Guide to the Papers of Jane Lindsay
MS 8642
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Lindsay, Jane, 1920-1999
- Title
- Letters and poems of Kenneth MacKenzie
- Date Range
- 1940-1944
- Collection Number
- MS 8642
- Extent
- 0.14 metres (1 box)
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- National Library of Australia
Introduction
Scope and Content
The collection comprises approximately 477 letters and 60 poems written by Kenneth MacKenzie to Jane Lindsay, Lionel Lindsay, Norman Lindsay and Rose Lindsay, from Sydney (1940-1944), Dubbo and Liverpool (April-May 1943) and Cowra (1943-1944).
The letters written to Jane Lindsay (c.1940 to 1950) document not only the relationship between MacKenzie and Lindsay but also his time as a Sydney journalist before he joined the Australian Army. A large percentage of them were written from Cowra POW camp and give descriptions of the camp and personnel.
MacKenzie's relationship with Norman Lindsay is an example of the collaboration and support that Lindsay offered the poets whom he admired. Lindsay was particularly impressed with MacKenzie and Douglas Stewart and believed Australian literature was dependent on these two poets particularly.
In 1941 when Lindsay returned to his home at Springwood he encouraged Jane to 'get on with her writing'. It was an atmosphere of discussion and work and MacKenzie was a frequent and welcome visitor. On one occasion Lindsay said to his daughter 'What Ken needs is a girl'. Her reply was 'He has one' and introduced her father to the 'Moonlit doorway' poems.
The letters also contain references to the printing of 'The moonlit doorway' and disagreements with the publishers Angus and Robertson, particularly their renowned editor Beatrice Davis. MacKenzie's advice on writing prose and poetry gives further insight to his own method of working. He was an amusing, incisive observer on his contemporaries and life in the 1940s.
This collection of intimate, loving letters by arguably one of Australia's finest inter-war poets give a background to the period, and the major influence of a liberating romance in the poet's life.
Access
The collection is available for reference.
Copying and Publishing
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions.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 Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.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 Jane Lindsay, National Library of Australia, MS 8642, [file/item number]'.
Provenance
The papers were donated to the National Library in 1993, under the Taxation Incentives for the Arts Scheme, by Jane Glad (nee Lindsay).
Biographical Note
Jane Lindsay (later Jane Glad) was born in 1920, the daughter of Norman and Rose Lindsay. She was the author of Kurrajong (1945), a humorous story of rural life and Portrait of Pa (1973), an autobiography which includes reminiscences of her father. She died in Sydney in 1999.
Kenneth MacKenzie was born in Perth in 1913 and educated at Guildford Grammar School and the University of Western Australia where he studied law and agriculture. MacKenzie married Kathleen Bartlett in 1934 and moved to Sydney in the same year, at the suggestion of Norman Lindsay. MacKenzie became a close friend of the Lindsay family and Lindsay illustrated his first volume of poetry, Our earth, which was published in 1937. In Sydney, MacKenzie worked as a newspaperman and radio journalist. During World War II, he served as a corporal attached to a compound of Italian prisoners at the POW camp at Cowra. The mass breakout of Japanese prisoners in 1944 was used as the subject of his novel Dead men rising. MacKenzie's second volume of poetry, The moonlit doorway, was published in 1944. Mackenzie drowned at Goulburn in 1955.
Biographical Reference(s)
H.M. Green's History of Australian Literature, vol. II (1985)
The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature (1994)
Item Descriptions
Poems (File 1)
Transcripts of approximately 60 poems included in this collection of letters. Typed on halved foolscap paper by Jane Lindsay, as they were received. Many are slight and of an entirely personal nature, or light ribald jibes. Poems 1-23 (1942) and poems 24-74 (1943).
Letters of Kenneth MacKenzie, Sydney, 1940 to 1944 (File 2)
Letters (1p. manuscript; 9p. typescript) (Item 1-10)
Letter 1 mentions poems 'Its rains' and 'Moonlit doorway' and letter 3 includes the poem 'Going u.pstairs'. Mention is also made of Norman Lindsay's work being destroyed in the USA (letter 7) and criticism of Jane Lindsay's stories (letter 10).
