Series 01: Literary works authored by Susan Johnson

MLMSS 11801/Boxes 1-35, 53X-54X
MLOH 918/1-11

series

1987-2008

Textual Records, Nonmusical Sound Recordings

9669450

6.2 Metres of textual material (35 boxes and 2 outsize boxes)
audiocassettes - 900 minutes

Messages from Chaos / Susan Johnson Sydney : Harper & Row, 1987.

Box 1

‘Messages from Chaos’ three drafts typescripts with manuscript annotations

Box 2

‘Messages from Chaos’ author profile Harper & Row, 1987
Notes in preparation for ‘Messages from Chaos’
‘Messages from Chaos’ early manuscript drafts
Versions of opening page ‘Messages from Chaos’
‘Messages from Chaos’ typescript with editorial markings by Lynne Segal, Harper & Row

Box 3

‘Message from Chaos’ typescript with manuscript annotations
‘Messages from Chaos’ notes of original ideas especially around Anna including Interview with Emma Felton, typescript draft and additional copies of pages; correspondence with Margaret Connolly regarding a possible film adaptation, 1980-1985, 1990
‘Messages from Chaos’ first draft, ideas including ‘The Man who Loved everybody’ unpublished short story, 1982-1983

Box 4

Stage play adaptation of ‘Messages from Chaos’ by Penelope Wells, 1989; Assessment of ‘Messages from Chaos’ screenplay adaptation by Emma Felton, 1990
‘Messages from Chaos’ galley proofs including cover, 15 December 1986
‘Messages from Chaos’ initial notes, interview questions, articles for research, a preparatory study of novels, retrospective notes, unpublished short story, 1982-1993
Notes for artist profile, publicity Harper Row, ephemera 1940s, 1987

Box 5

Literature Board application including first draft ‘Messages from Chaos’; synopsis of Prophets (Flying Lessons) and copies of articles by Sue Johnson, 1986
‘Flesh and Blood’ bound copy, 1989

9 audiocassettes containing interviews regarding ‘Messages from Chaos’, ‘Flying Lessons’:

1. Mock interview with Alison Stewart re Messages from Chaos, 1987 (MLOH 918/1)
2. Interview with Charles Wright, Flying Lessons, 1987 (MLOH 918/2) (MLOH 918/2)
3. Interview with Geraldine Doogue, Message from Chaos (MLOH 918/3)
4. Interview with Tony Maniaty, Message from Chaos (MLOH 918/4)
5. Interviews with John Woods, 2BL, Lesley Whittaker, 4QK, Message from Chaos (MLOH 918/5)
6. Interview with David Dale, 2BL (MLOH 918/6)
7. Interview with Robert Dessaix on books on writing, 1990 (MLOH 918/7)
8. Interview with Emma Felton (MLOH 918/8)

‘Messages from Chaos’ on two audiocassettes read by Claire Jones, 2000 (MLOH 918/10-11)

Flying lessons / Susan Johnson Port Melbourne : Minerva Australia, 1991.
(Working titles: ‘Prophets’, ‘Tableland’, and ‘Flesh and Blood’)

Box 6

Synopsis of ‘Prophets’, 1986
Photographs of Johnson's great aunt Prene, the inspiration for the Pearl character in 'Flying Lessons'
Notebooks containing manuscript draft chapters ‘Prophets’ chapters 1-4; ‘Tableland’ chapters 5-9; (2) ‘Birthmarks’ Chapter 10
Notes and ideas ‘Prophets’, 1987
Manuscript calendars, ‘Flying Lessons’ family tree
Corrected typescripts
Notebooks: Research notes Flying Lessons; Flesh and Blood chapter drafts, revision and ending
Editing notes (Faber), Chapter

Box 7

Corrected page proofs ‘Flying Lessons’, 1989
‘Flesh and Blood’, bound typescript, 1989
‘Flying Lessons’ uncorrected advance proof, 1990

Box 8

‘Flying Lessons’ Northern Queensland research and correspondence including a 1924 group photograph of Townsville teachers. 1924, 1984-1988
‘Flying Lessons’ Orange people, religious cults and doctrines, research, and correspondence, 1984-1987
‘Flying Lessons’ post World War I research articles, particularly relating to Northern Queensland
‘Flying Lessons’ correspondence with publishers, publicity, notes, photograph of the unveiling of The Sailors` and Soldiers` War Memorial, Cairns, 25 April 1926, letter from Uncle Joe Johnson, 1973 and year 10 (1970) essay on Great Uncle Joseph John Johnson. 1926, 1970-1991
‘Flying Lessons’ first draft, (beginning) 1988; draft extract ‘Tableland’; extract for readings in Canada PEN congress and Adelaide Writers Festival
‘Flying Lessons’ and ‘Messages from Chaos’ reviews, 1987-1990

