Hidden in the stacks of the Fryer Library are multiple manuscripts of the late Australian literary author Thea Astley.
In truth my education on Australian literature had been crude at best, Fryer librarian Penny Whiteway admitted that she too had not been exposed to this lauded author either.
The reasons for Astely’s exclusion from Australian education will not be looked into here. Instead the Fryer Library must be celebrated for prying into its vaults and exposing fragments from Australian history in its Treasure of the Month spectacle.
Thea Astley was the star of October. Her display consisted of the ‘typer’, a Hermes ‘Baby’ typewriter used to express her creative masterpieces in print form between the 50s and 70s; transcripts of the Miles Franklin Award winning The Slow Natives; and cigarettes to emphasise her addictive nicotine habit.
The display is just a glimpse of a 23 box collection that contains among other things, another ‘typer’ purchased in the 1980s; handwritten drafts and edited typescripts of her novels; awards including her 1992 Order of Australia medal; and her Bachelor of Arts Certificate from The University of Queensland in 1948.
The existence of such material is a treasure trove for researchers keen to learn about Astley or even perhaps mid twentieth century publishing trends in Australia. Penny Whiteway exclaims that the breadth of material “shows the evolution from the very early books to the very last books that she wrote”.
For those of us unfamiliar with Thea Astley I would recommend that you head straight to the UQ Library catalogue and borrow out some of her many published works. Astley is said to have written with a distinctively Queensland flavour, often locating most of her novels in the sunshine state. Many of her books won awards, and she was receiver to four Miles Franklin Awards, Premier Awards and multiple other merits.
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