MS 6422
Papers of Cheryl Creatrix (1948- )



Scope and Content Note

  • Papers
  • 1971-1981
  • 1.68 metres (12 boxes)
  • Restricted

The papers were purchased by the Library in 1978 and 1982.

The collection consists of editorial correspondence with Australian and overseas poets, original manuscripts in all the various stages through to publication in New Poetry or by Prism Books, material relating to the leaflet/magazine Beyond Poetry and the highly successful series of poetry readings at the Opera House, and minutes of meetings of the Poetry Society of Australia, covering the years 1973-76 when Creatrix was secretary.

The vast number of letters in the collection are mainly editorial and business, with very little personal material included. As editor of New Poetry and Prism Books, Creatrix accumulated handwritten and typescript drafts and galley proofs of the many contributions to these publishing ventures. Contributors to Prism Books included David Malouf, Dorothy Hewett, Robert Adamson, and Sylvia Kantarizis.

The material on the Opera House poetry readings contains references to many leading Australian poets, including Judith Wright, A.D. Hope, Rosemary Dobson, David Campbell, Dorothy Hewett, Rodney Hall, Robert Adamson, and John Tranter. There are also details of the poetry tour of Robert Duncan.

Biographical Note

Cheryl Creatrix, poet, editor and publisher of New Poetry, the magazine of the Poetry Society of Australia, and editor of Prism Books, was born in 1948 at Tamworth. She left school in 1965, and spent two years in Arnhem Land.

While attending the film school at Balmain, Creatrix met and married poet Robert Adamson. They separated in 1977. As co-editors, the Adamsons achieved success in the 1970s with their Poetry Society publishing ventures. Under the auspices of the Society, Creatrix organised and directed the best attended poetry readings ever staged in Australia, and with Robert Adamson, organised, at their own expense, an extensive tour of Australia by the American poet Robert Duncan.

Ms Adamson was interviewed by Hazel de Berg in 1977 for the National Library's oral history program (Oral De B 1038-1039). Some of her publications include Misch Masch, New Poetry, and Leatherjacket. Creatrix was included in an anthology of poetry Up from below: poems of the 1980s, published in 1987.


Series List

Series

  1. Correspondence, 1971-81
  2. New Poetry, 1975-78
  3. Beyond Poetry, 1974-5
  4. Prism Books, 1976-77
  5. Miscellaneous writing
  6. Poetry Society of Australia, 1973-76
  7. Poetry readings, 1975-76
  8. Robert Adamson
  9. Miscellaneous, 1972-79

Series 1. Correspondence, 1971-81

Most of the correspondence in this series comprises business letters relating to Poetry Society publications. Although the bulk of the letters have been organized in date order in this series, there are letters to be found throughout the collection. Letters dealing entirely with the magazine Beyond Poetry are in the third series, and some letters with contributions to New Poetry attached are in the second series.

The principal correspondents are listed in Appendix 1. The correspondence with David Brooks, the US-Canadian representative of New Poetry covers the years 1975-80.

Folders
1          1971-74                                                    
2          1975                                                       
3-4        1976                                                       
5-6        1977                                                       
7          1978                                                       
8          1979                                                       
9          1980-81                                                    
10-12      Undated correspondence                                     

Series 2. New poetry, 1975-78

New Poetry, which first appeared in 1971, was Australia's leading poetry magazine, publishing an extensive range of contemporary poetry from well known Australian and overseas poets, as well as lesser-known new writers and previously unpublished ones. As editor in the years 1976-78 Creatrix accumulated drafts, galley proofs and published copies of the magazine. Some of the typescripts have covering notes from writers including David Campbell, Fay Zwicky, and Robert Creely. Contributions from David Malouf, Tim Thorne, Philip Roberts, Sylvia Kantarizis, Richard Harland, Denise Leverton, Alexander Craig and Nevill Drury are in folder 21.

The Adamsons organized and financed a reading tour by the American poet Robert Duncan in September 1975. The material relating to the tour, including correspondence and an itinerary, is in folder 27.