Box 9

‘Flying Lessons’ research material cults and religious organisations, 1987
‘Flying Lessons’ research material far North Queensland, 1985-1987
‘Flying Lessons’ notes to self, timetable, timeline and family tree, Synopsis, “Review” of Flying Lesson by Susan Johnson, 1986-1987
‘Flying Lessons’ Notebooks and correspondence, 1987
‘Flying Lessons’ correspondence and notebooks, 1987
‘Flying Lessons’ correspondence from “Uncle Joe” 1973-1975 including two typescript essays by Joseph John Johnson: ‘An Old Diggers Experience in the 1914-1918 World War’, and ‘Story of a Lifetime’; Readers Digest issue annotated by Joe Johnson, 1968
‘Flying Lessons’ photographs and postcards relating to World War I and North Queensland, 1908 -1980s

Box 10

‘Flying Lessons’ initial notes and first draft (19 pages), 1985
‘Flying Lessons’ first draft – sections which were replaced, pages which were later replaced, left out entirely or re-written, 1988
‘Flying Lessons’ edited drafts
‘Flying Lessons’ third draft after editing discussions with Louise Adler
‘Prophets’ second draft pages replaced or re-written, 1987
‘Flying Lessons’ Susan Johnson, Port Melbourne : Minerva, 1990 inscribed by the author

A Big Life / Susan Johnson Sydney : Macmillan, 1993.
(Working title: The Alphabet of Love and Hate, Dispossession)

Box 11

A Big Life’ First and second drafts, 1990

Box 12

‘A Big Life’ First drafts chapters 30-33
‘A Big Life’ manuscript Chapters 1-5, 1991
‘A Big Life’ typescript draft, 1993

Box 13

‘A Big Life’ manuscript Chapters 6-15, 1991-1992
‘The Alphabet of Love and Hate’ I and II, planning notes

Box 14

Research material, editing notes, notes regarding interviews, working calendar, photographs of Great Uncle Jack (Brad) Moroney, photocard of ’The Wallabies – Sensational & Comedy Trampolinist & Whirlwind Tumblers’ and aboard the Kitano Maru ship ca 1935; book launch speeches, reviews 1935, 1993
‘A Big Life’ draft United States version, Faber & Faber, Boston, 1993

Box 15

‘A Big Life’ notebook exploring ideas around exile including speech by Peter Carey; book launch material and some speech notes
Reference copy of “The Silver Road’ for Billy Hayes character in ‘A Big Life’, 1990

Box 16

‘A Big Life’ research material relating to vaudeville acts, Blackpool
‘A Big Life’ Susan Johnson, Sydney : MacMillan, 1993 inscribed by the author
‘A Big Life’ early drafts, calendar and timeline, 1991
‘A Big Life’ complete draft
‘A Big Life’ Notebooks: Notes for stories/novels (working towards ‘A Big Life’), ‘The Alphabet of Love and Hate: Dispossession’, ‘My Husbands Heart’, Hong Kong Essay, 1990
‘A Big Life’ jacket proofs, correspondence, publishing proposals, 1993
3 audiocassettes of interviews with the Thompson family, the Acromaniacs and Johnny Hutch, 1991
‘A Big Life’ first draft chapter, unused and replaced chapters
‘A Big Life’ research material, 1990

Hungry ghosts / Susan Johnson Sydney : Pan Macmillan Australia, 1996.
(Working title: The Last Colony)

Box 17

Initial notes, ‘The Last Colony’ including preliminary work on Hong Kong model
Notebooks, London pre ‘The Last Colony’ sketches for characters including Being Louise (precursor to Anne-Louise in Hungry Ghosts); notes for an essay on exile for Australian Book Review; Desperation letter to self, 1993-1994
Manuscript notebooks containing the first draft of ‘The Last Colony’

Box 18

First typescript draft of ‘Hungry Ghosts’, 1994-1995
‘Hungry Ghosts’ second typescript draft, hand corrected

Box 19

Typescript drafts ‘Hungry Ghosts’
‘Hungry Ghosts’ correspondence, corrections, and preliminary end page proofs, 1995-1996

Box 20

Hong Kong desktop notes, working calendar, 1994-1995
Hong Kong correspondence and research material, 1994-1995
Hong Kong background research material for ‘Hungry Ghosts’ 1994-1995
Bound copy ‘Hungry Ghosts, 1995

