Robin Hyde papers, 1936-1938

Aw 99

fonds

1936-1938

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Photographs

916022

1 folder of textual material - manuscript, typescript

Robin Hyde, born Iris Guiver Wilkinson in Cape Town, South Africa, in 1906, moved with her parents to New Zealand soon after her birth. Growing up in Wellington, she started her career as a journalist at the ‘Dominion’ newspaper in 1923, later writing articles, columns and poetry for several other New Zealand newspapers and becoming well-known for her outspoken comments on contemporary society. In Sydney, Australia, in 1926, her first son was born and died, prompting her to adopt his name, Robin Hyde, as her pen-name. During the 1930s she wrote prolifically, producing novels and poetry collections in addition to her work as a journalist, mostly while living at Grey Lodge, part of Auckland Mental Hospital, following a suicide attempt. She travelled to the China-Japan war front in 1938, then continued to England, where she took her own life in 1939. Hyde’s best-known novels are ‘Passport to hell’ (1936), ‘Nor the years condemn’ (1938) and ‘The godwits fly’ (1938).

Reference:
Jacqueline Matthews. 'Hyde, Robin', Dictionary of New Zealand Biography, first published in 1998. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Accessed 18 January 2021. https://teara.govt.nz/en/biographies/4h41/hyde-robin

Item 1
Letter from Robin Hyde to Ida Leeson, Mitchell Librarian, 28 April 1937, relating to Charles de Thierry, Auckland, and the holdings of the Mitchell Library

Items 2, 3 and 4
Holograph letters (2) from Robin Hyde to Warwick Lawrence, 25 March 1936 and 24 March 1938, with enclosure of a poem, Graven on Excalibur

Item 5
Photograph of a group in China, including Robin Hyde

Items 6 and 7
Autograph letters (2) from Robin Hyde to Eric Ramsden, 3 February 1937 and 9 February 1937, relating to her book, Check To Your King

Item 8
Holograph letter from Robin Hyde to Eric Ramsden, ca. February 1937
(page 1 not located, January 2011)

Items 9 and 10
Holograph letter from Robin Hyde to Dr. Day, 9 August 1936, with enclosure of letter from J. D. Stark to Iris Wilkinson, 4 August 1936

Out of copyright:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales

Compiled from the Manuscripts A file as part of the eRecords Project, 2010-2011