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In Sisterhood: collectives for women, by women
In the late 20th century female writers were supported by relationships with publishers and the editors of feminist journals, whose aim was to nurture the development of writing by women, for women.
Founded by a close team of five women, including Hilary McPhee and Diana Gribble of McPhee and Gribble fame, Sister’s Publishing was a feminist company with working relationships with significant female writers such as novelist Beverley Farmer, historian Patricia Crawford and poet Rosemary Dobson. Joyce Nicholson, one of the founders of Sister’s Publishing, outlines their purpose “to ensure that anything worthwhile written by women would not be overlooked”[1] a goal with both positive and negative consequences as “we felt that every woman who had ever written anything got it out of her bottom drawer and sent it to us.”1 The workload was too great to sustain and in 1984 Sister’s Publishing ceased operation.
Still in publication, Lilith: a feminist history journal was born from an undergraduate seminar conducted by the History Department of the University of Melbourne in 1983. By 1985 the Lilith Collective was publishing “historical articles and reviews informed with a feminist consciousness”; providing a platform for feminist history students and writers to share their work.
The impact of Lilith is evident not only it the fact that it is still published, but also in the personal impression on readers. Correspondence from a subscriber working in the library of a high school describes her value of the journal, asking for more articles as she was “trying to give a gender balance to the material which usually exists in schools.” She relays that the Lilith articles she has included so far have been “very well used by the senior girl students” The letter is signed, “In sisterhood”.[2]
Whether or not this letter inspired the editors to introduce the journal to new audiences, the minutes of 23 November 1988 reveal that the idea to publicise Lilith to History teachers was raised to assist this mission of a gender inclusive curricula in schools.[3]
UMA has a range of collections from other feminist publishing houses and journals, including Sugar and Snails, a group established in 1974 to counter sexism in children’s literature, Vashti Voice, published by the Women’s Liberation Carlton group around June 1972, and editorial material of Joyce Thorpe Nicholson.
The Magic of Meanjin
Writers nurture multiple relationships throughout their career and perhaps there’s none more important than the one with their publisher. The collections held at UMA illustrate the process of writing and publication, from the moment an idea is born to the maturation of a finished piece of writing. This relationship between writer and publisher is most evident in the archive of one of Australia’s most influential literary journals, Meanjin.
The correspondence files contained within founding editor Clement Byrne Christesen’s papers are a thrilling find for the literary fan and illuminate the working lives and relationships of editor, publisher and writer. Key figures in Australian literature such as AD Hope, Patrick White, Marjorie Barnard, and Peter Carey are highlights of this vast collection. The correspondence with poets, essayists, playwrights, novelists and critics provide an intimate insight into the myriad of relationships editor CB Christesen developed and sustained over three decades, amongst a range of financial, political and cultural challenges.
In one of his many letters to literary critic Nettie Palmer, Christesen almost apologetically explains “An editor seems to be asking all the time – or suggesting. If he merely suggests, invariably nothing is done. He must then follow it up, ask outright or demand…I’m not much good at that, making demands on people’s goodwill, on their time and energy.”[1] Christesen was clearly a talented editor; he published many celebrated figures in Australian literature and introduced Australians to international writing, whilst maintaining a journal of the highest quality with minimum funding. Although Christesen retired from editorship in 1974, Meanjin has successfully continued as one of Australia’s foremost literary voices.
[1] Letter to from C B Christesen to Nettie Palmer, c. November 1945, Box 257, Meanjin Editorial Records of C B Christesen 2005.004
Online finding aid Meanjin – Editorial records of CB Christesen
More from Meanjin can be discovered online http://meanjin.com.au/
A State of Many Stories
Designed by Ron Brooks and compiled by members of ASAL from the forthcoming Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide to Australia and the Victoria 150 Literature Committee, 1981.
University of Melbourne Archives, McPhee Gribble collection 1999.0048 Box 402
Victoria’s rich literary history is revealed on The Writers’ State: A Literary Map of Victoria, with many of the big names and big stories of Australian Literature inspired by or set in the country towns of Victoria and the city of Melbourne. This beautiful map is also a comprehensive reflection of UMA’s own collections.
The writers map places many of the authors held within the UMA collection firmly in Australia’s literary canon. Their evocative styles imbue a sense of time and place; Margaret Kiddle arouses the spirits of the first pastoralists in Victoria’s Western Districts in her book Men of Yesterday; Ray Ericksen entices you to connect with the beach and bush of Cape Otway in Cape Solitary. John Morrison and Helen Garner’s portrayals of inner Melbourne life reflect the gritty but no less poignant side of Victoria’s capital city.
We recently collaborated with Currency Press for their educational App about Ray Lawler’s seminal play about Melbourne life in the 1950s, Summer of the Seventeenth Doll. Within the dramatically large Melbourne Theatre Company collection we unearthed a cache of set designs, production notes, photographs, posters and ephemera from the 1955 premiere, up until the 1981 production.
And of course, where would Australian literature be without CB Christensen and Meanjin? Our collection of his editorship of the journal equates the significance in the literary world of Victoria, and Australia.
The Writers’ State: A Literary Map of Victoria is a telling portrait of the literary gold that has been inspired by Victoria, its landscape and its people. It not only reveals some of the treasures of our publishing and literary collections but serves as a reminder to re-discover the writers and works who may have been left by the roadside.
Hilary McPhee transferred the vast McPhee Gribble collection in 1999. With over 400 boxes of material, the collection contains author files, manuscripts, minutes, administrative and financial files, correspondence with editors, publishers and agents, as well as documents pertaining to the sale to Penguin.
Designed by Ron Brooks and compiled by members of ASAL from the forthcoming Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide to Australia and the Victoria 150 Literature Committee, 1981.
The Loves, Rages and Jealousies of Juno
Image: Giulio Bonasone, Juno Asks Aeolus to Raise a Tempest Against the Trojan Fleet, from The Loves, Rages and Jealousies of Juno (1531-76), engraving, image (sheet trimmed to image) 13.5 x 10.4 cm, gift of Dr J. Orde Poynton, 1959, Baillieu Library Print Collection, University of Melbourne.
This exhibition, on the ground floor of the Baillieu Library, University of Melbourne, displays prints about the Roman goddess Juno. Included are tales of her philandering husband, Jupiter; her forays into the Underworld; and her role in the Trojan War.
Floortalk by curator Meg Sheehan (Baillieu Library Print Collection intern)
Monday 10 December, 1.00-1.20pm.
The exhibition will be on display from 4 December 2012 to 31 January 2013.
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