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| Manuscript Name | Papers of Stephen E. Kelen |
| Manuscript Number | MSS 049 |
| Last Updated | May 2021 |
| Extent | 12 boxes |
| Location | Special Collections, UNSW Canberra |
| Abstract | Radio plays, manuscripts, published material, galley proofs, correspondence, and autobiographical material of Stephen E. Kelen |
Collection Subject Type
Literary
Scope and Content
The papers of Stephen E. Kelen comprise manuscript drafts, published articles, magazines, galley proofs, book reviews, correspondence, and autobiographical material. Drafts include dramas Goshu, (or, The Most Honourable Barbarian) (1965) and Shadow of the Crabbe (1965), and biography Who is My Enemy (1954). Several books and articles relate to Kelen’s career as a table tennis champion.
Date Range of Content
1932-2001
Biographical Note
Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Kelen
Hungarian-Australian sportsman, journalist, author and playwright Stephen E. Kelen (also known as Stephen Esteban Kelen) was born in Budapest in 1912. He studied philosophy at the Charles University in Prague and began writing professionally at the age of 17, first in Hungarian, then Czech and finally in English. During the 1920s and 1930s, he won seven gold medals at the World Table Tennis Championships. After travelling extensively across the globe, he settled in Australia, serving in the Australian army from 1939-1945. As a member of the 66th Australian Infantry Battalion (Intelligence), he served in New Guinea, Halmahera, North Borneo, and Japan.
During the 1940s and 1950s, Kelen wrote documentaries and features for ABC Radio on topics including literature, current affairs, and history. From 1960-1977 he was a managing editor at Goodyear, and president of the Sydney branch of PEN International from 1975-1985. Kelen won several awards for his short stories and plays, including the Warrandyte Arts Association Drama Group Original Australian Play Competition for his play Shadow of the Crabbe (1965).
References:
Austlit : Stephen Estaban Kelen https://www.austlit.edu.au/austlit/page/A31197 retrieved 14 July 2020
Administrative Information
Access and Copying Conditions
Access: Check with Curator
This collection contains a variety of copyright material. Copyright is held by the creator of each item. Specific conditions for this collection are listed below. If no conditions are stipulated then the standard terms of the Copyright Act apply for published and unpublished items. Digitised material from manuscript collections is provided to clients by UNSW Canberra in good faith for private study and research only, and may not be published or re-purposed without the express and written permission of the individual legal holder of that copyright. Refer also to the UNSW copyright, disclaimer and takedown policy.
Copying: Check with Curator
Preferred Citation
Papers of Stephen E. Kelen, Special Collections, UNSW Canberra, Australian Defence Force Academy, Canberra, MSS 049, Box [Number], Folder [Number].
Provenance
Check with Curator
Arrangement
The numbering of the folders in this collection restarts at 1 in box 6
Related Material
The papers of Stephen E. Kelen’s son, Stephen K. Kelen, are also held by Special Collections, UNSW Canberra at MSS 109
Subject Keywords
Subjects
Stephen E. Kelen, 1912-2003 — Archives
Authors, Australian — 20th century — Archives
Australian Drama — 20th century
Hungarians — Australia
Personal Names
Stephen E. Kelen, 1912-2003
Occupations
Authors
Journalists
Dramatists
Sportsmen
Container List
Box 1
Folder 1
Manuscript of Goshu
Folder 2
Manuscript of Goshu
Folder 3
Various works
Folder 4
Manuscript of ‘The Brandy Man’
Folder 5
Various works regarding Japan
Folder 6
Manuscript of Shadow of the Crabbe
Box 2
Folder 7
Galley proofs of ‘Unfinished Victory’
Folder 8
Scripts ‘The Land and its People’
Folder 9
Various works
Folder 10
Manuscript of ‘How to Become a Fair Dinkum Bloody Aussie’
Folder 11
Manuscript of ‘Once a Jolly Immigrant’
Folder 12
Manuscript of ‘Who Is My Enemy?’
Box 3
Folder 13
Book reviews; documentaries; radio
Folder 14
Dramatised book review
Folder 15
Manuscript of ‘The Samurai Meets Sir Galahad’
Box 4
Folder 16
Shadow of the Crabbe - novel manuscript; draft; newspaper clippings (Chapters 1-6)
Folder 17
Shadow of the Crabbe - novel manuscript; draft (Chapters 7-9)
Folder 18
Shadow of the Crabbe - novel manuscript; draft (Chapters 10-12)
Folders 19-21
Shadow of the Crabbe - novel manuscript; draft
Box 5
Folders 22-26
British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) material. Newspaper clippings
Box 6
Folder 1
Correspondence
Letters concerning accepted or rejected manuscripts for publication in various magazines, journals such as The Times of Ceylon, Country, Pocket Man, Fate Magazine and The Illustrated Weekly of India (1950 - 1957)
Undated newspaper notice for radio program ‘How Long Do We Live?’
