Yale Collection of American Literature

The Yale Collection of American Literature documents the creative lives, the artistic communities, and the literary achievements of American writers. The collectionis noted for its strength in nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first-century poetry, fiction, and dramatic writings. The archives of writers of diverse backgrounds underscore the collection’s interest in the indigenous and immigrant cultures that shape American literature.

  • Santa’s mirth and merriment resound in the Beinecke archives

    December 20, 2021

    The Yale University Library houses the papers, books, and ephemera of hundreds of people who have left an indelible mark on our culture and society. These include beloved writers and artists, visionary scholars, and history-shaping politicians and diplomats. Yet, there is one major cultural figure — a magical, immortal, and portly individual who has brought joy to billions of children over generations — whose papers have thus far eluded Yale as well as every other university or research center worldwide: Santa Claus.

  • Goldsby named Donnelley Professor of African American Studies and English

    December 9, 2021

    Goldsby’s digital scholarship has been a model for scholars across and beyond the humanities, and has changed how researchers and archivists approach the study of Black American culture. Most recently, her work as the co-principal investigator of the Black Bibliography Project, a collaboration with colleagues at Rutgers University and archivists at the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, has made understudied works by Black authors available and accessible to new audiences through digital finding aids and new guidelines and standards for cataloguing Black literature.

  • Here at Yale: Documenting the road well-traveled

    December 3, 2021

    The concept of “travel” contains multitudes: adventurous voyages, forced migrations, documentary explorations, meditative immersions. Nancy Kuhl, curator of poetry in the Yale Collection of American Literature, and organizer of the Beinecke Library’s current special exhibit “Road Show,” manages to capture a wide range of them, through what Kuhl recently characterized as “the physical, emotional, and intellectual experiences of moving through unfamiliar places, encountering new landscapes and people, and exploring different ways of life and world views.”

  • Open for Research: John Ashbery Collection of Artwork and Objects

    November 29, 2021

    The Beinecke Library has recently acquired a collection of artwork and objects collected by American poet John Ashbery. It includes paintings, glassware, ceramics, clothing, household objects, realia, printed material, collage materials, and other items of significance to Ashbery, some of which inspired his poetry or appeared in his published work.

  • Yale’s Beinecke Library Acquired 200+ Prints by Legendary Photographer Gordon Parks (Culture Type)

    November 20, 2021

    AN IMPORTANT REPOSITORY of images, books, and materials documenting African American history and culture, the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University announced the addition of more than 200 photographs by Gordon Parks to its collection. The prints were acquired directly from The Gordon Parks Foundation and include selections from 11 of the legendary photographer’s most poignant and prized series capturing African American life.

  • New Scholarship: Lukas Moe on George Oppen

    November 15, 2021

    Moe, Lukas. ““Not anyone’s Eden”: A Critical Introduction to New Poems by George Oppen.” Journal of Modern Literature, vol. 43 no. 4, 2020, p. 18-44. From the...

  • Trove of Gordon Parks “Study Sets” Comes to Yale Library

    November 9, 2021

    Yale University Library’s Beinecke Library has acquired a collection of more than 200 prints by renowned American photographer Gordon Parks. The prints, acquired directly from The Gordon Parks Foundation, constitute one of the largest collections of the photographer’s work available for study in an institution.