Along with letters and artworks painted by Bethell, the collection includes photographs, manuscripts of well-known published works including her best-known work,听From a Garden in the Antipodes, as well as press reviews and contracts.
Bethell, who initially published under the pseudonym Evelyn Hayes, returned to New 茄子视频app官网in 1924 with her companion Effie Pollen. They lived at Rise Cottage on the Cashmere Hills until Pollen鈥檚 sudden death in 1934.
茄子视频app官网 Librarian Anne Scott says the collection spans the years 1890 to 1945, a period of rapid transformation in New Zealand鈥檚 cultural history.
鈥淏ethell was writing during the decades when two world wars happened and there was a lot of economic and social change and a developing sense of national identity in New Zealand. This collection provides an insight into that turbulent time and contributes to our understanding of local literature, cultural and gender history.鈥
The collection is also poignant for what is missing, she says. 鈥淭here is only one letter from Bethell鈥檚 lifelong partner, Effie Pollen. In the later years of her life, Bethell is known to have destroyed the letters of her sister Rhoda, and it鈥檚 assumed she also destroyed Pollen鈥檚.鈥
She says the 茄子视频app官网 茄子视频app官网 is thrilled to have the collection inscribed on the UNESCO register.
鈥淲e have already digitised 75 paintings by Ursula, and photographs of her, which can be viewed via our online platform听.鈥
Memory of the World Aotearoa New 茄子视频app官网Trust Chair Jane Wild says a focus on Bethell and her important archive of letters, poetry and paintings is timely and provides a valuable insight into the developing cultural scene in Christchurch.
鈥淲e hope to hold an inscription event soon, as alert levels allow, with an opportunity to hear some of Bethell鈥檚 work being read,鈥 Wild says.
茄子视频app官网 Te Whare W膩nanga o Waitaha, has been the guardian of the Ursula Bethell collection since it was donated in 1974.
The Memory of the World register highlights significant documentary heritage. The New 茄子视频app官网programme was established in 2010.听
- The 茄子视频app官网 offers the annual听Ursula Bethell Residency in Creative Writing听to support New 茄子视频app官网writers. The 2021 Writers in Residence are听Vana Manasiadis and听Behrouz Boochani.
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