A Play of Letters and Legacy: Reading of Dr Melanie Myers’ Xavier and Beatrice Brings Literary History to Life

The Centre for Critical and Creative Writing and the School of Communication and Arts at The University of Queensland are pleased to present a staged reading of Xavier and Beatrice, a new play by award-winning author and researcher Dr Melanie Myers. Developed under the auspices of the UQ Creative Writing Fellowship and mentored by leading Australian dramaturg Saffron Benner, this compelling work explores the complex relationship between one of Australia’s most controversial literary figures, Xavier Herbert, and his editor, the formidable and graceful Beatrice Davis.

The play draws on Dr Myers’ extensive archival research, including original letters and correspondence housed in the Fryer Library, the Mitchell Library, and the National Library of Australia. Beginning in 1949, the year Davis took over as Herbert’s editor at Angus & Robertson, Xavier and Beatrice trace a fraught twelve-year period of collaboration, frustration, and creative tension that culminated in the troubled publication of Soldiers’ Women (1962).

Xavier Herbert (1901–1984) – best known for Capricornia (1938) and Poor Fellow My Country (1975), the latter a winner of the Miles Franklin Award – was as revered as he was infamous: a literary giant with an outsized ego and an uncompromising style. Beatrice Davis (1909–1992), by contrast, was a paragon of editorial diplomacy and discretion, whose career at Angus & Robertson saw her work with many of the most respected Australian authors of the 20th century. Their correspondence reveals an intense professional bond that often blurred into the personal, shaped by mutual admiration, ideological clashes, and a shared passion for Australian literature.

“The opportunity to develop this play under the guidance of Saffron Benner has been an extraordinary gift,” says Myers. “For a first-time playwright, to be mentored by one of Australia’s leading dramaturgs has transformed a long-held idea into a living, breathing play. What began as research for my PhD eventually became a story I felt demanded to be told on stage.”

Despite their physical distance – Herbert wrote from his remote home in Far North Queensland, while Davis remained in the Sydney publishing world – their relationship was conducted almost entirely through letters. Bringing that epistolary intimacy into a theatrical format posed a unique creative challenge: one that Myers has addressed with a deft dramaturgical hand, crafting a narrative that is both historically grounded and richly resonant for contemporary audiences.

“What makes this story urgent now,” Myers reflects, “is not only its reflection on literary gatekeeping and gendered labour in the publishing industry, but also its insights into creative struggle, ego, editorial influence, and the making of books in a time of profound cultural and institutional change.”

The reading marks a major milestone in the development of Xavier and Beatrice, offering audiences a first glimpse of a powerful new Australian play that brings to life a little-known but pivotal literary relationship shaped by distance, devotion, and creative struggle.

This project is supported by the Copyright Agency’s Cultural Fund.

EVENT DETAILS

Title: Xavier and Beatrice – A Play Reading by Dr Melanie Myers

Date: Thursday 27 June 2025

Time: 6.00pm for a 6.30pm start

Venue: Fryer Library, The University of Queensland, St Lucia

Admission: Free, but booking required

Bookings: https://events.humanitix.com/xavier-and-beatrice-a-play-reading-by-dr-melanie-myers