MenuInventory of the Kathy Acker Papers, 1972-1997 and undated
Collection Overview
The papers of Kathy Acker, 1975-1996 and undated, are comprised, for the most part, of manuscript drafts of her novels, short stories, and other miscellaneous writings ranging from early works such as The Childlike Life of the Black Tarantula (1975) to her last novel Pussy, King of the Pirates (1996). Described as a cyberpunk author and performance artist, Acker's novels question the strictures of female sexuality and the power of language.
The collection is divided into the Writing Series (with subseries of Manuscript Drafts and Miscellaneous Drafts), Audio Cassettes Series, Correspondence Series, and Artwork Series. The Writing Series contains corrected typescripts, photocopies or original holograph manuscripts of Blood and Guts in High School, Don Quixote, Empire of the Senseless, Great Expectations, In Memoriam to Identity, Kathy Goes to Haiti, My Death, My Life by Pier Paolo Pasolini, My Mother Demonology, Tarantula Nympho-Lautrec Trilogy, The Childlike Life of the Black Tarantula, I Dreamt I Became a Nymphomaniac!: Imagining, The Adult Life of Toulouse Lautrec, Ripoff Red: Girl Detective and Pussy, King of the Pirates. There are also drafts of the play The Birth of the Poet, the filmscript Variety, and short stories such as The Language of the Body, Jean Duval, and Girl Gangs Take Over the World.
The Audio Cassette Series primarily consists of cassette recordings of interviews with Acker or lectures given by Acker.
The Correspondence Series contains letters from people offering suggestions on Acker's works or from others asking for or thanking Acker for her suggestions regarding their works. Also included are essays and poetry sent to Acker as well as other letters from friends and colleagues. (Includes correspondence from accession #1999-0207.)
The Artwork Series contains original artwork for Empire of the Senseless, In Memoriam to Identity, Blood and Guts in High School, I Dreamt I Became a Nymphomaniac, and Pussy, King of the Pirates. In addition, there are numerous black and white photographs of Acker by Robert Mapplethorpe and Marcus Leatherdale.
The addition (99-207) (75 items, .1 linear ft.; dated 1973-1978) contains two lengthy sections from Acker's spiralbound notebook, one recording dreams, fantasies and events in her typical stream of consciousness manner, the second containing reflections on various topics and thinkers, including de Sade. There is an original typescript of an introduction for her book, The Thesmophoriazisae; an early version of The Childlike Life of the Black Tarantula #6; The Story of My Life, a home-made production in the original format Acker used to distribute her work; twenty-five letters from other poets and writers, including Andrei Codrescu, Kenneth Rexroth, Jack Hirschman, Fielding Dawson, Ed Dron, Ed Sanders, Laura Chester, Peter Gordon, Rex Pickett, Opal Nations, and Barbara Baracks (interfiled in the Correspondence Series); and an original color broadside announcing a reading by Acker. All materials from accession #1999-0207, except correspondence, are interfiled with accession #2002-0081.
The addition (2002-0081) (3552 items, 6.5 linear feet; dated [ca. 1979]-1997 and undated) includes correspondence, drafts, and notebooks of works by Acker, writings about Acker, photographs, and audio recordings. The drafts and notebooks include numerous edited and unedited typescripts of Acker's books Pussy, King of the Pirates; Eurydice in the Underworld; and Requiem. There are also drafts and research material for the articles Sugar and Spice, based on an interview with the Spice Girls, and The Gift of Disease, dealing with her battle with cancer. Also includes 927 electronic documents on 2 zip disks and 3, 3.5" floppies; 3 audiocassettes; 3 CDs; 1 LP; 7 black-and-white and 6 color photographs; 5 color negatives; and two color slides.
The addition (2002-0164) (2 items, .1 linear feet; dated ca. 1972) is a photocopy of Acker's 59-page typescript, "The Destruction of the U.S./The Burning Bombing of America." Includes a 3-page document by Susan Orlofsky describing the typescript's provenance and outlining its contents. (This accession has been interfiled with Acc. 2002-0081.)
