Box 102
Correspondence (largely by fax) between Wright and her daughter, Meredith McKinney, 1994-2000 (File 738-740) - Box 103
Correspondence (largely by fax) between Wright and her daughter, Meredith McKinney, 1999-2000 (File 741A) - Box 103
This correspondence has been removed from File 741 (Box 104) as it is restricted during the life of Meredith McKinney.
Miscellaneous correspondence remaining in Wright's flat at the time of her demise, 1999-2000 (File 741-742) - Box 104
Includes: letters, faxes and cards sent for Wright's 85th birthday; papers relating to the gifting of Wright's former property to the Duke of Edinburgh Award; papers from the National Portrait Gallery regarding a gift by Barbara Blackman of a Charles Blackman portrait of the Wright-McKinney family; faxes organising Wright's participation in a 'People's walk for reconciliation' in Canberra shortly before her death, 2000; and business and financial correspondence. Correspondence between Wright and her daughter, Meredith McKinney, that was originally in File 741, has been removed and placed in File 741A (Box 103) as it is restricted during the life of Meredith McKinney.
A small ring file containing notes taken from correspondence between Wright and Jack McKinney (1944-1947), possibly used in the preparation of Wright's autobiography, Half a lifetime (File 743) - Box 104
Chapter 'summaries', probably for a proposed second volume of Wright's autobiography, nd (File 744) - Box 104
Research notes relating to Wright's involvement in Aboriginal rights issues, 2000 (File 745) - Box 104
Articles and poems by various writers, written for a 'Tribute' publication for Judith Wright (never published), with a letter from Wright outlining her objections to most of them, 1991 (File 747) - Box 104
The writers are Peter Skrzynecki, Rod Usher, Nancy Cato, Val Vallis, Jeff Guess, Oodgeroo Nunukul, Heather Rusden, Bruce Dawe, Paul Sherman, Rosemary Dobson, Jocelyn Saeed, Stewart Harris, Robin Wallace-Crabbe, Launa Partlett, Kathleen McArthur, Stefanie Bennett, Geoff Page, Finola Moorhead, Paul Knobel, neighbours Greg Baker and Robin Jean, and Ric Throssell.
Class MS Acc08.078. Consignment received 2008
Comprises six folders and packets of correspondence, including Wright's letters to her cousin Tina Lister (née Wright), ca. 1969-ca. 1996; cuttings and other papers relating to Wright collected by Tina Lister, ca. 1952-1995; letters from Wright to Paul Sherman, 1958-1999; and, three folders of letters from Wright to her father, P.A. Wright, 1948-1959, 1960-1966 and 1966-1970.
Contained in 1 box.