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Postscript: Life, Love and Loss in Australian Letters
Discover love, creativity, politics, family and more with historically and culturally significant letters from writers such as Jane Austen, Judith Wright, Henry Lawson, Mem Fox and Senator Neville Bonner AO, as well as inspiring new letters from modern Australians like Kate Forsyth, David Brooks, Maggie Mackellar, Ranjana Srivastava and Sam Wallman.
The National Library of Australia holds millions of letters in its collections: love letters, reports on scientific discoveries, impassioned pleas, newsy notes about the week that’s been, responses from politicians to members of the electorate, letters to the editor and more.
We’ve selected some remarkable letters from those millions and passed them on as inspiration to a new set of writers to pen their own.
The original letters may have shaped history, confessed love, covered philosophical quandaries like aging and creative work, or given an insight into someone’s life. The modern letters do the same. By turns moving, funny and challenging, this is a collection of letters that will engage and enlarge your sense of empathy—and may inspire you to pick up the pen yourself.
The National Library of Australia holds millions of letters in its collections: love letters, reports on scientific discoveries, impassioned pleas, newsy notes about the week that’s been, responses from politicians to members of the electorate, letters to the editor and more.
We’ve selected some remarkable letters from those millions and passed them on as inspiration to a new set of writers to pen their own.
The original letters may have shaped history, confessed love, covered philosophical quandaries like aging and creative work, or given an insight into someone’s life. The modern letters do the same. By turns moving, funny and challenging, this is a collection of letters that will engage and enlarge your sense of empathy—and may inspire you to pick up the pen yourself.
128 pages, Paperback
First published May 1, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 28, 2026
Postscript - Life, Love and Loss in Australian Letters contains a small collection of letters from the archives held by the National Library of Australia and is just a tiny sample of the millions of letters in their extensive collection. A variety of letters have been chosen covering a breadth of topics and were given to contemporary writers who were asked to use them as an inspiration to respond. They each did so by writing their own letter to a recipient of their choice and these were then grouped together in chapters.
In a tribute to the book I've decided to write my review in the form of a letter.
Letter to NLA
Dear National Library of Australia,
I haven't visited any of your four sites, yet I greatly admire the important work you do to preserve Australia's culture and history. I've long been a lover of letters and snail mail since I wrote in to Dolly Magazine as a teenager asking for a pen pal. I enjoyed reading your latest publication Postscript - Life, Love and Loss in Australian Letters and wanted to share my thoughts.
My favourite letter in this collection was the one from 17 year old student John Ian Wing to the Chairman of the Games Committee in charge of the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics. In his letter, John praises the friendliness of Melbourne people and suggests a march during the closing ceremony that is completely different to the one that took place during the opening ceremony. He proposes the athletes march as one nation, walking freely and waving to the public. In that way, John observes that 'war, politics and nationality will be all forgotten' and the whole world could be made as one nation creating 'a great occasion for everybody and no one would forget it'.
The Chairman loved the idea and John's suggestion was immediately adopted, creating a new Olympic tradition that we continue to enjoy today. I especially loved John's endearing diagram of how it could work.
Shelley Ware is an author, media presenter, educator and Mum and she was paired with this letter, choosing to write a letter to her son. In it she draws on John's vision for unity in a divided time to her son's moral compass and search for truth beyond the headlines expressed in his artwork. This was a terrific pairing and I really enjoyed it.
Another stand out was the letter from Sir John Monash in 1906 to his 13 year old daughter, narrating almost every aspect of her upcoming journey by train and then boat from Spencer Street Station (now Southern Cross Station) to the property of Canally on the Murray River.
Today you might consider his approach evidence of overparenting, but it's clear he loves her dearly and I couldn't help smiling at his advice for when she boards the boat on the Murray River:
"On settling down on the boat, I should advise you to to go bed at once, because you will, no doubt, be very tired, and the scenery is not very interesting for the first few miles. So you had better go to bed comfortably before the boat starts and do not stop up yarning, but get to sleep and tell the Stewardess to wake you quite early - say 7 a.m. - so that you can enjoy the beautiful river scenery for an hour or two before reaching Windomal." Page 26
His letter runs for pages and it made me wonder how many times he'd taken that trip but I didn't see the relevance of the two letters that followed by the late Judith Wright. While detailing the birth of her child Meredith and her subsequent recovery in hospital, I wasn't entirely sure how that related to a parent separated from their child or preparing a child for a life changing journey. However the letter from Maggie Mackellar to her adult daughter certainly embraced the spirit of the letter from Monash in her well expressed anxiety around her daughter travelling far away and the memories of her childhood the absence created.
