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.

  • Eight writers awarded Yale’s Windham-Campbell Prizes

    March 29, 2022

    The prize recipients are in fiction, Tsitsi Dangarembga (Zimbabwe) and Siphiwe Gloria Ndlovu (Zimbabwe); in non-fiction, Margo Jefferson (United States) and Emmanuel Iduma (Nigeria); in drama, Winsome Pinnock (United Kingdom) and Sharon Bridgforth (United States); and in poetry, Wong May (Ireland/Singapore/China) and Zaffar Kunial (United Kingdom).

  • “Tough but a lot of fun” ... new biography of Florine Stettheimer (AGO Insider)

    March 16, 2022

    I was at Beinecke Library reading letters of Georgia O'Keeffe and found one addressed to someone named Florine Stettheimer describing a funny incident with O'Keeffe's husband, Alfred Stieglitz, falling down in the bathroom. So I went to investigate who Stettheimer was and saw that Beinecke owned five of her paintings and also had her diaries and letters. I fell in love with the paintings which are funny and witty and no one had done a full exhibition of her work since Marcel Duchamp organized her Retrospective at MOMA in 1946. I decided to make her the topic of my Ph.D. which was published by Yale University Press.

  • Brava! at the Beinecke shines spotlight on women in theater

    February 28, 2022

    ansberry is one of a cast of dozens of women featured in “Brava! Women Make American Theater,” an exhibition on view at Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library through July 22. Drawing on archival materials from the Beinecke’s collections, the show shines a spotlight on women’s contributions to the American stage, sharing the stories of playwrights, producers, directors, actors, costume designers, choreographers, stage managers, and other professionals involved in making theater. It begins in 1787 with “The Contrast” — the first play professionally produced in the United States — and continues through to the present day.

  • Students present research detailing Yale’s history with slavery (Yale Daily News)

    February 4, 2022

    On Monday, three students from the “Slavery, Race and Yale” fall seminar shared historical findings about the University’s ties to slavery. The students spoke virtually at a Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library event entitled “Yale & Slavery Research — Student Perspectives.” Taught by Professors Edward Rugemer and Crystal Feimster with teaching fellow Teanu Reid, the “Slavery, Race and Yale” seminar developed from the Yale and Slavery Research Project and its mission to explore and detail Yale’s history with racial slavery from its inception in 1701 through the late-19th century. Miguel Ceballo-Countryman ’23, Patrick Hayes ’24 and Mackenzie Hawkins ’22 each dis

  • Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies continues expansion (Yale Daily News)

    February 2, 2022

    “I was thrilled to join other WGSS faculty at Yale given our university’s resources (especially archives at the Beinecke), the reputation of its student population at both the graduate and the undergraduate levels, the interdisciplinary reach of my field-defining colleagues and the strong leadership of my chair, Rod Ferguson,” Herring wrote in an email to the News. “My first semester of teaching last fall — a first-year seminar on LGBTQ Spaces and Places and an upper-level seminar on LGBTQ Life Spans — provided me with two of the best pedagogical experiences of my career.”

  • 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.