Victor Kelleher further literary papers, ca. 2003-ca. 2011

MLMSS 9625

fonds

ca. 2003-ca. 2011

Textual Records, Clippings, Photographs

989561

1.2 metres of textual material (6 boxes)

Victor Kelleher, teacher and writer, moved with his parents to Africa at the age of fifteen; then he spent the next twenty years travelling, studying and teaching. He completed his university education in South Africa and has taught at universities in South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. He settled in Australia with his South African wife Alison and family in 1976. Kelleher took up an academic position at the University of New England, Armidale, before moving to Sydney to pursue his writing full time.

Kelleher turned his nostalgia for Africa into fiction by writing firstly short stories, and then novels. In 1979 he wrote his first novel, 'Voices from the River'. Further writings on Africa include 'Africa and After', written in 1983 and republished in 1987 as 'The Traveller', and 'Em's Story', written in 1988, which describes a journey through the Kalahari desert undertaken by Emma Wilhelm and recorded sixty years later by her granddaughter, Eva.

Kelleher then took a new and very successful direction into children's fiction, subsequently winning three Children's Book Council Awards, a Peace Prize for children's literature and various children's choice awards. In 'Forbidden Paths of Thual', his first children's novel, Kelleher drew on his own childhood memories to write in ways that appeal to young children, recreating a world that delighted him as a child. In addition to young adult fiction, Kelleher has written further for adults, including a science fiction novel 'The Beast of Heaven', about nuclear weapons and the effects of war, which owes much to the Australian landscape. His well-known novel 'Micky Darlin', 1992, is made up of nineteen linked stories, set in wartime and postwar London and recounts the experiences of an Irish boy and his relationship with his grandparents. Kelleher's 'Red Heart', published in 2001, focuses on global warming and environmental destruction.

Reference:
http://www.austlit.edu.au (accessed 16/12/2014)

Victor Kelleher further literary papers, ca. 2003-ca. 2011, including manuscripts, proofs, and correspondence related to twelve titles.

BOX 1
Annotated draft typescripts and correspondence, ca. 2003-2004, including edited second draft, 2004, related to the novel 'Dogboy' published by Penguin Books, 2005. Also includes printing proof from Penguin Books for 'Dogboy', 2005.

BOX 2
Folder of correspondence including printed email related to the publication of 'Dogboy', ca. 2004. Preliminary handwritten notes, outline, structure, episodes and fragments for 'Dogboy' (Shaman/Rainmaker), ca. 2004-2005. Printing proof from Penguin Books for 'Dogboy', 2005. Folder related to the novel 'Born of the Sea' published by Viking in 2003 and the Horror Award, ca. 2003-2004, including clippings and correspondence.

BOX 3
Fourteen folders and envelopes of literary papers relating to the 'Gibblewort the Goblin' children’s book series and the novel, ‘the Grimes Family’ published from 2003. Includes preliminary handwritten notes on outline and structure, typescript drafts, annotated proofs, correspondence and fragments from ca. 2003 to 2011. Of the Goblin series, titles represented include 'Goblin at the Beach', 'Goblin in the City', 'Goblin in the Rainforest', 'Goblin on the Reef', 'Goblin in the Snow', 'Goblin at the Zoo' and a ‘bindup’ compilation edition.

BOX 4
Papers related to 'Where's God', published in 2005, including; two manuscripts, one clean and the other marked 'rejects'; photocopied proofs with illustrations and text; a folder of correspondence including mainly printed emails. Papers related to 'What Dino Saw', published in 2004, including; three manuscript printouts, one marked 'final edited version'; two photocopied proofs; correspondence being mainly printed emails and roughs of illustrations.

BOX 5
Papers related to 'Tim & Tig' from the 'Aussie Nibbles' series published in 2007 including; five manuscript printouts; four printed proofs; and correspondence being mainly printed emails. Papers related to 'Birthing' - story in The Wicked Wood, gathered by Isobelle Carmody and Nan McNab published in 2011, including seven manuscript printouts variously annotated; and correspondence being mainly printed emails between author, publisher, editor and Isobelle Carmody

BOX 6
Papers related to 'The Magic Violin', published in 2006, including; three manuscript printouts; three printing proofs; and correspondence being mainly printed emails between author and publisher. Papers related to 'Spaceman Bill' published in 2004 including; five manuscript printouts variously annotated; and correspondence being mainly printed emails between author and publisher.

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