It must have been difficult for your staff to create a longlist of letters for this project from your extensive archives. Where to start? How long did it take? I've heard from reliable sources that your staff chose letters of interest based on the identity of the sender or the recipient, the story or the writing itself. Then a generous list of potential respondents was collated, drawn from those with an existing relationship to the library, visiting writers or those who might have an interesting angle on a response.
I was pleased to see one of my favourite Australian authors included, Kate Forsyth and enjoyed her response to Jane Austen's letter. I wonder, was she able to view the original in person or online? I bet she would have been thrilled to see it.
I had fun devising my own shortlist of modern authors I'd love to see in a letter writing project like this and the fact that Postscript comes in at <130 pages, surely means there was room for more? Perhaps some of the invitees were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the brief and suffered a touch of analysis paralysis. I did find myself wishing for contributions from more well known Australian authors, as you know, we certainly have a plethora of Australian talent in that regard. Or, I fancy you might be considering a second edition, although you'll have to come up with a better title than Post Postscript; I don't think that'll catch on.
Let me know if you want to see my shortlist of modern respondents, but in the meantime, congrats on an engaging collection.
Yours Affectionately,
Carpe Librum!
* Copy courtesy of National Library of Australia Publishing *
In a tribute to the book I've decided to write my review in the form of a letter.
Letter to NLA
Dear National Library of Australia,
I haven't visited any of your four sites, yet I greatly admire the important work you do to preserve Australia's culture and history. I've long been a lover of letters and snail mail since I wrote in to Dolly Magazine as a teenager asking for a pen pal. I enjoyed reading your latest publication Postscript - Life, Love and Loss in Australian Letters and wanted to share my thoughts.
My favourite letter in this collection was the one from 17 year old student John Ian Wing to the Chairman of the Games Committee in charge of the 1956 Melbourne Summer Olympics. In his letter, John praises the friendliness of Melbourne people and suggests a march during the closing ceremony that is completely different to the one that took place during the opening ceremony. He proposes the athletes march as one nation, walking freely and waving to the public. In that way, John observes that 'war, politics and nationality will be all forgotten' and the whole world could be made as one nation creating 'a great occasion for everybody and no one would forget it'.
The Chairman loved the idea and John's suggestion was immediately adopted, creating a new Olympic tradition that we continue to enjoy today. I especially loved John's endearing diagram of how it could work.
Shelley Ware is an author, media presenter, educator and Mum and she was paired with this letter, choosing to write a letter to her son. In it she draws on John's vision for unity in a divided time to her son's moral compass and search for truth beyond the headlines expressed in his artwork. This was a terrific pairing and I really enjoyed it.
Another stand out was the letter from Sir John Monash in 1906 to his 13 year old daughter, narrating almost every aspect of her upcoming journey by train and then boat from Spencer Street Station (now Southern Cross Station) to the property of Canally on the Murray River.
Today you might consider his approach evidence of overparenting, but it's clear he loves her dearly and I couldn't help smiling at his advice for when she boards the boat on the Murray River:
"On settling down on the boat, I should advise you to to go bed at once, because you will, no doubt, be very tired, and the scenery is not very interesting for the first few miles. So you had better go to bed comfortably before the boat starts and do not stop up yarning, but get to sleep and tell the Stewardess to wake you quite early - say 7 a.m. - so that you can enjoy the beautiful river scenery for an hour or two before reaching Windomal." Page 26
His letter runs for pages and it made me wonder how many times he'd taken that trip but I didn't see the relevance of the two letters that followed by the late Judith Wright. While detailing the birth of her child Meredith and her subsequent recovery in hospital, I wasn't entirely sure how that related to a parent separated from their child or preparing a child for a life changing journey. However the letter from Maggie Mackellar to her adult daughter certainly embraced the spirit of the letter from Monash in her well expressed anxiety around her daughter travelling far away and the memories of her childhood the absence created.
