Did you know that August 2009 is a double birthday for the world's best known literary nanny? Mary Poppins first appeared in book form in August 1934 and was released as the hugely popular Disney film in August 1964, so she's 75 and 45 simultaneously. Mary Poppins was written by expatriate Australian P.L. Travers (born Helen Lyndon Goff). She grew up in Queensland and New South Wales, but moved to London in her twenties and spent the rest of her life outside of Australia. Travers wrote 8 Poppins books, plus several more featuring the character, as well as essays, poems and short stories. Her literary papers are held in the Mitchell Library, Sydney, and reveal a woman who spent her life searching for meaning - religious and spiritual - but seemed ultimately to be disappointed and slightly bitter.
A display of Poppins material at the State Library of New South Wales highlights the relationship between Travers and the Disney Company during the making of the film, and inlcudes original correspondence between Travers, Disney and Julie Andrews, as well as coloured prints of the Poppins drawings by Mary Shepard and original copies of the Poppins books owned by Travers.
On display in the Nelson Meers Heritage Gallery at the State Library of NSW until November 2009.
