Guide to the Papers of Nicholas Jose
MS 8714
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Nicholas Jose
- Title
- Papers of Nicholas Jose
- Date Range
- 1979-1996
- Collection Number
- MS 8714
- Extent
- 2.94 metres (21 boxes, 2 folio items)
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- National Library of Australia
Introduction
Scope and Contents
The collection documents Jose's career as a writer. It includes drafts, correspondence, cuttings and reviews relating to The possession of amber (1980), Ideas of the restoration in English literature, 1660-71 (1984), Rowena's field (1984), Feathers or lead (1986), Paper nautilus (1987), Avenue of eternal peace (1989), 'Rabbit in the moon' (a play, 1992), 'Dead city' (a play, 1994), 'Wives of Kwong' (television drama, 1994-95), The rose crossing (1994), The finish line (1994), ESL study guide (c.1995) and Chinese whispers, cultural essays (1995).
The correspondents include Rosemary Creswell, Janet Parfenovics, Paula Latos-Valier, Ron Radford, John McPhee, Dinah Dysart, Yang Wen-i, Johnson Chang, George Papaellinas, Kate Jones, Neil Olson, Ian Templeman, University of Queensland Press and Penguin Australia.
Conditions Governing Access
Please refer to the collection's catalogue record for the access conditions (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn1884592).
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Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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 Nicholas Jose, National Library of Australia, MS 8714, [box number and series and/or file number]'.
Provenance
The papers were donated to the National Library under the Tax Incentives for the Arts Scheme in three instalments between 1991 and 1994. A smaller addition was made in 1997.
Biographical Note
Nicholas Jose was born on 9 November 1952 in the United Kingdom, but spent his childhood in Broken Hill, Traralgon, Perth and Adelaide. He studied at the Australian National University before being awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University in 1974.
Jose lived and worked in various parts of Australia, mainly Canberra, and in England, Italy and China. He lectured in English at the Australian National University and was a Cultural Counsellor for the Australian Embassy in Beijing in 1987-90.
Jose's publications include short stories, novels and a book on English literature, which originated as his doctoral thesis. Paper Nautilus and Avenue of Eternal Peace were written while he was living and working in Italy and China. He won a Literature Board Fellowship in 1989 and 1997.
Reference: Who's Who of Australian Writers (1991), pp 284-5
Item Descriptions
Series 1. The Possession of Amber (1980), 1979-81
The Possession of Amber is a collection of short stories, with each story set in a different part of the world. The book was published by the University of Queensland Press in 1980. The series include correspondence, drafts, reviews and cuttings
Correspondence with staff of the University Queensland Press including Kym Muddon (Promotions Officer), Malcolm Beazley (Sales Manager), Merril Yule (Head of Editorial Department) and Craig Munro (Fiction Editor).
Series 2. Ideas of the Restoration in English Literature, 1660-71
Ideas of the Restoration in English Literature, 1660-71 was based on the doctoral thesis (1977), written by Jose while studying at Magdalen College, Oxford. It was published in 1984 by Harvard University Press. The series comprises a copy of the thesis, reviews and a copy of the book.
Series 3. Rowena's Field
Rowena's Field was published in 1984 by Rigby Press. The series includes correspondence, research material, reviews, drafts and business papers.
The correspondents are staff of Rigby Press: Lisa Berryman (Executive Editor) and Frank Thompson (General Manager).
The business papers include a photocopy of the agreement with the publisher and royalty statements.
Series 4. Feathers or lead
Nicholas Jose's book of short stories was published by Penguin Books, Australia in 1986. The series includes correspondence, drafts, cuttings and royalty statements.
The correspondents include staff of Penguin Books, Australia ( Mathew Kelly , Jo Bramble ), Rosemary Creswell, and Sallyanne Moss of White Kite Productions.
Series 5. Paper nautilus
The novel was published by Penguin Books, Australia in 1987. The series include drafts, photograph and correspondence.
The correspondents include Dorothy Green; Mathew Kelly, Jo Bramble and Jackie Yowell (Penguin Books) and Rosemary Creswell.
Series 6. Avenue of Eternal Peace
This novel (under the working title 'Crackers') was published by Penguin Books in 1989. The story takes place shortly after the Tiananmen Square massacre in China in 1989. It was adapted for a television 'Children of the Dragon' by Robert Caswell. The series include correspondence, notebooks, cuttings, reviews, drafts and television scripts.
The correspondents are Penguin Books (Peg McColl, Judy Bourguignon, Bruce Sims and Blanche Hewitt), Ray Koppe of Australian Society of Authors and Southern Star Xanadu.
Series 7. Scrapbook - Box 13
Scrapbook containing cuttings on Jose and his books, 1980-87 (1 volume)
Addition August 1997
Series 8. 'Rabbit in the moon', 1992
The Sydney Theatre Company held a workshop for the play at the Wharf Theatre in 1992, but it was never performed in public. The series includes drafts and correspondence with Simon Phillips of the State Theatre and Carrillo Gantner of the Playbox Theatre Centre, Monash University.
Series 9. 'Dead city', 1994
The play was performed at the Belvoir Street Theatre and the Q Theatre in 1994. The series include correspondence (Rodney Fisher, Tony Michael, Bruce Sims and Geremie Barmé), drafts of the script, working papers, advertising material, programs, reviews and one CD containing Erich W. Korngold's music, adapted and arranged for Chinese instruments by Max Lyandvert.
Series 10. 'Wives of Kwong', 1994-95
The 'Wives of Kwong', written by Jose, William Yang and Tony Ayers, is a drama series about a Chinese-Australian family in Darwin over a hundred year period. It was commissioned by Penny Chapman for ABC television, but it was never produced.
Series 11. The rose crossing (1994), 1993-96
The book was first published in London by Hamish Hamilton in 1994. The series includes correspondence (Cameron and Creswell, Bryony Cosgrove of Penguin, Kate Jones of Hamish Hamilton and Neil Olson of US publisher Donadio& Ashworth) and research material (including papers concerning Jose's travel to Mauritius and a related articles for the Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend, 20 March 1993), photocopies and notes.
Series 12. The finish line: a long march by bicycle through China and Australia (1994), 1991-95
The book was written by Sang Ye, Nicholas Jose and Sue Trevaskes and it was published by the University of Queensland Press in 1994. The series includes drafts (some in Chinese), correspondence (Rose Creswell, Clare Forster and Ian Templeman), reviews, one cassette and a copy of the book.
Series 13. ArtTaiwan, 1994-95
The book, ArtTaiwan, was published in Sydney by G&B Arts International in 1995. It deals with contemporary art exchanges between Australia and Taiwan in 1992 and 1993. The series includes correspondence and drafts.
The correspondents are Bernice Murphy and Janet Parfenovics (Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney), Paula Latos-Valier (Art Gallery of Western Australia), Ron Radford (Art Gallery of South Australia), John McPhee (National Gallery of Victoria), Dinah Dysart (Art and Australia), Yang Wen-i (Taipei Fine Arts Museum), Johnson Chang (Hanart T.Z. Gallery, Hong Kong) and Dallas Cox (Powerhouse Museum).
Series 14. Chinese whispers, cultural essays (1995), 1994-96
The book was published in Adelaide by Wakefield Press in 1995. The series include correspondence (Wakefield Press and George Papellinas of Angus & Robertson), drafts, cuttings and reviews.
Series 15. ESL study guide, c.1995
The guide, written by Viv Tellefson and Sophie Arkoudis, with a foreword by Jose, is a theoretical and practical guide to literature study based on Jose's novel Paper nautilus. It was published by the Melbourne Community Information Service, Directorate of School Education, c1995.