It must have been difficult for your staff to create a longlist of letters for this project from your extensive archives. Where to start? How long did it take? I've heard from reliable sources that your staff chose letters of interest based on the identity of the sender or the recipient, the story or the writing itself. Then a generous list of potential respondents was collated, drawn from those with an existing relationship to the library, visiting writers or those who might have an interesting angle on a response.
I was pleased to see one of my favourite Australian authors included, Kate Forsyth and enjoyed her response to Jane Austen's letter. I wonder, was she able to view the original in person or online? I bet she would have been thrilled to see it.
I had fun devising my own shortlist of modern authors I'd love to see in a letter writing project like this and the fact that Postscript comes in at <130 pages, surely means there was room for more? Perhaps some of the invitees were overwhelmed by the magnitude of the brief and suffered a touch of analysis paralysis. I did find myself wishing for contributions from more well known Australian authors, as you know, we certainly have a plethora of Australian talent in that regard. Or, I fancy you might be considering a second edition, although you'll have to come up with a better title than Post Postscript; I don't think that'll catch on.
Let me know if you want to see my shortlist of modern respondents, but in the meantime, congrats on an engaging collection.
Yours Affectionately,
Carpe Librum!
* Copy courtesy of National Library of Australia Publishing *
May 30, 2026
Reviewed by Nan van Dissel for the National Library of Australia and Bluewolf Reviews.
It’s a rare occasion when a letter appears in our letterbox; according to Australia Post only three percent of their business relates to letter mail, most of that is official mail. A personal letter or card is generally gratefully received as it lifts the receivers’ spirit; it indicates that someone has given them thought and dedicated time to put these thoughts on paper. Some express love while others update the reader about recent family events; all are individual but relatable.
Spanning over 200 years, the National Library of Australia holds millions of letters in its collection; until now many have never been seen. Publisher Lauren Smith and her NLA team have carefully selected the best letters; those that give the reader a sense of how much they have in common with the writer. Some are written by famous authors such as Jane Austin while others are by lesser-known individuals, such as John Wing whose suggestion about the departure of athletes at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic is still practiced today.
Each chapter provides the reader with the selected letter, the background of its writer and of the responder; Lauren Smith had invited contemporary Australian writers to compose new letters in response to the chosen ones; a postscript with a modern twist. This combination of original and new letter engages the readers and may even inspire them to drop a letter in the post to a loved one.
Hopefully, this collection will lead to the rediscovery of the lost art of letter writing.
It’s a rare occasion when a letter appears in our letterbox; according to Australia Post only three percent of their business relates to letter mail, most of that is official mail. A personal letter or card is generally gratefully received as it lifts the receivers’ spirit; it indicates that someone has given them thought and dedicated time to put these thoughts on paper. Some express love while others update the reader about recent family events; all are individual but relatable.
Spanning over 200 years, the National Library of Australia holds millions of letters in its collection; until now many have never been seen. Publisher Lauren Smith and her NLA team have carefully selected the best letters; those that give the reader a sense of how much they have in common with the writer. Some are written by famous authors such as Jane Austin while others are by lesser-known individuals, such as John Wing whose suggestion about the departure of athletes at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic is still practiced today.
Each chapter provides the reader with the selected letter, the background of its writer and of the responder; Lauren Smith had invited contemporary Australian writers to compose new letters in response to the chosen ones; a postscript with a modern twist. This combination of original and new letter engages the readers and may even inspire them to drop a letter in the post to a loved one.
Hopefully, this collection will lead to the rediscovery of the lost art of letter writing.
May 19, 2026
The National Library of Australia holds millions of letters and has selected a small number to publish. For each of the letters from the historical collection, contemporary authors were invited to select one and pen a response of their own. All 33 letter writers are listed on the cover of this slim volume.
Authors include Jane Austen, Henry Lawson and Mem Fox. Some of the authors are virtually unknown but their letters are important. It’s a thought-provoking collection covering a wide range of topics and emotions. I just wish it was longer.
See the full review at: https://www.queenslandreviewerscollec...
Authors include Jane Austen, Henry Lawson and Mem Fox. Some of the authors are virtually unknown but their letters are important. It’s a thought-provoking collection covering a wide range of topics and emotions. I just wish it was longer.
See the full review at: https://www.queenslandreviewerscollec...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews