Summary

The Letizia C. De Rosa Archive is a tribute to one woman's journey through North Queensland – as a teacher, writer, first-generation Australian, and only child of Italian migrants who built and owned a guest house for over 50 years in the centre of Cairns.

Themes covered in the archive include the history of Cairns and the NQ Italian community during the 20th century, the Book Creator's Circle (of which Letizia was the Director) and the written works of Letizia C. De Rosa.

The arrangement of the contents has been curated by the donor (Letizia) and is accompanied by a manuscript 60 Treasured and Blessed Windows, which provides context and explanation of the significance of many of the items through a personal recount.

Materials contained in the archive include original photographs, various documents (including hand-written manuscripts), oral recordings and a small number of objects.

JCU alumna, Letizia was presented with the 2012 PEN Sydney Award by the then President, Professor Michael Fraser, at an event at the NSW State Library marking the international Day of the Imprisoned Writer. PEN Sydney is the Sydney centre of the global PEN network, an organization dedicated to promoting literature and defending freedom of expression for writers in Australia and worldwide. The group was founded in 1931 by Ethel Turner, Mary Gilmore, and Dorothea Mackellar.

The PEN award was given in recognition of Letizia's social justice values and those of PEN. Then, as a writer-cum-publisher, she learnt of the difficulties in the book industry for regional writers, so she founded the Book Creators Circle – a digital, international platform – archived on the National Library of Australia's Pandora Website.

A list of this archive's contents

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