Series 02: Gillian Mears diaries and notebooks, 2004-2015

MLMSS 10059/Boxes 7-8

series

2004-2005

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Ephemera, Photographs

9604421

0.50 metres of textual material (2 boxes) - manuscript, typescript, clippings, photographs

BOX 7/Folder 7
“Phone calls September 2006-“, summaries of phone conversations with her sister Karin, Marr Grounds and Kaye Watkins, 2006-2007

BOX 7/Folder 8
1. “Stories for A.W Salt”, diary written from Bacolod, Manila and Baguio, the Philippines, with loose pages “My experience in Philippines Jan. 2004” in which she describes Didi and the family she is staying with, the miracle healers Nony Erning, James and Nening, their belief that her MS is the result of a curse, their treatments and predictions that she will walk in a week, her plans for the future, reminiscences and musings on life, 23 January -23 February 2004

2. “Philippines 2004”, diary in which she describes the days in Sydney with Sandy Edwards before arriving in the Philippines, her feelings of frustration and anger at the indignities of MS, doubts about the treatments, descriptions of nails and ants being drawn from her body, memories of life at Applebox in Nymboida, self examinations and introspections, with inserted photographs of Gillian whip-cracking at Grafton, at Elizabeth Island and with Sandy Edwards. Includes miscellaneous notes and a draft letter to Andrew Hall, 22 January- ca. 11 February 2004

BOX 7/Folder 9
1. “The end of 2007 & the Ant and Bee road”, diary in spiral notebook written from Ant and Bee and Adelaide and while looking for house to rent in Adelaide, with notes, jottings, shopping lists, copies of messages from family and friends including Karin, Sandy Edwards, Sharon Jones, Marr Grounds, her thoughts, the end of her relationship with Marr Grounds, with photographs (2), 4 October -27 November 2007

2. “The Cat With the Coloured Tail Nov. 20th 2007-“, diary in spiral notebook written from ‘Ant & Bee’, from Mt. Barker, South Australia, while in Sydney, Dec. 2007, and visiting family in Grafton, Apr. 2008. Includes rough notes and jottings, shopping lists, copies of text messages from family and friends, disappointment at not getting grant to write ‘The Cat With the Coloured Tail’, notes for the book and worries about finances, November 2007-June 2008

BOX 7/Folder 10
1. “The Cat With the Coloured Tail June 2008- a notebook marking all the high hopes for Cat w C Tail then their destruction followed by the realization that I’d have to write Foal’s Bread after all”, spiral notebook with notes, shopping lists, copies of text messages from family and friends including Helen Garner, Sandy Edwards, Tom McVeigh, Sharon Jones, Tracey Price, intermittent diary entries including visit to Melbourne, staying at Strathalbyn Showgrounds in ‘Ant and Bee’ Jan. 2009, thoughts on Tim Winton novel ‘Breath’, notes from meditation, yoga, massage, ‘axial alignment’, and ‘quantum balancing healing’ treatments and thoughts of travelling to Venezuela for MS treatment, 2008-2009

2. “February 2009-“, diary in spiral notebook, mainly written from ‘Ant and Bee’ and from Royal Adelaide Hospital Oct. 2009, with copied text messages from friends and family, rough notes and jottings, shopping lists and Leonard Cohen poems and cuttings, February-October 2009

BOX 8/Folder 1
“Sth America December 2009-“, diary written while in Venezuela seeking a cure from MS, with descriptions of her surroundings, ‘healing’ rituals and medicinal herbs, notes on the treatment made Dec. 2009 and annotated Oct. 2010 and her disillusionment with the treatment, with an inserted folder containing advertisements for Dr Valentin Hampejs and the Shamanic medicine cure and the draft of a letter supporting Bryan Carman’s writing, an inserted folder containing notes to Valentin, lists of medicines, travel notes, pressed leaf from Joan Carpenter and Bryan Carman and map of Venezuela. Also includes examinations of her relationships with her sister Yvonne and others, ruminations on her past, with a letter to be posted to her family in case she should die, letters to her family, Claire Aman, Sandy Edwards, Sharon Jones, Philip Hearnshaw, Stephen Muecke, Victor Barker, December 2009-October 2010

