Guide to the Papers of Bruce Pascoe
MS 9746
National Library of Australia
| Date completed: | December 2003 |
| Last updated: | September 2009 |
© National Library of Australia. All rights reserved.
Table of Contents
Collection Summary
Introduction
Scope and Content
Arrangement
Access
Copying and Publishing
Preferred Citation
Provenance
Biographical Note
Series List and Descriptions
Series 1 Correspondence, 1983-1998
Series 2 Australian short stories, 1991-1998
Series 3 Pascoe Publishing, 1987-1999
Series 4 Writings of Bruce Pascoe, 1993-1999
Series 5 Miscellaneous papers, 1994
Container List
Collection Summary
| Creator: | Pascoe, Bruce, 1947- |
| Title: | Papers of Bruce Pascoe |
| Date Range: | 1983-1999 |
| Collection Number: | MS 9746 |
| Extent: | 4.06m (29 boxes) |
| Repository: | National Library of Australia |
Introduction
Scope and Content
The main part of the collection comprises papers relating to the editing and publishing of issues No. 36 to No. 61 of Australian short stories. There is correspondence with contributors and edited drafts of stories, all of which provide a good representation of the life and history of the magazine. There is also correspondence and edited drafts relating to several books published by Pascoe Publishing and edited drafts and correspondence relating to books written by Pascoe himself.
Arrangement
The papers have been placed into series by the Library, and the correspondence sorted into chronological order by year.
Provenance
The papers were acquired by the Library from Bruce Pascoe in two instalments, one in 1998 and one in 1999.
Copying and Publishing
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred Citation
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Bruce Pascoe, National Library of Australia, MS 9746, [series and/or folder number]'.
Biographical Note
Bruce Pascoe was born in Richmond, Victoria, on 11 October 1947. After graduating from Melbourne University with a Bachelor of Education, he taught as a secondary teacher and was a Curriculum Development Officer with the Victorian Education Department.
With his wife, Lyn Harwood, Pascoe manages Pascoe Publishing, a small company that has published works in a variety of genres including novels, anthologies of poetry and short stories, history, biography and Aboriginal culture.
In 1982 Pascoe and Harwood founded the quarterly magazine, Australian short stories, which they edited and published until 1998.
Pascoe has written twelve books, including four novels and won the Fellowship of Australian Writers' Literature Award in 1999.
As a member of the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative, Pascoe is very involved in indigenous issues and conducts guided Koori tours around his home area of Apollo Bay and Cape Otway in Victoria.
Series List and Descriptions
Series 1 Correspondence, 1983-1998
Contained in this series is correspondence, mainly with contributors to Australian short stories and relating to projects undertaken by Pascoe Publishing. Correspondents include Barry Dickens, Elizabeth Jolley, Ian Middleton, Ba Phillipps and Thomas Shapcott. There is correspondence relating to a project involving Pascoe and Chester Eagle, who were approached by Professor Zhu Jiong Qiang, from Hangzhou University in China, to produce an anthology of Australian short stories in Chinese translation. Funding for the project was received from the Literature Board of the Australia Council. The book was published by Zhejiang Publishing House, Hangzhou in 1992. There are also four audio-cassette tapes of 'letters' (1994-1995) from the New Zealand author, Ian Middleton, who is blind.
Series 2 Australian short stories, 1991-1998
In 1982 Bruce Pascoe and Lyn Harwood founded the quarterly magazine Australian short stories. The magazine published a wide range of quality short stories by Australian authors and provided a forum for promoting the genre. Over the years, the works of over 500 authors, both established and emerging, were published in the magazine. Many of these authors, for example Gillian Mears, Matthew Condon, Steven Carroll and Tom Flood, went on to become well-known names in Australian literature. The final issue under their editorship was No. 61, which was published in 1998.
The bulk of this series comprises papers relating to the editing and production of issues No. 36 (published in 1991) to No. 61 of the magazine. There is correspondence with contributors and edited drafts of stories. There are also administrative files relating to sponsorship and television advertising and a file relating to alleged plagiarism by the author of one of the short stories published in the magazine.
Note: no papers were received for issue No. 55.
Series 3 Pascoe Publishing, 1987-1999
Pascoe Publishing is a small publishing firm operated by Pascoe and his partner, Lyn Harwood. This series contains papers relating to various publications by Pascoe Publishing. They comprise mainly edited drafts, together with some correspondence with authors.
See also Series 4 for papers relating to Cape Otway: coast of secrets.
Folder 1-4 The babe is wise: contemporary stories by Australian women, edited by Lyn Harwood, Bruce Pascoe and Paula White. Published in 1987. Correspondence (1986-1987) and edited drafts.
