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History of the Collection |
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The John and Shirley McLaren Collection is a research collection
donated by John McLaren (1932 - ) to Victoria
University Library in several stages from 1993 onwards. It is located in
the Special Collections Room, P208, at the Footscray Park Campus Library
of Victoria University.
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The photograph shows John and Shirley McLaren in 1996.
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John McLaren BEd BA (Hons) PhD (Melbourne) MA (Monash).
Honorary Professorial Associate, Faculty of Arts - Victoria University. A
Victoria University academic staff member for over 20 years, John has
published widely on Australian literature, education and current affairs,
and was the editor of the literary journal Overland; he is now its
Consulting Editor.
John McLaren's most recent publications are Australian
Literature: an historical introduction (1991), The New Pacific
Literatures (1993), Prophet from the Desert: Critical Essays on
Patrick White (1995), Writing in Hope and Fear: Postwar
Australian Literature as
Politics (1996), and Free Radicals of
the Left
in Postwar Melbourne (2003).
In 1990 John was a
Fulbright Senior Scholar in the Humanities Centre at the University
of Oregon in the United States, and since then has been using ARC
research grants to work on Australian and Southeast Asian literature
and politics.
His wife, Shirley McLaren (1930-1999) was also
active in Australian literary studies. Shirley was a long time
Treasurer of Overland and was also on its editorial
board. |
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Significance of the Collection |
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The John and Shirley McLaren Collection contains rare and valuable
books on Australian, New Zealand, and South Pacific fiction (novels, plays
and poetry) and criticism. Also included are a number of works on colonial
and post-colonial literature in the Asia-Pacific region. These items come
from the personal collection of John McLaren. The Library also holds the Archival
Papers of John McLaren. These papers have six main series: 1. Personal
papers (Correspondence) 2. VU related material 3.Australian Studies
Centres 4. Manuscripts and writing 5. Extra-curricular activities 6.
Miscellaneous papers. The date range is mid 1940 to 2000. A box
list for the papers is accessible through the Library
catalogue link above. |
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Access to the Collection |
Over the four years from 2000 - 2004 the Library, assisted by funding
from John McLaren, completed cataloguing the McLaren
Collection. In the Library Catalogue all items in the collection will have
the prefix FTS MCLAREN COLL. before the shelf number. The Library
Catalogue can be accessed in the Library (call 03 9919 4266 to check
opening hours) or from the Library's World Wide Web Homepage at: library.vu.edu.au
The McLaren
Collection is a research collection and the items cannot be borrowed but
may be used in the Footscray Park Library. Please make an appointment to
use the McLaren collection by contacting the Librarian responsible for
maintaining the collection, Mark Armstrong-Roper, on (03) 9919 4809 during
office hours or by emailing Mark using the address below. |
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Links to Other Useful Homepages |
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