Letters (17p. manuscript; 3p. typescript) (Item 21-30)
Letter 21 relates to Jane Lindsay's novel Kurrajong. Poems include 'The Vine' (letter 25); 'The moonlit doorway' (letter 27); 3 Poems 'Gianetta', To Gianetta', 'Rains for Jane' (letter 28) and 'Sally' (letter 30).
Letters (21 manuscript; 5p. typescript) (Item 31-40)
Poems include 'If', 'Red door' (letter 31), 'Music', 'Absent Jane', 'To conquer desolation', So to the dark edge' and 'Who cried out in the night' (letter 35). Letter 38 refers to MacKenzie's youth.
Letters (25p. manuscript) (Item 41-50)
Poems include 'The Kiss' (letter 44) and 'This is our moon' (letter 47). Letter 49 refers to Douglas Stewart.
Letters (13p. manuscript; 2p. typescript) (Item 51-60)
The letters contain references to Douglas Stewart (letter 54), and MacKenzie's callup for the army (letters 57). Letter 59 includes the poem 'The night in the room'.
Letters (8p. manuscript; 7p. typescript) (Item 61-70)
Letter 65 is a copy of a letter from Jane Lindsay to MacKenzie on 'The moonlit doorway'
Letters (2p. manuscript; 8p. typescript) (Item 71-80)
Letter 73 contains the poem 'I should say Helen must have looked like you'
Letters of Kenneth MacKenzie, Dubbo - Liverpool, April - May 1943 (File 4)
Letters of Kenneth MacKenzie, Cowra - 1943 (File 5)
Letters (16p. manuscript; 1p. typescript) (Item 41-50)
Letter 45 includes the poem 'The General', a satire on poem by Douglas Stewart 'The Bishop'.
Letters (13p. manuscript; 1p. typescript) (Item 71-80)
The letters discuss writing poetry (letter 72), Angus and Robertson (letter 75) and contain poems and a dedication of 'The moonlit doorway' (letter 78).
Letters of Kenneth MacKenzie, Cowra - November 1943 to January 1944 (File 6)
Letters (10p. manuscript; 2p. typescript) (Item 1-10)
Include two poems (letter 5) and discuss MacKenzie's opinion of Norman Lindsay (letters 7 and 10)
Letters (15p. manuscript) (Item 11-20)
Includes a copy of letter from Norman Lindsay to MacKenzie (letter 14) and poems (letters 17-18).
Letters (11p. manuscript) (Item 21-30)
The poems in letters 21 and 27 include 'The Dead Planet'. Letters 23 and 28 discuss H.M. Green and his anthology.
Letters of Kenneth MacKenzie, Cowra - January to June 1944 (File 7)
Letters (11p. manuscript; 1 typescript) (Item 11-20)
Includes a letter to Rose Lindsay (letter 13) and references to Stewart Howard and Malcolm Ellis (letter 14), Milton's poetry and Norman Lindsay (letter 19).
Letters (12p. manuscript) (Item 31-40)
Includes references to MacKenzie's arrival in Sydney, Kenneth Slessor and Frank Johnson (letter 32), Ian Mudie, Rex Ingamells and Douglas Stewart (letter 40).
Letters (11p. manuscript) (Item 41-50)
Includes a letter from Ian Mudie to MacKenzie (letter 41) and references to Ian Mudie and Beatice Davis (letter 48).
Letters (12p. manuscript; 1p. typescript) (Item 51-60)
Includes references to Beatrice Davis, Viscountess Stonehaven and Jane Lindsay's novel (letter 54), John Keats, Kenneth Slessor, Hugh McCrae (letter 56) as well as some poems of Ian Mudie (letter 59).
Letters (11p. manuscript; 2p. typescript) (Item 71-80)
Includes references to Ray Brook (letter 76), and Janet Lindsay and Dulcie Deamer (letter 77).
Letters of Kenneth MacKenzie, Sydney, July 1944 (File 8)
Letters (4p. manuscript; 6p. typescript) (Item 1-10)
Letter 2 refers to Hugh McCrae and Leon Gellert and letter 6 to D.H. Lawrence.
Letters (18p. manuscript; 1p. typescript) (Item 11-20)
Letter 19 refers to Christina Stead, Joseph Conrad, and other topics.