Descriptive Summary
- Title
- Kathy Acker Papers, 1972-1997 and undated
- Creator
- Acker, Kathy, 1948-
- Extent
- 20.7 Linear Feet, 3857 Items
- Repository
- David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
- Location
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
- Language
- English.
Administrative Information
Collections are on the move for the renovation of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library. Contact Rubenstein Library staff before visiting. Read More »
Access Restrictions
Collection is open for research.
However, patrons must sign the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
Also, some of the materials in this collection are not immediately accessible, because they require further processing before use.
Furthermore, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.
Use Restrictions
The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Contents of the Collection
Browse List of Series
Collapse All
Expand AllBlood and Guts in High School
Proofs
Don Quixote
Approximately 189 pages of original typescript, computer printout and photocopied typescript, with some original corrections. Enclosed in black binding.
Approximately 80 pages of original typescript and photocopies, moderately corrected by Acker with additions and deletions. Enclosed in black binding.
Great Expectations
Approximately 300-page original typescript and photocopies, moderately corrected by Acker.
Blues
In Memoriam to Identity. 1988-1989.
112-page photocopied typescript with some original corrections and some corrections in the photocopy. Enclosed in red binding.
188-page photocopied typescript with some original corrections. Enclosed in black binding.
Proofs
My Mother Demonology
Blues
57-page original holograph manuscript of part one, with many additions and deletions.
123-page original holograph manuscript of parts one and two, with corrections.
My Mother Demonology--"Clit City" (Chapter III)
62-page original holograph manuscript, with a few corrections.
51-page original holograph, with a few corrections.
73-page original holograph manuscript, heavily corrected with many additions and deletions.
80-page original holograph manuscript, with some corrections.
85-page original holograph manuscript, with deletions and additions.
My Mother Demonology--"Obsession" (Chapter IV)
42-page original holograph manuscript first draft, with many corrections.
50-page original holograph manuscript second draft, with some additions and deletions.
60-page original holograph manuscript second draft, with many additions and deletions.
66-page original holograph manuscript with a few additions and deletions.
58-page original holograph manuscript, with some additions and deletions.
58-page original holograph manuscript, with some additions and deletions.
51-page original holograph manuscript, heavily corrected with additions and deletions.
34-page original holograph manuscript, heavily corrected with additions and deletions.
73-page original holograph manuscript first draft, with some additions and deletions.
48-page original holograph manuscript first draft, with some additions and deletions.
65-page original holograph manuscript final draft, heavily corrected with many additions and deletions.
84-page original holograph manuscript, with many corrections, additions and deletions.
54-page original holograph manuscript, corrected, with some additions and deletions.
Insert entitled, "Dreams for book and end of 'The Dead Man.'" 45-page original holograph manuscript, with a few corrections.
Insert entitled, "'The Dead Man'--End Final draft." 14-page original holograph manuscript, heavily corrected with additions and deletions.
Now collected as Portrait of an Eye: Three Novels, Pantheon.
Small 8vo. Original pictorial wrappers (New York: Tvrt Press, 1978). First Edition. Limited. With some ink corrections to the text by Acker.
8 vo. Original printed beige wrappers (San Francisco 1974). Inscribed on the cover, "for PP & CP from his dearly beloved--TBT."
Original plain white wrappers. Inscribed on the cover, "This is for CP & PP who has to be around 1 day a week. This will make him be around--TBT." With some corrections and underlining in the text by Acker.
Original printed white wrappers (printed "Peter Gordon 1974") and inscribed by Acker, "(Note: Fred: Not by Peter, but I said by him as a present to him. I was always changing my name in those days.)"
Original printed white wrappers. Inscribed by Acker on the cover, "for the person who helped me do this. The Black Tarantula," with a drawing of three hearts.
Original printed white wrappers.
Original printed white wrappers.
Illustrated. Small 8vo. Original pictorial wrappers (New York: Tvrt Press, 1978). First Edition. Limited.
Early unpublished novel, 1973. Original 154-page typescript with some typed corrections. Enclosed in black binding with hand-lettered label. With original holograph title page and drawing by Acker.
A film written for director Bette Gordon. 46-page typescript, with notations and corrections by Acker.
