by Karen Lamb
49Thea Astley, letter to Susan Ryan, 5 September 1988, Penguin publishing files.
50Fay Zwicky, letter to Thea Astley, 18 May 1988, Thea Astley papers.
51Schöningh publishers, letter to Goodman Associates re: Exploring Australian Identities, 10 January 2011.
52Thea Astley, letter to Bruce Sims, 8 August 1989, Penguin publishing files.
53Thea Astley, letter to Bruce Sims, 8 October 1989, Penguin publishing files.
54ibid.
55Geoff and Sarah Cains to author, Mittagong, 7 February 2007.
56 Thea Astley, letter to Helen Garner, 7 October 1986, Thea Astley papers.
57Geoff and Sarah Cains to author, Mittagong, 7 February 2007.
58Susan Ryan, letter to Thea Astley, 17 October 1988, Thea Astley papers.
59Jill Hickson, letter to Thea Astley, 24 April 1989, Thea Astley papers.
60Beatrice Davis, letter to Thea Astley, 29 May 1987, Thea Astley papers.
16 Inventing her own weather
1Thea Astley, ‘Inventing the Weather’, Vanishing Points, William Heinemann, Melbourne, 1992, p. 157.
2Helen Rosenman, letter to Thea Astley, 21 November 1989, Thea Astley papers, UQFL97, Fryer Library, University of Queensland.
3Thea Astley, letter to Bruce Sims, 17 May 1989, Penguin publishing files, Penguin Pty Ltd, Victoria.
4Carolyn See, letter to Thea Astley, 20 January 1989, Thea Astley papers.
5Rodney Hall to author, Melbourne, July 2011.
6Thea Astley, letter to John Beston, 19 February 1972, John Beston papers, UQFL429, Fryer Library, University of Queensland. Beston, who was at that time working on a script dealing with the early years of Patrick White’s writing life, had invited Astley to give a conference paper on White.
7Patrick White, letter to Thea Astley, 20 March 1961, Thea Astley papers.
8Thea Astley, letter to Bruce Sims, 8 October 1989, Penguin publishing files.
9Louise Adler to author, Melbourne, 5 July 2011.
10ibid.
11ibid.
12Thea Astley, Spoken Word, ABC radio, 9 October 1985, ABC Radio Archives.
13Thea Astley, Spoken Word with Peter Couchman, ABC radio, 24 February 1994, 57078, ABC Radio Archives.
14Thea Astley, The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow, Viking/Penguin, Melbourne, 1996, p. 37.
15Thea Astley, Reaching Tin River, William Heinemann, Melbourne, 1990, p. 134
16Thea Astley in the presence of the author, Melbourne, 1993.
17Astley, Reaching Tin River, p. 82.
18Jill Hickson, letter to Thea Astley, 15 August 1989, Thea Astley papers.
19Jim Shepard, review of Vanishing Points, The New York Times Book Review, 27 September 1992.
20Elizabeth Perkins, ‘A Life of its Own: A Deconstructive Reading of A Kindness Cup’, Hecate, xi(i), 1985, pp. 11–18.
21Thea Astley, letter to Dale Spender, 3 October 1992, Dale Spender papers 1972–1995, State Library of New South Wales.
22Astley, Vanishing Points, p. 189.
23ibid., p. 206.
24Writers’ Train, agenda notes, n.d., UQP papers, UQFL198, Fryer Library, University of Queensland.
25Rodney Hall to author, Melbourne, July 2011.
26Jeff McMullen to author, Palm Beach, 2 February 2008.
27Thea Astley, 7.30 Report with Heidi Rexa, ABC TV, 26 July 1990, ABC Television Archives.
28Letter to Thea Astley from a primary school-aged child who met her on the Writers’ Train trip, 24 July 1990, Thea Astley papers.
29Phil Astley, letter to Thea Astley, 9 June 1991, Thea Astley papers.
30Margery Watsford to author, Cairns, February 2008.
31Thea Astley, speech for the Australian Booksellers and Publishers Association annual dinner, 14 March 1991, Thea Astley papers.
32Ron Hanson, review of Reaching Tin River, The New York Times Book Review, 20 October 1993.
33Helen Garner, postcard to Thea Astley, 25 August 1991, Thea Astley papers.
34Louise Adler, letter to Thea Astley, 20 March 1991, Thea Astley papers.
35Vida Horn, letter to Thea Astley, 16 January 1992, Thea Astley papers.
36Sister Mary Claver, letter to Thea Astley, c. 1992, Thea Astley papers.
37Jacqueline Kent, A Certain Style: Beatrice Davis, A Literary Life, Viking/Penguin, Melbourne, 2001, p. 300.