Letter from United States Committee for Refugees, dated 27 April 1960
Folder 2
Literary Drafts
‘A Journey Remembered’, First Draft, Part 1. First Draft (undated)
Folder 3
Literary Drafts
‘A Journey Remembered’, First Draft, Part 3 / Parts 2 and 3 (undated)
‘A Journey Remembered’, First Draft, Part 4 (undated)
Folder 4
Literary Drafts
‘A Journey Remembered’, First Draft, Part 5 (undated)
‘A Journey Remembered’, First Draft, Part 6 (undated)
Box 7
Folder 5
Literary Drafts
‘A Journey Remembered’, First Draft, Part 7 (undated)
Folder 6
Literary Drafts
‘A Journey Remembered’, First Draft, Part 8 (undated)
Folder 7
Literary Drafts
‘A Journey Remembered: An Autobiography’, Part 1 (undated), velo-bound
Folder 8
Literary Drafts
‘A Journey Remembered: An Autobiography’, Parts 2 and 3 (undated), velo-bound
‘A Journey Remembered: An Autobiography’, Part 4 (undated), velo-bound
Box 8
Folder 9
Literary Drafts
‘A Journey Remembered: An Autobiography’, Part 5 (undated), velo-bound
‘A Journey Remembered: An Autobiography’, Part 6 (undated), velo-bound
Folder 10
Literary Drafts
‘A Journey Remembered: An Autobiography’, Part 7 (undated), velo-bound
‘A Journey Remembered: An Autobiography’, Part 8 (undated), unbound
Folder 11
Literary Drafts
‘Once a Jolly Migrant’ (undated); after the title page is a page headed ‘Also by Stephen Kelen’, with list of novels, travel, short stories, performed stage plays, biography, and ABC broadcasts;
‘Excerpts from The Odyssey of a Table Tennis Champion: an autobiography’; personal recollections that were serialised beginning in mid-1987
Folder 12
Literary Drafts
‘Most Honourable Barbarians: a novel’ (undated)
Box 9
Folder 13
Literary Drafts
‘The Royal Banquet and Other Stories’ (undated)
Folder 14
Literary Drafts
‘International P.E.N. 42nd Congress Sydney 1977 December 11th – 17th. Literary Sessions and Opening and Closing Ceremonies’, with note at the top of cover page that contents are transcribed from sound tapes, where voice faded on tape gaps were filled
‘The Prisoner’ (2000), with 1-page explanatory note by Sylvia Kelen on meeting Stephen in 1949 and his various activities
Folder 15
Published books
O stolnἰm tennis (Prague, 1932) [fragile];
Tenis De Mesa: Sus Secretos Y Satisfacciones (Buenos Aires, 1938); on front cover is the following: ‘Tenis De Mesa (Table Tennis) by Istvan Kelen (Stephen Kelen)’;
Mi Memoras Hiroṡimon [I Remember Hiroshima] (Matraville, NSW, 1983)
Folder 16
Published articles
This and the following folders contain copies of magazines, journals, and books within which are articles by Stephen Kelen, using his Anglicised name or otherwise (e.g. Istvan Kelen), a pen-name or a pseudonym
Wereldnieuws en Sport in Beeld, no. 31 (5 August 1939) [fragile]
Mirror: New Zealand’s National Home Journal, vol. 29, no. 7 (January 1950) and vol. 30, no. 12 (June 1951) [fragile]
Box 10
Folder 17
Published articles
Courier, vol. 16, nos. 3-4 (March-April 1951) and vol. 17, no. 3 (September 1951)
Folder 18
Published articles
All Story Magazine, nos. 2-4 (October 1952 – May 1953) [fragile]
Eastern World. vol. 7, no. 5 (May 1953)
The ABC Weekly, vol. 15, no. 45 (November 1953) and vol. 19, no. 12 (March 1955)
Junior’s Journal, vol. 2, no. 9 (June 1954)
Man, vol. 36, no. 3 (August 1954); inside front cover is folded article from Man, vol. 36, no. 2 (July 1954) [fragile]
Folder 19
Published articles
