Guide to the Papers of Rory Harris [MSS 018]

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Manuscript Name

Papers of Rory Harris

Manuscript Number

MSS 018

Last Updated

August 2021

Extent

20 boxes

Location

Special Collections, UNSW Canberra

Abstract

This collection comprises manuscript papers and related material produced or accumulated by Rory Harris.

Collection Subject Type

Literary

Scope and Content

The papers contain personal and professional correspondence and drafts of poems by Rory Harris. There are also drafts of book reviews for Friendly Street Poets, together with working notes and drafts written in collaboration with Peter McFarlane for a series of poetry textbooks on teaching poetry which they edited for the Australian Association for the Teaching of English (AATE).

Date Range of Content

1971-2008

Biographical Note

Rory Nevitt Harris was born on 12 Jan 1954 in Adelaide, South Australia. He completed a B.Ed in English and Drama in 1987, Graduate Diploma in Religious Education (Catholic studies), M.Ed. Studies (Literacy and Language Education. As a teacher, and a writer-in-residence, Rory Harris has taught in schools, colleges, universities and prisons. He has done much to encourage young people's writing and appreciation of poetry, and has edited anthologies of poetry written by children he has taught, and also edited their work for the South Australian teacher' journal.

With Peter McFarlane he has co-edited a series of poetry textbooks on teaching poetry for the Australian Association for the Teaching of English, including A book to write poems by (1983), A book to perform poems by (1985), Making the magic (1988) and Doing bombers off the jetty : models for writing poetry (1997).

In 1990 Harris was a primary school headmaster in the Solomon Islands. During his stay he wrote radio dramas which were translated into Solomon Island pidgin and broadcast on National Radio Solomon Islands.

At present he is Curriculum Coordinator of English and the Arts at St Paul's College, Adelaide, South Australia.

References: AustLit : the resource for Australian literature, January 2007.
Rory Harris Friendly Street Poets web page, January 2007.

 

Administrative Information

 

Access and Copying Conditions

Access: Check with Curator

This collection contains a variety of copyright material. Copyright is held by the creator of each item. Specific conditions for this collection are listed below. If no conditions are stipulated then the standard terms of the Copyright Act apply for published and unpublished items. Digitised material from manuscript collections is provided to clients by UNSW Canberra in good faith for private study and research only, and may not be published or re-purposed without the express and written permission of the individual legal holder of that copyright. Refer also to the UNSW copyright, disclaimer and takedown policy. 

Copying: Check with Curator

Preferred Citation

Papers of Rory Harris, Special Collections, UNSW Canberra, Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, MSS 018, Box [Number], Folder [Number].

 

Additional Information

 

Related Material

Further manuscript material relating to Rory Harris may be found in Special Collections, UNSW Canberra, Australian Defence Force Academy in the papers of: Friendly Street Poets MSS 061.

Separated Material

This collection originally included a number of publications, listed below. These works have been catalogued separately, and added to the Library's main collection.

Harris, Rory. Over the outrow. Unley, South Australia: Friendly Street Poets, 1982.

Harris, Rory. From the residence. Salisbury [S. Aust.] : Teachers' Publishing Company, 1984.

Harris, Rory. Mallee leaves. [S. Aust.: s.n.], 1984.

Harris, Rory. Waterline. Wollongong: Five Islands Press, 1999.

A book to write poems by, compiled by Rory Harris and Peter McFarlane. Adelaide : [Australian Association for the Teaching of English], 1983.

Harris, Rory and Peter McFarlane. A Book to perform poems by. Adelaide : [Australian Association for the Teaching of English], 1985.

Take a chance : an anthology of performance poetry, compiled by Rory Harris. Norwood, S. Aust. : Australian Association for the Teaching of English, 1981.

Time out, edited by Rory Harris. Elizabeth, S. Aust. : Elizabeth High School, 1978.

Hold it, forget the last bit : anthology of poems from Morialta High School. [Adelaide : Morialta High School], 1979.

Just right : an anthology of poems. [Adelaide] : Department of Education, 1979.

Getting down to it : an anthology of poems from Kadina High School. [Kadina, S. Aust. : Kadina High School], 1980.

Tearless land : an anthology of poems from Augusta Park and Port Augusta High Schools. [S. Aust. : s.n.], 1980.

One foot in the door : anthology of poems from Morialta High School. [Adelaide : Morialta High School], 1980.

In a nutshell, edited by Claire Elliott and Rory Harris. [Adelaide : Morialta High School, n.d.].

