Guide to the Records of the New Poetry Magazine

Collection Summary

Creator

New Poetry (Sydney, NSW)

Title

Records of the New Poetry Magazine

Date Range

1966-1985

Collection Number

MS 7967

Extent

0.1 metres (7 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Repository

National Library of Australia

Introduction

Scope and Contents

Extensive files of correspondence and contributions to this now defunct magazine. The material dates largely from the years 1975-1980, the period when Cheryl Adamson undertook the editorial responsibilities and supervised the business affairs of the Poetry Society. Adamson aka "Oral Pistolero" was, by the evidence of these papers, the necessary driving force that kept this journal publishing and in circulation, particularly in the troubled years of the later 1970's.

Whilst these files are not a complete record of the Society and its journal, they do represent a clear view of editorial objectives and planning for the period. One file ranges from notes and ideas through to a virtual postscript of the successful tour by the American poet, Robert Duncan. Included is correspondence with Duncan, funding bodies, benefactors, institutions, writers, and fellow editors. This event amounted to a major editorial gesture on the part of the magazine, and the Society through its imprints and journal went on to publish and promote Duncan's work in Australia.

Another file of considerable detail records the planning of what were possibly the most ambitious poetry readings ever organized in this country, "A Rabbit As King of the Ghosts" staged at the Sydney Opera House on the 4th of March, 1975; and "Auguries of Innocence" also at the Sydney Opera House on the 7th of June, 1975.

At a different level, in a documentation of some significance, is the record the legal dispute that surrounded the Poetry Society and their publication of Dorothy Hewett's Rapunzel In Suburbia. This file opens with the publisher's copy of a signed contract to publish the book (dated 6.8.75) and progresses to the telegram from the complainant's legal representatives (dated 10.9.75), advising a recall in the light of possible action for defamation. The file also contains copies, carbons and drafts of correspondence in this dispute. Present too is a letter from Book People of Australia, advising that "the new edition of 'Rapunzel' is also under writ...we are not in a position to distribute a title which may involve us in a legal wrangle."

Notable contributors/correspondents are as follows (*denotes a larger holding): John Blight, Bruce Beaver, Katherine Brisbane, David Brooks*, Robert Crowley, Michael Denholm, Geoffrey Dutton, Russell Edson, Christopher Edwards*, Clive Faust, John Forbes, Katherine Gallagher, Barbara Giles, Dennis Haskell, Carl Harrison-Ford, Rodney Hall, Susan Hampton, Robert Harris, Martin Harrison, J.S. Harry, Dorothy Hewett, Sam Hunt, John Jernkins, Billy Jones*, Sylvia Kantarizis*, Rudi Krausmann, Mery Lilley, Kate Llewellyn, Chris Mansell, John Millett, Peter Murphy, Dorothy Featherstone-Porter, Philip Roberts, Vivian Smith, Sasha Soldatow, Tom Shapcott*, Andrew Taylor, Richard Tipping, John Tranter, Max Williams, Judith Wright and Fay Zwickey.

Conditions Governing Access

Please refer to the collection's catalogue record (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn133368) for the access conditions.

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], Records of the New Poetry Magazine, National Library of Australia, MS 7967, [box number and series and/or file number]'.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

The New Poetry archives were acquired from two separate sources during 1989-1990.

Boxes 1-3 were purchased form Nicholas Pounder Bookseller (see catalogue extract below) and relate mainly to the period 1979-1980.

Boxes 4-7 were purchased from Robert Adamson and consist mainly of financial records from the period 1973-1980.

Related Materials

Please note that New Poetry material can be found in the Cheryl Adamson Papers (MS 6422) and the Robert Adamson Papers (MS 5713).