Jesse Blackadder literary papers

MLMSS 12159/Boxes 1-12
MLMSS 12159/Box 13X

fonds

1980-2016

Textual Records, Clippings

9679645

2.22 metres of textual material (12 boxes, 1 outsize box)
175 digital files - 34.9MB

Dr Jesse Blackadder grew up on Sydney’s North Shore but was based in Mullumbimby in NSW's Northern Rivers. She was an award-winning author of four novels for adults and 5 novels for children, an emerging screenwriter, a journalist, public speaker, creative writing teacher and youth literacy advocate. Jesse was twice awarded the Australian Antarctic Arts Fellowship. She contributed to the wider literary community in her role as peer assessor for the Australia Council and Create NSW, and as founder and project leader of the Byron Bay Writers Festival's StoryBoard program (2016). Jesse served on the board of the Byron Bay Writers Festival from 2011 until her death in 2020 of pancreatic cancer at the age of 56. Jesse Blackadder was openly part of the LGBTQI community in NSW.
Source: Compiled from file

Comprises Jesse Blackadder’s literary papers, related to the creation of her adult novels ‘In the Blink of an Eye’, ‘Chasing the Light’, ‘The Raven’s Heart’, ‘After the Party’, her children’s novels ‘Paruku’, ‘Dexter’, ‘Ringo’, ‘Stay' and the ‘Dreamrider’ series, and the unpublished manuscript ‘Motherland’ (restricted). The collection also contains early unpublished writing, research notes, diaries/journals, selected manuscript drafts, revisions, publisher proofs, screen adaptations, correspondence and publicity materials

Box 1
Early Writing
Early Writings Folder 1, 1980s
Early Writings Folder 2, 1980s
Erotic Writing Anthology 1989, story and correspondence, 1989
Planetarium: Synopsis and 3 chapters, 1994
Unpublished short stories, including correspondence, 1994-2002
Unpublished novella ‘Alfalfa Revenge’ including correspondence, 1998
Handwritten prose and poems, early 2000s
River Red Parts I and II, Project for Master of Applied Science, 1994
Landscape and Connection, Ecopsychology Project, 2nd semester Master of Applied Science, 1996

Box 2
Material related to children’s fiction Paruku, Dexter, Stay and Dreamrider Series, and adult novel Sixty Seconds (published in the USA as ‘In the Blink of an Eye’ with draft name ‘This Doesn’t Happen to Us’)

Paruku
First edit with revisions, May 2013
Corrected Proof copy, 15 May 2013
Paruku handwritten working notes
Feedback, review, promotional material

Dexter
Handwritten brainstorming, 29 November 2013
Final 1st draft revision, 20 January 2014
Publisher’s corrected proof, 15 May 2014
Review
DIGITAL: final read editor queries

Ringo
Draft of unpublished manuscript 2013

Stay
Chapter 1, reader’s report, correspondence and reviews
DIGITAL: drafts, media releases, editor’s queries, pre proof copy, biography of story and teacher’s notes

Dreamrider Series
DIGITAL: series overview, marketing ideas, drafts for Storm

This Doesn’t Happen to Us (published in USA as ‘In the Blink of an Eye’ and in Australia as ’Sixty Seconds’)
Draft 2, March 2016
Draft 3, 2016
Coroner’s report research 2014, Sixty Seconds promo, publicity, launch speech, list of digital files
DIGITAL: Screenwriting drafts, novel drafts, editor notes, publisher correspondence, film pitch, brochures


Box 3
Chasing the Light (working titles Pelagia/Icebreakers)
Pelagia
Working Copy 2011
First Draft and feedback notes, 2010-11
Act 1 Draft 2 final set of revisions for Gail 30, March 2011 (2 versions)
Working notes interviews, 2012

Box 4
Notebooks 1-5, 2009-2012 containing notes, interviews, journals, notes from Varuna residency, journal from Australian Antarctic Fellowship, 2011
Icebreakers draft 1 with editor and writing group comments, 2012
Chasing the Light Proof, Author’s copy, 22 August 2012

Box 5
Chasing the Light (working titles Pelagia/Icebreakers)
Supervisor feedback 11 December 2012
Bound Novel and exegesis (2 volumes) for Doctorate of Creative Arts, University of Western Sydney, October 2013
Examiner’s notes and correspondence, 2013-2014
Research from Davis Station
Research Material - Lars Christensen’s diaries
Research on Ingrid Christensen, Klarius Mikkelsen, and Jesse’s speech at Whaling Symposium, 2013

Box 6
The Queen’s Favourite/The Raven’s Heart
6 A4 notebooks numbered 1-4, Sitka, 5 containing handwritten drafts, notes 2004-2007

The Raven’s Heart (working title The Queen’s Favourite)
Bound copy Handwritten edits, 2007 includes letter to self, reflecting on Kate Grenville’s Secret River

Box 7
The Raven’s Heart (working title The Queen’s Favourite)
Jesse’s copy Writer’s Group feedback, 2007
Draft 5, 2008-2009

Box 8
The Raven’s Heart (working title The Queen’s Favourite) and After the Party (working titles Whale Song/Leap of Faith)

The Queen’s Favourite
Feedback, research in Scotland, planning, feedback from local writing group
Notes on Characters and Acts 1,2 and 3
Raven’s Heart folder containing Harper Collins published feedback, contract, feedback SA, marketing and awards

Whale Song/Leap of Faith/After the Party
Whale Song first draft, 2000
Leap of Faith Draft to Random House Bryson Agency with letters and synopsis, 2001

Box 9
After the Party (working titles Whale Song/Leap of Faith)
Leap of Faith tentative 3rd draft, 2003
After the Party copy for Hardie Grant Kirsten Abbott, 2004
After the Party proof copy with annotations, 2005

Box 10
After the Party (working titles Whale Song/Leap of Faith)
After the Party publishing correspondence, film agreement, 2001-2005
After the Party publicity, 2005-2010
Handwritten notebooks/journals:
March 2000-August 2000
July 2000-October 2000
June 2001-July 2001
July-September 2001


Box 11
Motherland (RESTRICTED until 2074)
Handwritten notes incl edit notes
Outline, untitled and date unknown
Application for Varuna
Diary extracts prior to first draft, written material from Varuna and earlier
First draft, untitled, date unknown with annotations
First draft completed at Varuna 1993
Second draft, 1993

Box 12
Motherland (RESTRICTED until 2074)
Third draft, October 1993
Single sheet literary evening invitation
Extracts with authors and others’ comments, 1993
Revision with writers’ group comments, 1999
Hard bound copy accepted by Allen and Unwin, 1999
Revision notes and correspondence, 2003
Draft 5.2, June 2004
Publisher correspondence, 1993 and 1998
DIGITAL: Additional digital material [Restricted]

Box 13X
Scrapbook ‘Chasing the Light’
Scrapbook ‘Raven’s Heart’

Foreign editions:
1. French Edition: Sixty Seconds by Jesse Blackadder (Quelques seconds d'inattention) translated by Celine Cruickshanks, published by Presses de la Cite, 2020
2. Mandarin Edition: Sixty Seconds by Jesse Blackadder, published by Beijing United Publishing Co. Ltd
3. United States Edition: In the Blink of an Eye by Jesse Blackadder, published by St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2019

Partly restricted: All material related to Motherland (print Boxes 11 and 12 and digital material in Motherland folder) is restricted until 2074. , Expires: 2074-03-08

Copyright restrictions may apply:
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy copyright holder