The Australian Women's Register

MS 8363 comprises correspondence, drafts and research material relating to Clarke’s books The governesses: letters from the colonies 1862-1882; A colonial woman: the life and times of Mary Braidwood Mowle, 1827-1857; Pen portraits: women writers and journalists in nineteenth century Australia; Pioneer writer: the life of Louisa Atkinson, novelist, journalist, naturalist; Tasma: the life of Jessie Couvreur; Life lines: Australian women’s letters and diaries, 1788-1840 (with Dale Spender), and Rosa! Rosa!: a life of Rosa Praed, novelist and spiritualist. Also contains correspondence with Janet Cosh (43 boxes, 1 carton). The Acc06.025 instalment comprises papers relating to Clarke’s role as editor of Judith Wright’s autobiography, Half a lifetime, published in 1999, including material from Judith Wright, correspondence, notes, drafts, reviews and obituaries, ca. 1997-2000; research material on proposed writing on wartime censorship, ca. 1983; research material, ca. 1984-1988, for the chapter on Government House in Gables, ghosts and governors-general: the historic house at Yarralumla, Canberra (1988); and, papers, articles and talks, ca. 1989-2005 (4 cartons). The Acc11.100 instalment comprises papers reflecting Clarke’s activities as a writer, editor, public speaker and member of academic and historical societies. They include material from Judith Wright, correspondence, notes, drafts and reviews relating to Clarke’s role as co-editor, with Meredith McKinney, of The equal heart and mind: letters between Judith Wright and Jack McKinney (2004) and With love and fury: selected letters of Judith Wright (2006); papers relating to Steps to Federation (2001), which Clarke edited; Australian dictionary of biography research material, correspondence and drafts; and other papers relating to Clarke’s PhD. Thesis, articles and talks. In addition there is correspondence, minutes and other records documenting Clarke’s roles in the Independent Scholars Association of Australia, the Canberra and District Historical Society and other organisations, between ca. 1950-2010, and papers relating to her Medal of the Order of Australia (10 boxes).