31-page original holograph manuscript first draft, with additions and deletions.
20-page original holograph manuscript second draft, with many additions and deletions.
21-page original holograph manuscript, with some deletions.
45-page original holograph manuscript, with a few corrections.
An early version of Algeria, which appears in Hannibal Lecteur, My Father. Approximately 100-page original typescript, with some corrections by Acker. Enclosed in blue folder. Farsi Text originals
60-page photocopied typescript, corrected in the photocopy, with original note on the title page, My Copy, by Acker.
Original 9-page typescript with a few typed corrections; stapled into gray wrappers.
Original 7-page typescript with a few typed corrections; laid into orange wrappers.
Original 8-page typescript, with a few holograph corrections; laid into blue wrappers
12-page photocopied typescript
Original 22-page typescript with typed corrections
19-page photocopied typescript with a few holograph corrections by Acker in the photocopy.
14-page photocopied typescript with original typed title page.
Original 9-page typescript, with typed corrections.
Approximately 70 pages of typescript and photocopy, with a few typed and holograph corrections. Enclosed in yellow folder with hand-lettered label. Text includes the short stories: Christ Comes to New York City, Notes on Writing from The Life of Baudelaire, The Rebel, The Bum, Voodoo, Blood and Guts in High School, For the Ladies Who Sing: Three Stories, 1977, The Scorpions, Lady Be Bad.
46 pages of typescript, lightly corrected, including: Two Girls, The Underside of Dream, Spring Touring, In the Days Before Dreaming... faxed to John Zorn, The Travels of the Pirates: These Beginnings..., J, piece beginning When the divine Marquis, as some have named him, in his Philosophy in the Bedroom..., which includes Theoretical Language in a Patriarchal Society, The Language of the Body, and Non-Patriarchal Language: The Body.
7-page typescript and photocopy of works in progress, with some corrections; plus L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E. Number 9/10. October 1979. Containing Notes on Writing--from The Life of Baudelaire by Acker. Original self cover; plus Fete by Acker (1980). Folded photocopied typescript, 1 page (14 copies); plus Looking for Madonna, (for Saturday Review), 3-page photocopy with 2 holograph corrections by Acker.
Approximately 65 pages of photocopied typescript, with typed and holograph corrections.
Approximately 30 pages of photocopied typescript with some original holograph corrections. Articles for The Village Voice and The New Statesman.
Approximately 30-page typescript.
Original 16-page typescript with many holograph corrections; plus 13-paged "reading version," corrected in the photocopy, with a few original holograph corrections; plus 19-page proofs, corrected by Acker with many additions and deletions, with a note from Brad Morrow, editor of Conjunctions magazine.
Original printed wrappers.
8-page photocopied typescript
10-page photocopied typescript, corrected in the photocopy
Translations of the Diaries of Laure. Original 18-page typescript, signed, with some corrections by Acker; plus 2-page proof, with 3 corrections by Acker.
Approximately 50 pages of typescripts, with some corrections by Acker.
Original 10-page typescript, with signed fax from Acker; plus approximately 50 pages of miscellaneous photocopied typescripts, with some corrections by Acker; plus 13-page photocopied typescript interview with Acker on April 23, 1986, conducted by Dick Ellis, et al.
Approximately 100 pages of photocopied typescript, with some ink notations by Acker.
5-page typescript review of Bonfire of the Vanities, signed, for The New Statesman.
8-page photocopied typescript with some original corrections.
4-page original typescript; plus approximately 25 pages of photocopied typescript of articles and faxes.
Side 2 is blank
Side 2 is blank
In German; narration about/by Kathy mixed with complete (lengthy) rock songs--artists named on Side 2. Side 2 also contains an unrelated radio show that followed the Acker special.
Original 58-page corrected holograph manuscript in spiral-bound notebook.
Original 53-page corrected holograph manuscript in spiral-bound notebook.
Original 26-page corrected holograph manuscript in spiral-bound notebook.
Original 49-page corrected holograph manuscript in spiral-bound notebook.
Original 50-page corrected holograph manuscript in black spiral-bound notebook.
