Cirrus@Austlit

'Intimate Archives explores the issues involved in using archival material to research the personal lives of public people, in this case of Australian writers Marjorie Barnard (1897-1987), Alieen Palmer (1915-1988) and Lesbia Harford (1891-1927). The book gives an insight into the romantic experiences of the three female writers, based on their private letters, diaries and notebooks held in the National Library of Australia and other public institutions.

Maryanne Dever, Ann Vickery and Sally Newman consider the ethical dilemmas of researching private material and discovering the "truths" revealed within. In this sense, the book is both an introverted contemplation of private affairs and an extroverted meditation on the right to acquire and assume intimate knowledge.' (Publisher's blurb)

'My Brilliant Career was written by Stella Franklin (1879-1954) when she was just nineteen years old. The novel struggled to find an Australian publisher, but was published in London and Edinburgh in 1901 after receiving an endorsement from Henry Lawson. Although Franklin wrote under the pseudonym 'Miles Franklin', Lawson’s preface makes it clear that Franklin is, as Lawson puts it 'a girl.'

'The novel relates the story of Sybylla Melvyn, a strong-willed young woman of the 1890s growing up in the Goulburn area of New South Wales and longing to be a writer.' (Publication summary)