BOX 8/Folder 2
1. “December 2009- Venezuela despair – CWCT despair – Phillip Hearnshaw Babe & Happy Feet producer loved CWCT“, diary in spiral notebook, mainly written while in Venezuela Dec.-Feb. 2010 with Joan Carpenter and Bryan Carman seeking treatment for MS, describing medicinal baths and herb treatments, with notes, shopping lists and copies of text messages from people including her sisters, Roy Bowling, Joan Carpenter, Sandy Edwards, Robert McFarlane, Claire Aman, Gaby Naher. She writes of her planned visit to Marr Grounds, Aug. 2010, plans to see Jane Siberry with her family, the Vincent Long Red Balloon photographic session, her anxiety about lack of agent’s response to ‘Foal’s Bread’, draft letters to Barbara Mobbs, family responses to Foal’s Bread and plans to sell ‘Ant and Bee’, 18 December 2009-August 2010

2. Diary in spiral notebook with ‘Ant and Bee’ party invitation on cover, with inserted and loose cards, letters, photographs, clippings, vehicle maintenance and fishing tips, mobility parking scheme card and other ephemera, meditations on ants, notes on gas and fuel consumption and mechanical repairs, emails from people including Helen Garner, an accident in ‘Ant and Bee’ July 2010, her sadness at selling the van, 2004-December 2011

BOX 8/Folder 3
“January 2011-“, diary in exercise book covered with brown paper and pressed flowers, written while bed-bound at Ray Orr Drive, Mt Barker. She writes of the comfort her cat Milparinka gives her, her frustrations with living, sending final draft of ‘Foal’s Bread’ for editing, preparing to leave the Ray Orr house. Includes loose photographs taken at Marr Ground’s place in 2006, card made for Marr Grounds Dec. 2009, and inserted photographs of her cat and herself, 26 January-11 November 2011 with pressed flowers and notes dated December 2011, March and August 2013

BOX 8/Folder 4
1. “June 2011-“, diary in spiral notebook in which she describes being in Royal Adelaide Hospital for pressure sores, reserving her burial plot at Upper Copmanhurst Cemetery, entries interspersed with rough notes and jottings, drawings, budgets, shopping lists, memories of childhood and young adulthood, copies of text messages from family and friends, notes for Indigenous Literary Fund fundraiser speech in Melbourne Aug. 2012, notes for Foal’s Bread prize acceptance speech and thoughts on her talk at a euthanasia forum, 26 June 2011-January 2013

2. “love oh Wisdom Wisdom Cats please purr for me!”, diary in spiral notebook, with thoughts on dying and funeral costs, the Sydney Writers Festival May 2013, the Vincent Long documentary, the spreading of MS symptoms to her hands, moving back to Ithilien, her treatments while in India with her carer Varsha Bapat, her pain on the death of Varsha, with notes for her speech at her father’s 80th birthday, March 2013-May 2014

BOX 8/Folder 5
1. “Poonthottam Dec. 2013”, diary written while in India, a few pages of entries describing the massage treatments given by Dr Remil, with lists of Ayurvedic medicines, 17 – 27 December 2013

2. Dairy written while at Poonthottam Hospital with a small number of entries and notes about her treatments, 4-28 December 2013

3. “2014”, moon diary with brief entries and post-it notes for medical appointments, daily events and thoughts on life, December 2013-January 2015

BOX 8/Folder 6
1. Moon diary with heart on cover, brief entries and post-it notes in which she writes of the death of her cat Paul Gallico, her relationships with her family, a note “16.5.16 is a day to die if nothing has changed 4 me”, January 2015-January 2016

2. Small address book, no date

Restricted: Access requires readers to sign a copy of the Library's Gillian Mears Archive Special Undertaking Regarding Access. Any requests for access will be referred to the Head of Manuscripts., Expiry Date: 2047-12-31
For access to this collection please submit your request through Ask a Librarian

Copyright status:: In copyright