Box 21

‘Hungry Ghosts’ typescript draft with Ms. Emendations and alterations
‘Hungry Ghosts’ Susan Johnson, Sydney : Pan Macmillan Australia, 1996 inscribed by the author

Box 53X

‘Hungry Ghosts’ proofs including cover proofs, 1996
Hong Kong research material and annotated Library of Congress Calendar, 1994



Box 54X

‘Hungry Ghosts’ First page proofs with extensive Ms. Emendations and alterations by the author, 1996

A better woman: A Memoir / Susan Johnson Milsons Point, N.S.W. : Random House Australia, 1999.
(Working titles ‘A Better Woman: The writing life, motherhood and the body’ and ‘Full Life: A memoir’)

Box 22

‘A Better Woman: The writing life, motherhood and the body’ (working title Full Life: A memoir) early draft pages
‘A Better Woman: The writing life, motherhood and the body’ second page proofs and letter from editor Roberta Ivers

Box 23

‘A Better Woman: The writing life, motherhood and the body’ edited final draft with some emendations by the author and Ms. Afterword
‘A Better Woman: The writing life, motherhood and the body’ typescript draft with some emendations by the author and typesetting markings
Jacket proofs and correspondence, 1998-1999

The broken book / Susan Johnson Crows Nest, N.S.W. : Allen & Unwin, 2004.

Box 24

‘The Broken Book’ notes, drafts and correspondence, unpublished and undated poem ‘The Bride’, 2003-2004
‘The Broken Book’ loose leafed typescript pages, re-worked during various writings

Box 25

‘The Broken Book’ loose leafed typescript pages, re-worked during various writings

Box 26

‘The Broken Book’ loose leafed typescript pages, re-worked during various writings

Box 27

‘The Broken Book’ loose leafed typescript pages, re-worked during various writings

Box 28

‘The Broken Book’ first, second and third drafts, 2002-2003

Box 29

‘The Broken Book’ draft edited and typeset by Bookhouse for Allen & Unwin, October 2003
‘The Broken Book’ unnumbered draft, possibly another copy of the third draft, 2003
‘The Broken Book’ MP3-CD audio book, ABC Audio, 2005 including DVD interview of Susan Johnson by Geraldine Brooks, Sydney
‘The Broken Book’ uncorrected proof, 2004
‘The Broken Book’ promotional material

Box 30

‘The Broken Book’ research material including ‘’Journey of a Wise Electron’ by John Lyssiotis; The Chronicle (to Hroniko); Xponiko ’79; Xponiko, 1980
‘The Broken Book’ notebooks ‘Hydra April 2002’ (1993), Mr and Mrs Meriwether
‘The Broken Book’ research material I, Charmian Clift, Greece, suicide, 2001-2002
‘The Broken Book’ research material II, Charmian Clift, Greece, Hydra, relinquishing mothers, 2001-2003; Notices and working calendar pinned to noticeboard during writing of ‘The Broken Book’; correspondence, readers report from William Morris, London; promotion material

Life in seven mistakes / Susan Johnson North Sydney, N.S.W. : Transworld, 2008.

Box 31

‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ research material, 2007
‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ research material on pottery, religion, and business, 2005-2007
‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ - ‘Every Housewife knows something worth telling’ typescript, 2005
‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ first draft submitted to Allen & Unwin (rejected and subsequently submitted to Random House)
‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ first set of page proofs (uncorrected and discarded due to typeface change), March 2008

Box 32

‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ unsorted, unnumbered pages from 1st, 2nd, and 3rd drafts with manuscript corrections, 2007-2008


Box 33

‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ unsorted, unnumbered pages from 1st, 2nd and 3rd drafts of present versions, 2006-2008

Box 34

‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ final proof edit, 2008
‘My Hundred Lovers’ “The very first version of ‘Life in Seven Mistakes’. Some of the characters’ names appear here first – Elizabeth (originally Caroline) Ellen (Pat)…”, 2005
‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ early draft of current form given to Patrick Gallagher at Allen & Unwin, 2006
‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ publicity schedule; AFR Magazine recommendation, 2008
‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ partial first draft and assorted pages from other drafts, 2007

Box 35

‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ Photocopy of first set of page proofs returned to Random House, 2008
Pages from a work in progress ‘My Hundred Lovers’ contracted by Allen & Unwin for possible publication in 2010
‘My Hundred Lovers’ second manifestation (an early form of ‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ but totally discarded), 2005
‘Life in Seven Mistakes’ origins - ‘How to Cook a Man’, ‘The Magic Mirror of Life’, 2006

Restricted: Access requires written permission from Susan Johnson
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Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder