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Papers of Vera Newsom
MSS 100

Collection Title

Papers of Vera Newsom

Collection Identifier

MSS 100

Inclusive date(s)

1980 to 1986

Extent and Medium

2 boxes

Category

Literature

Subject: Terms(s)

Subject: Person(s)

Collection Description

Literary papers, including notebooks and drafts of poetry.

Administrative / Biographical history

Vera Newsom was a British-born Australian poet. She emigrated from the United Kingdom to New Zealand at seven (1919), moving to Australia in her teens. Her family encouraged her to pursue academic goals, and was strongly supportive of the suffragette and early feminist movements. She spent over 40 years working as a teacher in both state and private schools, during which time she laid aside her interest in poetry.

In the late 1970s, she co-founded the Round Table Poets. Her first collection of poetry, Midnight Snow was published by Hale & Ironmonger in 1988. Newsom was 76. Following that, she went on to publish five more collections, The Apple and the Serpent (1992), Emily Bronte Re-Collects and Other Poems (1995), High Tide (2000), and A Psalm of Rejoicing and Other Poems (2005), Gratia: New and Selected Poems (2006).

She was awarded several Fellowships throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, including twice from the Australia Council and repeatedly from the Varuna Writers' House. Emily Bronte Re-Collects and Other Poems (1995) was awarded the Book Award for Poetry by the Society of Women Writers NSW.

In 2003, Vera Newsom was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for "service to literature as a poet and through support for the emerging talent of other writers".

References:
Author record, Vera Newsom, AustLit (www.austlit.edu.au), St Lucia: The University of Queensland, 2002-. [Retrieved from https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A20748 24/01/2019].

Acquisition Details

The collection was acquired from Vera Newsom in one consignment in 1989.

Scope and Content

A collection of literary papers of Vera Newsom, created during the 1980s. Much of the collection are typed manuscripts of her poetry, collected in folders. The collection also includes five of Newsom's notebooks.

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: No copying 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.

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Items in Collection

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