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Terence (Terry) O'Neill

Research Fellow, National Centre for Australian Studies

BA (Melb), MA (Melb)

View contact details in Monash Staff Directory

Biography

Terry arrived at Monash in 1994 to work on one of the most ambitious projects ever undertaken in Australian literature, the Bibliography of Australian Literature. He had previously completed, at the University of Melbourne, an MA in German Literature. He had also worked for many years in the administration at that University, reaching the position of Assistant Registrar. During that time he also assisted Brenda Niall in the compilation of Martin Boyd (Australian Bibliographies) (1977) and discovered the previously unknown Martin Boyd novel Dearest Idol (see “Martin Boyd’s Missing Novels”, Australian Literary Studies, May 1978). In 1981 Terry was awarded an ARGC grant to travel to England and Italy to interview friends and relatives of Boyd, and these interviews are now held at the National Library. He also visited on several occasions Boyd's cousin Joan Lindsay, author of Picnic at Hanging Rock, and was able to establish previously unrecognized connections between their works (see “Literary Cousins” in ALS, May 1982). He recently published in The La Trobe Journal a biographical sketch of Joan Lindsay (May 2009) and also a bibliography of her works (December 2009), while his Australian Dictionary of Biography Joan Lindsay entry is in press.

Terry has also specialized in early Australian children's books and has discovered many titles previously unknown to scholars in this field (see “Confessions of a Literary Sleuth”, in Orana November 1988). His Australian Children's Books to 1980 (co-compiled with Frances O’Neill) was published in 1989.

Terry is now nearing completion of his work on The Bibliography of Australian Literature, of which he is Associate Editor. Four volumes (A-E); (F-J); (K-O); (P-Z) have already been published, with work on an Addenda volume in progress.

Research Interests

Keywords

Bibliography (Australian Literature), early Australian children's books, Martin Boyd, Joan Lindsay

Current Research Projects and Grants

Bibliography of Australian Literature

Publications

In-press

“Joan Lindsay”. Australian Dictionary of Biography vol. 18.

Books

• Australian Children's Books to 1980: a select bibliography of the collection held in the National Library of Australia. Canberra, NLA, 1989 (with Frances O'Neill).

Edited Books

• German Poetry in Australia 1830-1992: a checklist of literary translations, adaptations and comments by Australian authors by Horst Priessnitz. Clayton, Vic: National Centre for Australian Studies, 1995. (with Sally Batten).
• The Bibliography of Australian Literature. St Lucia, Qld: University of Queensland Press, vol. 2 (F-J) (2004); vol. 3 (K-O) (2007); vol. 4 (P-Z) (2008) (Associate Editor with Kerry Kilner; edited by John Hay and John Arnold). Co-compiler of vol. 1 (A-E) (2001).

Refereed Journal Articles

• “Martin Boyd’s Missing Novels: a partial solution”. Australian Literary Studies, May 1978: 366-68.
• “Literary Cousins: Nuns in Jeopardy and Picnic at Hanging Rock”. Australian Literary Studies, May 1982: 375-78.
• “From Martin Boyd to Stacy Waddy: the confessions of a literary sleuth”. Orana, November 1988: 197-203.
• “Joan Lindsay: a time for everything”. The La Trobe Journal no. 83, May 2009: 41-56. Also available at http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/about/news/latrobe/joan_lindsay.html.
• “A Bibliography of the Works of Joan Lindsay”. The La Trobe Journal no. 84, December 2009: 113-118.

Other Articles

•  “Confessions of a Literary Sleuth”. The University of Melbourne Library Journal, November 1988: 197-203.
• “Martin Boyd: Verses by M. àB. B.” Fifty Books for Fifty Years: celebrating a half century of collecting. Clayton, Vic: Monash University Library [2008]: 14-15.
• “Victoria, I Weep for You”.  The Age, 10 February 2009: 24. Republished in The Pathfinder (Cheltenham, Vic.) March 2009:12. (Poetry).

CDs

• Children’s Books: 3 bibliographies of collections at the University of Melbourne Library. Parkville, Vic: The University of Melbourne Library, 1999 (co-compiler).

Reviews

• Review of Australian Children’s Books : A Bibliography. Volume 3 (compiled by Kerry White). Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand Bulletin 28:4 (2004) : 128-31.

Professional Memberships and Editorial Positions

• Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand
• Friends of the State Library of Victoria
• Friends of the Baillieu Library
• Associate Editor Bibliography of Australian Literature project.