Voices from the beacon : anthology from students of Brighton High, edited by Rory Harris. [Adelaide, S. Aust. : Brighton High School], 1978.

Getting over it : an anthology of poems from Brighton High School. [Adelaide : Brighton High School], 1980.

Resources of the earth : poems from Crafers Primary School. [Adelaide : Crafers Primary School, n.d.].

Penned? : poems from Elizabeth West. [Adelaide : Elizabeth West High School, 1983].

The Come out book. [St. Peters, S. Aust. : Experimental Art Foundation, [1981].

Word tent. [St. Peters, S. Aust. : Experimental Art Foundation, [1981].

Studio, 57, 69, 85, 1994-2002.

 

Subject Keywords

 

Subjects

Australian poetry, Australian poets

Personal Names

Rory Harris 1954-

Occupations

Poets, editors, teachers

 

Container List

Box 1

Series 1 Correspondence, 1978-2006

The collection includes personal and professional correspondence. Correspondents include friends, family, publishers, fellow writers, editors and literary, cultural and educational organizations.

Folder 1 
Correspondence, 1978-1985

Folder 2 
Correspondence, 1986-1987

Folder 3 
Correspondence, 1988

Folder 4 
Correspondence, 1989 and 1991

Folder 5 
Correspondence with Karen Chan, Controller, Chung Wah Primary School, Solomon Islands, together with notes and newspaper cuttings, 1990-1991

Folder 6 
Correspondence, 1990-1991

Folder 7 
Correspondence from Peter and Jill McFarlane, 1980s-1991

Folder 8 
Correspondence, 1992-1993

Box 2

Folder 9 
Correspondence, 1994

Folder 10 
Correspondence, 1995

Folder 11 
Correspondence, 1996

Folder 12 
Correspondence, 1997

Folder 13 
Correspondence, 1998

Folder 14 
Correspondence, 1999

Folder 15 
Correspondence, 2000

Folder 16 
Correspondence, 2001

Folder 17 
Correspondence, 2002-2003

 

 Box 3

Series 2 Journals/Notebooks, 1971-2005

This series comprises journals/notebooks which are generally arranged in chronological order. The notebooks contain biographical information; notes on poetry submissions; drafts of poems and plays and loose typescript drafts of poems. A number of the notebooks are only partially filled with sometimes sporadic entries.

Folder 1 
Daily journals (7), 24/12/1971 - 8/4/1973

Folder 2 
Notebooks (3), 1976-1977

Folder 3 
Notebook containing notes relating to the theatre and plays, 1977

Folder 4 
Fijian Islands journal containing drafts of poems, notes and drafts of poems for Snapshots from a moving train, November 1982 - January 1983

Folder 5 
Notebooks on poetry submissions (2), 1985 and 1987; notebook containing drafts of poems, 1988

Folder 6 
Solomon Islands journal, together with photocopy typescript of 'Island suite', a 15 poem sequence, 1986-1987

Box 4

Folder 7 
Notebooks (2) containing drafts of poems entitled 'A headmaster's notebook', 1990

Folder 8 
Notebook containing poetry drafts, June 1998

 

Series 3 Literary Works, 1971-2006

This series comprises drafts of published and drafts of unpublished poems by Harris, also included are articles, reader's reports and a launch speech.

Folder 1-4

Published and unpublished miscellaneous poetry drafts, 1971-2006

Box 5- Box 12

Folder 5-65 
Published and unpublished miscellaneous poetry drafts, 1971-2006

Box 12 -13

Folder 66-69 
Over the outrow : poems published by Friendly Street Poets, Unley, South Australia, 1982

Including:
Annotated drafts and related correspondence
Edited manuscript
Annotated galleys

Box 13  

Folder 70-71 
From the residence : poems, published by Teachers' Publishing Company, Salisbury, South Australia, 1984

Including:
Carbon annotated drafts
Annotated mock-up copy
Drafts

Folder 72-73 
Snapshots from a moving train, published by Friendly Street Poets, Unley, South Australia, 1988

Including:
Related correspondence
Annotated drafts
Annotated galley photocopy

Box 14

Folder 74-80 
Waterline, published by Five Islands Press, Wollongong, New South Wales, 1999

Including:
Correspondence
Annotated drafts
Reader's report
Edited typescript
Final typescript
Page proofs and related correspondence
Manuscript copy of Jennifer Hayes' launch speech

Box 15

Folder 81-82 
'He plays the piano', 1983-1985

Including:
Manuscript drafts
Photocopy typescript drafts (2)
Graham Rowlands editorial changes

