The University of Queensland

Guide to manuscripts on Australian Poetry

The Fryer Library is proud to support Australian poets and poetry. Established in 1927 to foster the study of Australian literature, the Fryer Library encourages poetry scholarship and research through its extensive holdings of published and unpublished materials.

Fryer has substantial collections of poetry manuscripts from the famous, the infamous and the undiscovered. They include Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Bruce Dawe, Laurie Duggan, Tom Shapcott, Alan Wearne, Gwen Harwood, Judith Rodriguez, George Essex Evans, Edith Mary England, Charles Buckmaster, Angela Gardner and Ernest Briggs. Extensive manuscript material by and relating to Dame Mary Gilmore can be found in the Edward Leo Hayes Collection, UQFL2. There are records from The University of Queensland English Society’s Makar/Gargoyle Press and The University of Queensland Press, as well as unusual manuscripts like the Bibliography of Queensland Poetry written by James Harold Hornibrook in 1940 or thereabouts. Fryer also endeavours to collect all published works by and about Australian poets and poetry. Substantial material about Australian poetry and Australian literature generally can be found in the papers of A.G. Stephens in the Edward Leo Hayes collection

Below is a selection of highlights from the Australian poetry manuscript collections. Click on the collection number to go to a more detailed catalogue description. To discover more of Fryer’s holdings click on the following link and explore the Library Catalogue for records relating to "poets".