The Illustrated Weekly of India, vol. 78, nos. 47-49, 51 (November-December 1957) [very fragile. Not be removed from cover]
Folder 20
Published articles
Cavalcade: the Know Yourself Magazine, New Series, vol. 24, nos. 1-3, 5 (April-June August-September 1956); vol. 25, nos. 1-6 (October 1956 – March 1957)
Box 11
Folder 21
Published articles
Pocket Man, vol. 3, no. 6 (September, 1955); vol. 4, nos. 1, 3, 6 (October 1955 – March 1956), vol. 5, nos. 2-3, 5-6 May-October 1956), vol. 6, no. 5 (February 1957), vol. 7, no. 1-5 (April-August 1957), vol. 8, no. 1 (October-November 1957), vol. 9, no. 2 (May 1958)
Folder 22
Published articles
Baby: Magazine for Mothers, vol. 4, nos. 3-4 (November-December 1956) [fragile]
Adam, vol. 22, no. 6 (May, 1957) and vol. 23, no. 3 (August 1957)
The Australian Journal, issues for: November 1955 [fragile], February 1956 [2 copies, fragile], November 1957, and December 1957)
Fate [Your Fate and Horoscope], March 1959
Folder 23
Published articles
Life: The National Digest, vol. 49, no. 598 (October 1953) [fragile]
World Digest, vol. 40, no. 236(November 1958)
Evangelischer Digest, vol. 1,no. 6 (October 1959)
Katholischer Digest, vol. 14, o. 2 (February 1960)
Fate [Your Fate and Horoscope], March 1959
Britannia, no. 100 (December 1960)
Psychology: Health; Happiness; Success, vol. 23, nos. 10, 12 (February, April 1960), vol. 24, nos. 1, 9, 11-12 (May 1960 – April 1961), vol. 25, nos. 5, 7-8, 11-12 (September 1961 – April 1962), vol. 26, nos. 2, 4, 7 (June-November 1962)
Folder 24
Published articles
Orbit, vol. 6, no. 1 (1967) and vol. 8, no. 12 (1969)
Table Tennis Journal, no. 4 (1972)
Manfred Jurgensen (ed.), Ethnic Australia. Phoenix Publications (Brisbane, 1981)
The Table Tennis Report (November 1981)
Peter Skrzynecki (ed.), Joseph’s Coat: An Anthology of Multicultural Writing. Hale and Ironmonger (Sydney, 1985)
The Writer’s News, vol. 1, no. 9 (June 1986)
Shinbun: Official Journal: B.C.O.F. (Japan) Association of Australia (Inc.), nos. 51, 69, 75 (November/December 1992 – September/October 1996)
Table Tennis Australia, no. 26 (November 1996)
Box 12
Folder 25
Published articles
Reveille, vol. 72, nos. 5-6 (September-December 1999), and ‘Souvenir Collector’s Edition 2003’
Folder 26
Published articles
Short Story International (SSI), vol. 12, no. 67 (April 1988), vol. 15, nos. 86-87 (June, August 1991), vol. 20, no. 115 (December 1996)
Folder 27
Published articles
Student Short Story International, vol. 7, no. 27 (September 1987), vol. 10, nos. 37-38 (March, June 1990), vol. 13, no. 51 (September 1993), vol. 14, no. 54 (June 1994), vol. 15, no. 57 (March 1995), vol. 16, no. 63 (December 1996)
Folder 28
Biographical Material / In Memoriam
SCI News: Swathling Club International, no. 75 (October 2003)
Newswrite, no. 135 (March 2004)
Reveille, vol. 77, no. 3 (May-June 2004)
Writers Voice, no. 193 (April-May 2004), p. 21
‘Vale Stephen Kelen 1912-2003’ [funeral service booklet]
‘Stephen Kelen – Autobiography – A Journey Remembered: Synopsis’ (undated)
Untitled 1-page summary of Stephen Kelen’s life (undated)
Folder 29
Miscellaneous
The Table Tennis Report, nos. 7-11 (1988), nos. 1-2, 4-5, 7, 9, 11-12 (1989) [Japanese language publication], with articles by Stephen Kelen tagged; and excerpts from ‘The Odyssey of a Table Tennis Champion: The Autobiography of Stephen Kelen’
Folder 30
Miscellaneous
‘Children in Post-war Hiroshima’, website print-out (11 October 2001) with photographs taken in 1946 by Stephen Kelen