Skip to content

Papers of Peter Pierce
MSS 027

Collection Title

Papers of Peter Pierce

Collection Identifier

MSS 027

Inclusive date(s)

1980s

Extent and Medium

18 boxes + 8 folios

Category

Literature

Subject: Terms(s)

Subject: Person(s)

Collection Description

Literary papers, consisting of material used in the compilation of The Oxford Literary Guide to Australia (1987). This includes correspondence, photographs, drafts and proofs.

Administrative / Biographical history

Peter Pierce was an Australian academic, writer and literary critic. He held degrees in literature from the University of Tasmania and the University of Oxford, before spending a career championing Australian literature. At his death in 2018, he was Adjunct Professor at Monash University, having spent the previous ten years as Professor of Australian Literature at James Cook University.

He edited or co-edited a number of books on Australian literatures, including The Cambridge History of Australian Literature (2009), The Penguin New Literary History of Australia (assistant editor, 1988), Vietnam Days: Australia and the Impact of Vietnam (1991), Clubbing of the Gunfire: 101 Australian War Poems (1984). He was also a regular literary critic for the Age, Bulletin, Canberra Times and The Sydney Morning Herald.

In 1987, Oxford University Press published The Oxford Literary Guide to Australia. Dr Pierce served as the General Editor. An illustrated guide, the Guide widely discusses Australian literatures including genres 'of popular and serious fiction' as well as booksellers and patrons of literature.

Pierce died in September, 2018.

References:
Author record, Peter Pierce, AustLit (www.austlit.edu.au), St Lucia: The University of Queensland, 2002-. [Retrieved from https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A24550, 29/01/2019].

Sullivan, J. (2018, September 28). Turning Pages: In praise of the late Peter Pierce, champion of Australian writing. The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/turning-pages-in-praise-of-the-peter-pierce-champion-of-australian-writing-20180920-h15moc.html, 29/01/2019.

Acquisition Details

The collection was acquired from Peter Pierce in 1987.

Scope and Content

A collection of literary papers of Peter Piece. The collection consists of material gathered in the preparation of The Oxford Literary Guide to Australia (1987), for which Pierce was the General Editor. The collection consists in the main of three kinds of material, but there is also other material that fall outside of these categories.

1) Correspondence, submissions, comments and other writings by authors and other contributors, researchers, and organisations. Figures represented in this include CJ Koch, Margaret Scott, Les Murray, Colin Thiele.

2) Drafts, galley proofs, typed manuscripts and similar production material. This includes authors' comments and annotations. The material represented demonstrates the editing process right up to the final setting of the book.

3) Photographs, slides, and other audio-visual material such as tape recordings. Not all of these are fully identified, but there is a large number; five of the boxes are mostly this sort of material.

Access Restrictions

Other

Access: Open Access

This collection contains a variety of copyright material. Copyright is held by the creator of each item. Specific conditions for this collection are listed below. If no conditions are stipulated then the standard terms of the Copyright Act apply for published and unpublished items. Digitised material from manuscript collections is provided to clients by UNSW Canberra in good faith for private study and research only, and may not be published or re-purposed without the express and written permission of the individual legal holder of that copyright. Refer also to the UNSW copyright, disclaimer and takedown policy.

Copying: Copying of material authored by Peter Pierce for private study and research is approved.

Existence and Location of Orginals

Special Collections, UNSW Canberra

Disclaimer

This collection contains a variety of copyright material. Copyright is held by the creator of each item. Specific conditions for this collection are listed above. If no conditions are stipulated then the standard terms of the Copyright Act apply for published and unpublished items. Digitised material from manuscript collections is provided to clients by UNSW Canberra in good faith for private study and research only, and may not be published or re-purposed without the express and written permission of the individual legal holder of that copyright. Refer also to the UNSW copyright, disclaimer and takedown policy.

Loading...

Items in Collection

Loading...