38ibid.
39Phil Astley, letter to Thea Astley, 1 September 1994, Thea Astley papers.
40The Courier-Mail, ‘Our Top 100: A salute to the brilliant, the dreamers, the go-getters, the builders, the do-gooders and achievers who have helped shape Queensland’, 6 June 1992, newspaper clipping, Thea Astley papers.
41Dr Johnson quoted in ‘Music’, Collins Thesaurus (new 1st ed.), HarperCollins, 1995, p. 641.
42Louise Adler to author, Melbourne, 5 July 2011.
43Rosemary Sorensen in Good Weekend magazine, The Age, 6 February 1993, p. 26.
44Thea Astley, pre-interview, The Search for Meaning with Caroline Jones, ABC radio, 17 April 1994, 64732, ABC Radio Archives.
45Robert Dessaix, letter to Thea Astley, 12 April 1994, Thea Astley papers.
46Thea Astley to author, Melbourne, May 1993.
17 Curving
1Thea Astley, The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow, Viking/Penguin, Melbourne, 1996, p. 174.
2Thea Astley, Beachmasters, Viking/Penguin, New York, 1986, p. 130.
3Thea Astley, The Search for Meaning with Caroline Jones, ABC radio, 17 April 1994 (repeated 8 January 1995), 64732, ABC Radio Archives.
4Astley, The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow, p. 285.
5Thea Astley, letter to Michael McGirr, 29 September 1995, photocopy supplied by Michael McGirr.
6Thea Astley, Girl with a Monkey, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1958, p. 42.
7Thea Astley, The Well Dressed Explorer, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1977, p. 169.
8Thea Astley, ‘Inventing the Weather’, Vanishing Points, William Heinemann, Melbourne, 1992, p. 182.
9Charles Baudelaire, ‘Artist’s Confiteor’, Paris Spleen (trans. Louise Varèse), New Directions, New York, 1947, p. 3.
10Thea Astley, An Item from the Late News, UQP, St Lucia, 1982, p. 69.
11Thea Astley, letter to Michael McGirr, 29 September 1995, photocopy supplied by Michael McGirr.
12Donal O’Shea, The Poincare Conjecture: In Search of the Shape of the Universe, Walker & Company, New York, 2007, p. 46.
13Thea Astley, letter to Meredith Rose, 5 May 1996, Penguin publishing files, Penguin Pty Ltd, Victoria.
14Meredith Rose to author, Melbourne, 14 March 2008.
15ibid.
16Bill Uren, letter to Phil Astley, 8 August 1996, Jesuit Archives, Melbourne.
17Thea Astley, ‘Problems of Writing’, speech, c. 1982, Thea Astley papers, UQFL97, Fryer Library, University of Queensland.
18Phil Astley, letter to Thea Astley, 13 November 1996, Thea Astley papers.
19Ed Gregson to author, email correspondence, 25 January 2014.
20Michael McGirr to author, Melbourne, 14 March 2008.
21Elizabeth Jolley, letter to Thea Astley, 20 January 1997, Thea Astley papers.
22Thea Astley, Drylands: A Book for the World’s Last Reader, Penguin, Melbourne, 1999, back cover blurb.
23Thea Astley, Spoken Word with Ramona Koval, ABC radio, 9 June 2000, ABC Radio Archives.
24ibid.
25Thea Astley, letter to Cairns City Library Service, 30 May 1999, Thea Astley papers.
26Bob Sessions, facsimile to Hickson Associates, 18 September 1998, Penguin publishing files.
27Thea Astley, letter to Bob Sessions, 21 October 1998, Penguin publishing files.
28
Meredith Rose, letter to Thea Astley, c. 1998, Thea Astley papers.
29Pat and Kevin McHugh to author, Sussex Inlet, 4 January 2011.
30ibid.
31ibid.
32Thea Astley, letter to Fiona Inglis (Curtis Brown Literary Agents), 8 May 2000, Penguin publishing files.
33Ed Gregson to author, New Brighton, 30 November 2006.
34ibid.
35Astley, Drylands, p. 178.
36Mark Macleod to author, Blue Mountains, 8 December 2006.
37Margaret Smith to author, Somersby, 25 February 2008.
38Marele Day to author, Brunswick Heads, 29 November 2006.
39Jill Eddington to author, Byron Bay, 1 December 2006.
40Thea Astley, Ballina Library comments book entry, 20 August 2003.
41Matthew Condon to author, Brisbane, 2006.
42Jill Eddington to author, Byron Bay, 1 December 2006.
43Thea Astley quoted by Donna McLaughlin, Books and Writing, ABC radio, 22 August 2004, ABC Radio Archives.