Folders
1          Letters and contributions, 1976                            
2          Letters and contributions, 1977-78                         
3          Book of carbons of correspondence, 1977                    
4          New Poetry - vol 23 no 2 - mock-up                         
5                     - vol 24 no 1 - typescripts            
6                     - vol 24 no 4 - typescripts            
7                     - vol 25 no 3 - issue + typescripts    
8                     - vol 25 no 4 - issue + typescripts    
9                     - vol 26 no 1 - letters + issue +      
           typescripts                                                
10                    - vol 26 nos 2-4 - issues + galleys    
11                    - vol 27 no 1 - letters + issue +      
           typescripts                                                
12                    - vol 27 no 2 - typescripts            
13-18                 - galleys                              
19-20                 - Annotated copy                       
21                    - Listed contributions                 
22-24                 - Unlisted contributions               
25-26      Miscellaneous                                              
27         Poetry tour by Robert Duncan, 1975                         

Series 3. Beyond poetry, 1974-5

This leaflet style magazine, appearing as often as finances allowed, was published eight times by Creatrix and Chris Edwards. Rosemary Dobson's and David Campbell's parallel versions of four short poems by the Russian poet Osip Mandelstam are included, with a suggested layout for their publication. There are two letters from Dobson on the subject among the sixty letters in the series. Correspondents include Jeff Geddes, Henri Quin, Sylvia Kantarizis, Bob Harris, John Millet and Donald Hall.

An annotated manuscript review by John Byrnes of the first two issues is included. John Millett, Mark McGuire, Max Williams and Cheryl Adamson contributed to the second edition.

Folders
1             Issues of Beyond Poetry                                    
2             Letters, 1974-5                                            
3             Letters and contributions                                  

Series 4. Prism books,1976-77

Creatrix edited Prism Books, one of the publishing arms of the Poetry Society of Australia. There are all the stages of development of manuscripts through to publication in this series, including mock-ups and galleys. Writers published by Prism and represented in the collection, include Dorothy Hewett, Max Williams, Jennifer Maiden, Sylvia Kantarizis, Tim Thorne, K.L. Macrae, Dorothy Porter, Stephen Murray, David Malouf, and Robert Adamson.

There is also a scrapbook of reviews, including Poor man's bean, Rapunzel in suburbia, The dragon principle, Little Hoodlum, The amazing scaffold, and The Venice poem (Robert Duncan).

Folders
1               Dorothy Hewett - 'Rapunzel in suburbia' (1976)           
2               Max Williams - 'The poor man's bean' (1976)              
3               Jennifer Maiden - 'The problem of evil' (1976)           
                Sylvia Kantarizis - 'Time & motion'(1976)                
4               Tim Thorne - 'New foundations' (1976)                    
5               K.L. Macrae - 'The amazing scaffold' (1976)              
6               Dorothy Porter - 'Little hoodlum' (1976)                 
7               Stephen Murray - 'The dragon principle' (1976)           
                David Malouf - 'Poems 1975-76' (1977)                    
8               Robert Adamson - 'Across the border' (1977)              
9               Dorothy Porter - 'Bison'                                 
10              Sylvia Kantarizis - typescripts                          
11              Scrapbook of reviews                                     
                (Publication dates are in brackets)                      

Series 5. Miscellaneous writing

The miscellaneous series consists of unpublished poems, plays and prose, works published but not by Prism, and works whose publishing history is uncertain.

With the poems of American Ken Liberman is Desert Roads, and a letter to Cheryl Adamson telling of his intention to publish his Australian poems himself. There are two plays of Dorothy Hewett, one noted as a 'working script'. This play titled "The chapel perilous" was published by Currency Press in 1972. "The big time" is a feature film treatment of the true story of champion boxer Les Darcy, by Norman Ingram. Ingram's letter to Creatrix about publishing it is included. There is a handwritten draft of Space Warp by Dal Stivens, published by Wild & Woolly. Also in the series are some 'alternative' publications, Zilch, and Dadactic.

Folders
1               Ken Liberman - Desert roads                              
                John Montgomery - 'Embers: poems that glow'              
2               Stephen Murray - 'New South Switzerland'                 
3               Stephen Scheding - 'December 13'                         
4               Dorothy Hewett - 'The chapel perilous'                   
                Dorothy Hewett - 'The knight of the long knives'         
5               Norman Ingram - 'The big time'                           
6               Richard Tipping - The image                              
                Jeff Geddes - 'Messages from bottles washed up on empty  
                beaches'                                                 
                Max Williams - 'On the wing'                             
                Steve Walker - 'A coastal town'                          
7               'Memoirs of a protestant girlhood'                       
8               Dal Stivens - 'Space warp'                               
9               Leatherjacket, Abbeys Broadsheets, Zilch, Dadactic       

Series 6. Poetry Society of Australia, 1973-76

The Society's minutes for the four years 1973-76, and the audited statements for 1973-75 are included. The minutes of the poetry meeting of 7 July 1975 are attached to transcripts of poems to be read.

