The Australian Women's Register

The papers of MS 5781 comprise 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 (105 boxes, 1 fol. Box, 1 elephant folio, 1 oversize box). The Acc08.078 instalment 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 (1 box). The Acc09.129 instalment is an exercise book containing poems (juvenilia) by Judith Wright written for her cousin Tina (Margaret) Wright (1 folder). The Acc09.130 instalment comprises a manuscript book of poems titled “Habitat” by Judith Wright, dedicated to her daughter Meredith, written between January 1971 and February 1972 (1 folder).