44Ingrid Loewy to author, Byron Bay, December 2006.
45Mark Macleod to author, Blue Mountains, 8 December 2006.
Further reading
Books by Thea Astley
Girl with a Monkey, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1958.
A Descant for Gossips, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1960.
The Well Dressed Explorer, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1962.
The Slow Natives, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1965.
A Boat Load of Home Folk, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1968.
The Acolyte, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1972.
A Kindness Cup, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1974.
Hunting the Wild Pineapple and Other Related Stories, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne, 1979.
An Item from the Late News, UQP, St Lucia, 1982.
Beachmasters, Viking/Penguin, Melbourne, 1985.
It’s Raining in Mango: Pictures from the Family Album, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1987.
Reaching Tin River, William Heinemann, Melbourne, 1990.
Vanishing Points, William Heinemann, Melbourne, 1992.
Coda, William Heinemann, Melbourne, 1994.
The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow, Viking/Penguin, Melbourne, 1996.
Drylands: A Book for the World’s Last Reader, Penguin, Melbourne, 1999.
Selected writings by Thea Astley
‘Poetic Fire’, Barjai, 13, 1944, pp. 6–7.
‘Picaninny Thoughts’, The Bulletin, 75(3878), 9 June 1954, p. 13.
‘Cubby’, in Cecil Hadgraft (ed.), Coast to Coast, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1961, pp. 6–11.
‘After Tasman’, The Bulletin, 83(4288), 21 April 1962, p. 60.
‘Journey to Olympus’, in Leonie Kramer (ed.), Coast to Coast, Angus & Robertson, Sydney, 1965, pp. 7–14.
‘The Monstrous Accent on Youth’, Meanjin, xxvii, March 1968, p. 109.
‘The Idiot Question’, Southerly, 30(1), 1970, pp. 3–8.
‘Being a Queenslander: A Form of Literary and Geographical Conceit’, The Wentworth Press, Sydney, 1978.
‘On Writing Short Fiction’, Australian Literary Studies, 10(2), 1981, pp. 186–187.
‘Writing in North Queensland’, LINQ, 9(1), 1981, pp. 2–10.
‘Travelling Even Farther North: David Williamson, You Must Have Stopped at the Border’, Meanjin, 41(4), 1982, pp. 439–441.
‘Going Home’, Brisbane Herald, 16 January 1986.
‘Why I Wrote a Short Story Called “Diesel Epiphany”’, Meanjin, 45(2), 1986, pp. 193–196.
‘The Teeth Father Naked at Last: The Short Stories of Barbara Baynton’ (extracts), in Gillian Whitlock (ed.), Eight Voices of the Eighties: Stories, Journalism and Criticism by Australian Women Writers, UQP, St Lucia, 1989, pp. 146–195.
Manuscript collections
Fryer Library, University of Queensland, St Lucia, Brisbane:
Thea Astley papers, UQFL97. (See also ‘Thea Astley’s Poems: Chronological Order of Writing’, compiled by Cheryl Taylor, 2011)
Martin Haley papers, UQFL48
Catholic Writers Society papers
Catholic Poetry Society papers
University of Queensland Press papers, UQFL198
State Library of New South Wales (Mitchell Library), Sydney:
Angus & Robertson Archives, MLMSS3269
Beatrice Davis papers
State Library of Victoria, Melbourne:
Bohemia Society papers
Audio material
National Library of Australia
Australian Broadcasting Commission Radio and Television Archives
Selected readings about Thea Astley
Baker, Candida (ed.), Yacker: Australian Writers Talk about Their Work, Picador, Woollahra, New South Wales, 1986, pp. 28–54.
Baker, Candida, ‘Hard Yacker on the Frontline’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 24 June 1989, p. 82.
Ellison, Jennifer (ed.), Rooms of Their Own, Penguin, Ringwood, Victoria, 1986, pp. 50–69.
Genoni, Paul, and Sheridan, Susan (eds.), Thea Astley’s Fictional Worlds, Cambridge Scholars Press, Newcastle, UK, 2006.
Kinross-Smith, Graeme, ‘Thea Astley’, Kunapipi, 4(1), 1982, pp. 20–37.
Ross, Robert L., ‘An Interview with Thea Astley’, World Literature Written in English, 26(2), 1986, pp. 264–269.
Sheridan, Susan, Nine Lives: Postwar Women Writers Making Their Mark, UQP, St Lucia, 2011.
Willbanks, Ray, Australian Voices: Australian Writers and Their Work, University of Texas Press, Texas, 1991, pp. 26–42.
Index
The page numbers in this index refer to the page numbers of the printed book and are reproduced here for reference only. Please use the search facility of your device to find the relevant entry.