Correspondence is included in folder 3. There is a letter from Rosemary Dobson to Robert Adamson concerning a new Brindabella Press publication Gold coins.

Folders
1             Minutes of Society meetings, 1973-76                       
              Audited accounts, financial statements, 1973-75            
2             Poetry meeting 7 July 1975 - minutes and transcripts       
3             Papers, including correspondence                           

Series 7. Poetry readings, 1975-76

The series of four booked-out poetry readings in the Music Room of the Opera House, organised by Creatrix under the auspices of the Poetry Society of Australia, included Judith Wright, A.D. Hope, Rosemary Dobson, David Campbell, Dorothy Hewett, Rodney Hall, Robert Adamson and John Tranter. Perfomances were on 4 March, 7 June, 5 September and 9 December 1975.

The series consists of correspondence, including letters from Hope and Dobson, a scrapbook, and administrative papers. There is a folder of material relating to other poetry readings.

Folders
1-2             Correspondence,. administrative papers, scrapbook     
3               Subscriptions                                         
4               Invoices, receipts, and payments                      
5               Other poetry readings                                 

Series 8. Robert Adamson

Some personal material of Robert Adamson is in the collection : his application for a Literature Board Fellowship, a letter of congratulations from Richard Walsh for his 1978 Grace Leven poetry prize, and letters from Les Murray concerning contributions for an Australian edition of an American magazine New Letters.

Adamson's brief diary covering 6-16 February (1976?) has loose pages of notes and biographical information compiled for his book Cross the Border.

Folders
1             Correspondence, photographs                                
2             'Where I come from' (typescript)                           
3             'Selected poems' (typescript and review)                   
4             Diary                                                      
5             Notebook - handwritten poems                               

Series 9. Miscellaneous, 1972-79

There are two folders in this series, a miscellaneous one, and a collection of reviews and interviews from the Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian. Most of the reviews were written by Robert Adamson.

The miscellaneous folder consists of single copies of Togatus, and Faikava (April 1978), publicity notices for forthcoming publications, exhibitions, and poetry readings, and information sheets on the history of Berowra and the Windybank family.

Folders
1             Newspaper reviews, interviews                              
2             Miscellaneous                                              

Box list

Box         Series      Folder

1 1 1-7 2 1 8-12 3 2 1-7 4 2 8-12 5 2 13-18 6 2 19-24 7 2 25-27 7 3 1-3 8 4 1-7 9 4 8-11 10 5 1-9 11 6 1-4 11 7 1-5 12 8 1-5 12 9 1-2

Appendix 1

Select list of Correspondents

Bill Beard                         Thomas Shapcott                     
Geoffrey Dutton                    Robert Harris                       
Bruce Beaver                       John Tranter                        
Robert Bertholf                    Eve Abbey                           
Rosemary Dobson                    Ron Blair                           
David Campbell                     Rodney Hall                         
Bruce Dawe                         Garry Hutchinson                    
Jim Davidson                       John Jenkins                        
Fay Zwicky                         Jan Harry                           
Gwen Harwood                       John Millet                         
Albee Thomas                       Michael McClure                     
Vicki Viidikas                     Jennifer Maiden                     
Judith Wright                      Roger McDonald                      
Max Williams                       Finola Moorhead                     
Clive Evatt                        Stephen Murray-Smith                
Alan Wearne                        Judith Rodriguez                    
Stephanie Bennett                  Ian Reid                            
Tony Coleing                       Richard Tipping                     
Jimmy Taylor                       Robert Duncan                       
John Blight                        Tim Thorne                          
Terry Gillmore                     John Caitlin                        
Sylvia Kantarizis                  Michael Denholm                     
Andrew Taylor                      Vidya Sharma                        
Vincent Buckley                    Bill Jones                          
Ron Simpson                        John Montgomery                     
John Blay                          David Brooks                        
Chris Wallace-Crabbe               Stephen Murray                      
Guide prepared October 1995. Last updated 12 July 1996