Rosemary Creswell papers, 1981-2000

MLMSS 8943

fonds

1981-2000

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Clippings, Ephemera, Photographs

395422

0.97 metres of textual material (6 boxes)

Rosemary Creswell, literary agent, editor and author, was born in Sydney, New South Wales, in 1941. She was awarded a doctorate in English Literature from the University of Sydney in 1978, and worked there as a teaching fellow. She also worked in advertising and radio, and as a book reviewer and occasional journalist.

In 1979 she established Rosemary Creswell Literary Agency. In 1991 the agency merged with the creative division of Cameron's Management to form Cameron Creswell.

Creswell edited Home and Away, published by Penguin Books, 1997; with Jean Bedford, co-authored Colouring In, published by McPhee Gribble, 1986; and wrote Lovers and Others, published by McPhee Gribble, 1989. She also collaborated with Carol Manners on To Sleep, To Die, a book of crime fiction published under the joint pseudonym 'Ruth Clarement', published by McPhee Gribble, 1989.

Creswell retired from the Cameron Creswell agency in 2006. In 2008 she received an OAM for service to literature, particularly through the promotion and support of Australian writers.

References:

Compiled from the collection

The Australia Literature Resource (Austlit), ‘Creswell, Rosemary’. http://www.austlit.edu.au (accessed 15/5/2013)

Rosemary Creswell papers, printed material and ephemera. The collection includes personal and business correspondence, notes, literary manuscripts, screenplays, essays, articles, book reviews, books, cards and postcards, 1981-2000.

BOX 1
Five folders of papers, including printed material, concerning Colouring In: a Book of Ideologically Unsound Love Stories, by Jean Bedford and Rosemary Creswell, published by McPhee Gribble in association with Penguin, 1986. Material includes a copy of the published book; typescript and handwritten draft manuscripts with corrections; draft cover artwork; and correspondence between McPhee Gribble and Creswell regarding editorial changes; ca. 1985-1986

Two folders of papers concerning a proposed telemovie adaptation of Colouring In. Material includes a progress report, correspondence with the Script Development Office of the Australian Film Commission, and draft copies of the screenplay; ca. 1988

BOX 2
Five folders of papers, including printed material, concerning Lovers and Others: Stories, by Rosemary Creswell, published by McPhee Gribble, 1989. Material includes a copy of the published book, and typescript draft manuscripts with corrections and notes by publisher Hilary McPhee and Creswell; ca. 1988-1989

BOX 3 - RESTRICTED
Folder 1: Papers concerning Home and Away: Travel Stories, edited by Rosemary Creswell, published by Penguin Books, 1987. Material includes a typescript draft manuscript with corrections by Creswell. Contributors include Geoffrey Bewley, Jane Graham, Suzanne Falkiner, Thomas Shapcott, Gerard Windsor, Jean Bedford, Glenda Adams, Susan Pointon, Angelo Loukakis, David Malouf, Sylvia Lawson, Andrew Taylor, Alison Broinowski, Helen Garner, Beverley Farmer, Marian Eldridge, Frank Moorhouse, Kate Grenville, Tony Maniaty, Carmel Kelly, Michael Haig, Pauline Marrington, Allan Baillie and Elizabeth Jolley; ca. 1986

Folder 2: Papers concerning Home and Away: Travel Stories. Material includes typescript draft manuscripts; correspondence with some contributing authors, including responses regarding the obtaining of permissions for stories used in the anthology; and material submitted and short-listed for the anthology but not used, including stories by Nicholas Jose, John Timlin and John Clanchy; ca. 1985-1986

BOX 4
Three folders of papers concerning To Sleep, To Die, by Ruth Clarement, published by McPhee Gribble, 1989. To Sleep, To Die was written by Rosemary Creswell under the pseudonym Ruth Clarement, with plotting by Carol Manners, who also contributed to the structure of the book. Material includes the first typed draft manuscript with handwritten editorial notes by Creswell and Manners; further typed draft manuscripts with corrections; correspondence and structural notes by Carol Manners; and a final typed manuscript; ca. 1989

BOX 5 – RESTRICTED

Folder 1: 33 letters and faxes between Frank Moorhouse and Creswell, 1990-1995

Folder 2: 51 postcards, cards and invitations received by Creswell. Correspondents include Peter Corris, Gabrielle Carey, Nicholas Jose, Andrea Stretton, George Papaellinas, Virginia Lloyd, Maureen de Vallance, John Kerr, David Foster, Gerda Foster, Helen Hodgman, Karin Petersen-Schaeffer, Jane Cameron, Lyn Tranter, Steve Wright, Carmen Callil, Thomas Shapcott, Roger McDonald, Frank Moorhouse, Jean Bedford, Margaret Combs, Robyn Read, Suzanne Falkiner, Stephen Knight, Carol Manners and Les Murray; 1 black & white photograph, no date; ca. 1990-1999

Folder 3: Papers, including handwritten notes and copies of essays, articles and reviews written by Creswell. Material includes copies of Oh My Beloved Father; The Sea, the Sea; New York: Where Australian Writing is Becoming ‘Real Big’; Wake on West Side; and Women and Depression, a synopsis of a proposed book. Also included is an article for Gleebooks Gleaner, May 2000, concerning the relationship of the Creswell Agency and Gleebooks; ca. 1986-2000

Folders 4-5: Papers including correspondence, photocopies of book reviews, articles and letters to newspapers. Correspondents include Don Anderson, Jean Bedford, Jim Crace, Jennifer Byrne, Garry Disher, Nicholas Jose, Paul Keating, and Stephen Knight. Material also includes correspondence concerning expatriate Australian sculptor Barbara Tribe, 1996; a photocopy of Creswell’s statement to the New South Wales Police concerning Sallie-Anne Huckstepp and Arthur (Neddy) Smith, 1995; and correspondence with film producers concerning a potential film of Creswell’s story Painting from Memory, 1996; ca. 1981-1998

BOX 6
Seven folders of papers concerning the proposed film of Painting from Memory, Creswell’s story from the book Lovers and Others, published by McPhee Gribble, 1989. Material includes correspondence, notes, and typescript draft screenplays with notes and corrections by Creswell and producer Mike Wilcox; ca. 1990-1991

Partly restricted: Applies to MLMSS 8943/ Boxes 3 and 5 Restriction to be reviewed in 2020

Copyright status:: In copyright - This collection has multiple rights owners
Approval for reproduction required:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Information upgraded as part of the Manuscripts Unprocessed eRecords project 2012-2013

See also MLMSS 7788, copied onto microfilm CY 4773 (96 frames): CRESWELL, Benjamin (schoolmaster) - Diary, 25 June 1849 - 17 Feb. 1852. Acquired Dec. 1989.