Folder 7 The factory, Lyn Hughes. Published in 1990. A small amount of correspondence (1989-1990) and a segment of typescript.
Folder 8-10 Women of the centre, edited by Adele Pring. Published in 1990. Correspondence (1987-1992) and edited drafts.
Folder 13-15 Border country: poetry, Irene Allan. Published in 1991. Correspondence (1988-1992), edited typescripts and proofs.
Folder 16-22 A family under the jackboot, Hans Roland. Published in 1993. Small amount of correspondence (1990-1993) and edited drafts.
Folder 23-24 Luna Park at night, Judith Clarke. Published in 1991. Small amount of correspondence (199-1991), edited typescripts and publicity material.
Folder 25-26 Post Office Restaurant and other stories, Barry Dickens. Published in 1992. Edited drafts.
Folder 29-33 Folly, Dany Falconer Flint. Published in 1993. Small amount of correspondence (1991-1994), synopsis and edited drafts.
Folder 34-40 Fabulous at 50, edited by Bruce Pascoe and Lyn Harwood. Published in 1995. Anthology of short stories to mark the 50th edition of Australian short stories. Correspondence relating to publicity and the launch of the book and edited drafts and proofs.
Folder 41-47 Wathaurong: too bloody strong: stories and life journeys of people from Wathaurong, edited by Bruce Pascoe. Published in 1997. Correspondence, papers relating to an unsuccessful grant application to the Australia Council and edited drafts and proofs. Sixteen audio-cassette tapes containing oral histories relating to the project (1994-1995)
Series 4 Writings of Bruce Pascoe, 1993-1999
As well as editing and publishing the work of others, Pascoe has had his own works published. This series comprises manuscript and typescript drafts of three books written by Pascoe and one, Cape Otway: coast of secrets, written by both Pascoe and Lyn Harwood. There is also a small amount of correspondence, mostly with Pascoe's publisher, Magabala Books, in particular with Bruce Sims, regarding editing and publication of his books. Magabala Books is a publishing house specialising in publishing works which have major Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander involvement.
Folder 1-12 Ruby-eyed coucal
Published by Magabala Books, Broome, WA in 1996. Correspondence (1993-1998), rough notes, newspaper cuttings edited typescripts and proof copy. Three computer discs (5 ¼") containing drafts.
Folder 13-16 Cape Otway: coast of secrets
Published by Pascoe Publishing in 1997. Edited manuscript and typescript drafts and promotional material for attractions in the Cape Otway region.
Series 5 Miscellaneous papers, 1994
This series contains a small group of miscellaneous material accumulated by Pascoe, comprising mostly drafts of writings by others.
Folder 1-2 Wendy and Allan Scarfe
Typescript draft (nd) of All that grief: migrant recollections of Greek resistance to fascism, 1941-1949, compiled by Wendy and Allan Scarfe. They had hoped that Pascoe would be interested in publishing the work, but it was published by Hale and Iremonger, Sydney, in 1994. There is also a typescript entitled 'Theodoros Sidiropoulos 'and a copy of Shadow and flowers by Wendy Scarfe, published by Nosukumo, Melbourne in 1984.
Folder 3-8 Boys and balls
Papers relating to Boys and balls, written by Brian Nankervis and published by Allen & Unwin in 1994. It appears that Pascoe was involved in editing the text. There are edited typescripts, a small amount of correspondence (1994) and a bound copy of the script of a 55-minute documentary of the same title, written by Nankervis and Sue Thomson.
Container List
| Series | Folder/Item | Box |
| 1 | 1-8 | 1 |
| 1 | 8a-15 | 2 |
| 1 | 16-22 | 3 |
| 2 | 1-7 | 4 |
| 2 | 8-13 | 5 |
| 2 | 14-18 | 6 |
| 2 | 19-24 | 7 |
| 2 | 25-32 | 8 |
| 2 | 33-38 | 9 |
| 2 | 39-44 | 10 |
| 2 | 45-50 | 11 |
| 2 | 51-56 | 12 |
| 3 | 1-7 | 13 |
| 3 | 8-15 | 14 |
| 3 | 16-19 | 15 |
| 3 | 20-22 | 16 |
| 3 | 23-28 | 17 |
| 3 | 29-33 | 18 |
| 3 | 34-37 | 19 |
| 3 | 38-40 | 20 |
| 3 | 41-44 | 21 |
| 3 | 45-49 | 22 |
| 4 | 1-4 | 23 |
| 4 | 5-7 | 24 |
| 4 | 8-10 | 25 |
| 4 | 11-15 | 26 |
| 4 | 16-20 | 27 |
| 4 | 21-23 | 28 |
| 5 | 1-2 | 28 |
| 5 | 3-9 | 29 |