Aarhus University 244
Abernethy, John 195, 215
Aboriginal people 226–7, 237, 244, 304
Abouchar, Barbara 123–5, 136, 151
Abouchar, Claude 123, 136
The Acolyte x, 91, 173, 198–9, 211–12, 214–18, 240, 242, 260, 264, 275, 279
Adam-Smith, Patsy 241, 263
Adams, Glenda 263
adaptations of novels 274
A Descant for Gossips 139, 194, 245, 274
It’s Raining in Mango (proposed) 299
Adelaide Writers’ Festival 3, 225, 311
Adler, Louise 166, 281–2, 289–90, 295, 303
The Age Book of the Year 227, 299
All Hallows’ school 25–44, 46, 48, 52–3
Anderson, Don 259
Anderson, Jessica 149, 169
Angry Penguins 54, 67
Angus & Robertson 109–11, 113, 126, 134, 136, 140, 147–9, 160, 162, 191, 193–5, 213–18, 273
letters of complaint to 134, 148, 217
Astley, Cecil 5, 7–15, 18, 20, 24–5, 27–8, 33–6, 51, 56–7, 68, 74, 78, 81, 99–100, 114, 126–7, 135–6, 138–40, 142, 147, 179, 234–5, 238, 314
Astley, Charles 9–11, 13, 33, 57, 296
Astley, Eileen (nee Lindsay) 5–11, 14–18, 20–2, 24–5, 27–8, 33–4, 57, 68, 74, 78, 99–100, 114, 126–7, 135–6, 138–39, 142, 147, 151, 157–8, 162, 165, 197–8, 200–1, 215, 223, 229, 231–2, 234–6, 238, 261, 314
Astley, Mary (nee Rankin) 9
Astley, Phil 6, 8, 11, 14–18, 20, 24, 31, 33, 36, 39, 57, 68, 78–80, 88, 96, 100–1, 105, 117, 127, 139, 142, 157–8, 161, 169, 182–3, 200–1, 229, 231–2, 234, 238, 249, 253, 267–8, 285, 287, 289–90, 295, 297–8, 314
Austen, Jane 227, 236, 252, 288
Australia Council 224, 261
‘Australian writer’ tag 132–3
awards and prizes ix, x, 172–4, 228–9, 233, 239, 271, 279–80
The A
ge Book of the Year 227–8, 299
Christina Stead Prize 288
Ford Prize 51
Henry Monteith Prize 51
James Cook Foundation Award 239
McDermott Prize 29
Miles Franklin Award ix, x, 4, 153–4, 156–7, 160, 165, 173–4, 183, 187, 216, 236, 304
Moomba prize 173
New South Wales Premier’s Literary Award 304–5
Order of Australia 239–40
Patrick White Award x, 279, 281
Steele Rudd Award 278
Bail, Murray 228
Baker, Candida 163, 280
Baker, Jean 35, 38
Baker, Sidney 103–4, 135
Ballina Library 307–8
Barbour, June 248–9, 263, 267
Barbour, Michelle 17, 248–9, 267, 269, 271, 275–6, 297, 299–300, 302, 305–6, 313–14
Barjai ix, 44, 54–61, 67–70, 73, 77, 85, 96, 121, 125, 130, 153, 157, 222, 263, 285, 312
Barjai magazine 55, 57, 60, 61, 63, 69, 77, 81
Barker, Anthony 288
Baudelaire, Charles 23, 65, 175, 288, 294–5
Baxter, Anne 139, 194
Baynton, Barbara 52, 233, 239
Beachmasters 4, 86, 217, 223, 249, 251–4, 259–61, 278–80, 292–3
Bernard, John 210–11, 244
Bernard, Judith 244
Bird, Carmel 263, 265
birth 6
birth of son 101
Bjelke-Petersen, Joh 222, 251
Blackman, Barbara (nee Patterson) 44, 55
Blackman, Charles 55
Blaxland, Wendy 208
A Boat Load of Home Folk 17, 40, 47–8, 191–7, 225, 243, 245, 247, 250, 279
Bolton, Alec 194–5
Bray, Theodore 138
Bread and Cheese Club 9
Brisbane
American servicemen in 34–5, 46–9, 53–4
books about 308
growing up in 6–24
Brockie, Jennie 203
Brunswick Heads 306–7
Bruty, Jennifer and Bryan 129, 270
The Bulletin 8, 12, 14, 85, 120, 166
Burstall, Tim 139
Byrne, Jennifer 295
Byron Bay 307–11, 315
Cains, Geoff 275–6
Cains, Sarah 275
Cairns 3, 86, 222, 299
Cairns City Library 301
Cambewarra 253–8, 267–70, 276, 290