Germaine Greer sells archive to Melbourne University

Pioneering feminist academic and broadcaster Germaine Greer has sold her lifetime archive to the University of Melbourne, where she began her education more than 50 years ago. She plans to devote the proceeds to rehabilitation of the Australian rainforest, writes Margaret Simons for the Guardian.

The archive, including manuscripts of Greer's books, her diaries and correspondence with some of the most significant intellectuals and politicians of the past century, fills more than 150 filing cabinets and spans the years from her student life in Melbourne, Sydney and Cambridge to the present day. It includes early notes for and a synopsis of her groundbreaking bestseller The Female Eunuch, as well as diaries and letters to her lovers, family and friends.

University of Melbourne archivist Dr Katrina Dean said she anticipated that most of the material would be open to researchers. The total cost of the purchase was $3 million, including provision for transport, storage, indexing and selective digitisation.
Full report on the Guardian site