Folder 83 
'16 poems', published in Studio, No. 57, Summer 1994/1995, p. 13-28, 1993-1994

Including:
Correspondence
Typescript drafts

Folder 84 
'Uncle Jack and other poems', published in Studio, No. 69, Summer 1997/1998, p. 9-23, 1996-1998

Including:
Correspondence
Typescript drafts

Folder 85 
'Breeze', published in Studio, No. 85, Summer 2001/2002, p. 5-16, 2000-2001

Including:
Correspondence
Typescript drafts

Folder 86-87 
'Songs', 1991-2004

Including:
Correspondence
Annotated typescript drafts
Typescript drafts edited by Graham Rowlands

Folder 88-89 
'Beach', 1996-2005

Including:
Annotated typescript drafts (2)

Folder 90 
Drafts of articles, Friendly Street reader's reports and launch speech, 1988-1996

 Box 16

Series 4 Rory Harris and Peter McFarlane Collaborative Works, 1983-2005

This series comprises research notes, meeting notes and manuscript drafts for a series of poetry textbooks on teaching poetry which Harris and Peter McFarlane edited for the Australian Association for the Teaching of English, including A book to write poems by (1983), A book to perform poems by (1985), Making the magic (1988) and Doing bombers off the jetty : models for writing poetry (1997).

Folder 1 
A book to write poems by, published by the [Australian Association for the Teaching of English], 1983

Including:
Notes
Manuscript drafts
Annotated original and photocopy typescript drafts
Annotated contents list

Folder 2 
A book to perform poems by, published by the [Australian Association for the Teaching of English], Adelaide, 1985

Including:
Notes
Annotated original and photocopy typescript drafts

Folder 3 
Making the magic, published by [Australian Association for the Teaching of English, Norwood, S. Aust.], 1988

Including:
Notes
Draft photocopy by Margaret Gill for the advertising flyer
Annotated photocopy typescript drafts

Folder 4

Doing bombers off the jetty : models for writing poetry, published by Macmillan Education Australia, 1997, 1989-1997

 Contained in Folders 4- 10 including:
Working titles included: 'Another chance', 'The conjuror's handbook : how to make poems and dazzle your friends', 'Sleight of hand : making more magic' and 'Top models for writing poetry in the classroom'
Correspondence
Notes
Publisher's report
Contents pages
Permissions and address lists
Annotated manuscript and typescript drafts (4), together with relevant correspondence and notes
Edited drafts
Photocopies of illustration roughs
Annotated galleys
Set of first pages

Folder 5

Doing bombers off the jetty : models for writing poetry, published by Macmillan Education Australia, 1997, 1989-1997

Box 17

 

Folder 6-11 
Doing bombers off the jetty : models for writing poetry, published by Macmillan Education Australia, 1997, 1989-1997

 Box 18

Series 5 Miscellaneous Papers, 1971-2008

This series comprises material relating to Harris' involvement with radio dramas written for the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Commission and translated in Solomon Island pidgin by Harris, school children's poems, and personal material relating to Harris including correspondence, funding applications, job applications and undergraduate essays.

Folder 1 
Radio dramas written for the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Commission and translated in Solomon Island pidgin by Harris, 1990

Including:
Correspondence
Manuscript, annotated typescript and annotated photocopy typescript drafts, including 'Boy & gaiant', 'Meremaid story I', 'Meremaid story II', 'Meremaid story III', 'Nora Garden Island' (2), 'Crab story' and 'The island of twin coconuts'

Folder 2 
School children's poems and statements on poetics, [1980s]

Folder 3 
Matriculation English material, 1971-1972

Folder 4 
Harris' publishing history, August 1977-1987

Folder 5
Adelaide Street Poets; Poems Public; early poetry sheets

Folder 6
Drafts and final copy poems Jan- Dec 2007

Box 19

Folder 7

Correspondence: Michael Buckley filmmaker, from the early 1970’s

Folder 8

Solomon Islands correspondence: personal and education work

Folder 9

Literature Board correspondence; funding submissions and correspondence

Folder 10

Job applications and education correspondence

Folder 11

Assorted correspondence 1983- 2008: 1

 

Box 20

Folder 12

Assorted correspondence 1983- 2008: 2

Folder 13

Undergraduate essays 1984-1987: 1  

Folder 14

Undergraduate essays 1984-1987: 2  

Folder 15

Undergraduate essays 1984-1987: 3