Original 65-page corrected holograph manuscript beginning “After the Death of the Whore-house--O becomes a poet,” in spiral-bound notebook.
Original 26-page corrected holograph manuscript in spiral-bound notebook.
Original 43-page corrected holograph manuscript in spiral-bound notebook.
Original 50-page corrected holograph manuscript in 2 spiral-bound notebooks.
Original 60-page corrected holograph manuscript in spiral-bound notebook and the cover of a telephone owner's manual
Original 55-page corrected holograph manuscript in spiral-bound notebook.
Original 29-page corrected holograph manuscript in spiral-bound notebook.
Original 76-page corrected holograph manuscript in spiral-bound notebook.
Original 47-page corrected holograph manuscript in spiral-bound notebook.
Original 45-page corrected holograph manuscript (including original art work) in 2 spiral-bound notebooks.
Original 158-page corrected holograph manuscript in 2 spiral-bound notebooks.
Original 269-page corrected holograph manuscript in 6 spiral-bound notebooks.
Original 187-page corrected holograph manuscript in 3 spiral-bound notebooks.
Original 168-page corrected holograph manuscript in 4 spiral-bound notebooks.
Original 216-page corrected holograph manuscript in 4 spiral-bound notebooks.
Computer printout of: The Vision Passes (includes Playing House, p. 312-14; The True Colors of Piracy, pp. 315-20; The Vision Passes, p. 321-27; Becoming A Rat, pp. 301-10); The True Colors of Piracy, pp. 56-61; The Vision Passes, p. 62-68; Becoming A Rat, pp. 41-50; Titles [1 title pages from Pussy, King of the Pirates]; Playing House, p. 51-54; and Pirate Chronicles (includes Sections from The Chronicle of the Pirates and Pirate Chronicles).
111-page typescript, heavily corrected by Acker in red ink. (computer printout and original typescript).
111-page typescript with a few corrections by Acker. Containing: Preface: Once upon a time not long ago O, In the Days of Dreaming and In the Days of the Pirates. Clamped into red folding notebook.
150-page typescript with a few corrections by Acker. Clamped into a blue folding notebook.
67-page typescript with some original art. Clamped into blue folding notebook.
Page 1-185 of corrected typescript. Page 185a-328 of corrected typescript.
10-page corrected typescript; plus 9-page fax of a slightly different version, with some corrections by Acker; plus 10-page clean copy; 2-page TLS concerning the address; another 10-page clean copy; plus computer printout of Author's Guild Speech (7 page clean copy and 1 page Speech Notes on Pirates).
Catalogue for the Pompidou Gender Show, Paris, October, 1995. 46-page holograph manuscript in spiral-bound notebook; plus 14 pages of original loose manuscript; 10-page typescript, heavily corrected by Acker, with additions and deletions, plus 11-page corrected typescript second version; 12-page clean typescript.
14 pages of loose holograph manuscript; plus 7-page clean typescript.
25 pages of original loose manuscript; plus 7-page corrected typescript, dated 2/95; 10 pages of typescript with some corrections; 8-page corrected typescript with 1 page of holograph corrections; 4-page TLS to The Independent giving corrections to the article; computer disk labeled “Kiki Smith Cuntdisk Too(s).”
4 pages of original loose manuscript; 7-page corrected typescript; 12-clean copy; various newspaper clippings of the conference; facsimile of the text of a proposed law on homosexuality in Idaho.
26 pages of a typescript.
5-page typescript of an article for Marxism Today.
1 page of a typescript
19 pages of original loose manuscript
19-page proof with corrections by Acker
15-page typescript.
12 pages of a typescript with corrections; 1 piece of correspondence.
15-page proof with title page and table of contents for the journal (Volume 16, Numbers 1-2, 3, 1993).
18 pages of documentation from New Zealand on the banning of Blood and Guts in High School Plus Two.
Compact disc recording by the Mekons with Kathy Acker. 2 copies.
8 pages of Arabic script, pasted on art board, with notes on layout and reductions: six are approximately 8 x 13.5 inches; one is 7.5 x 6.5 inches; one is 6.5 x 3.5 inches.
2 pages (9 x 12 inches) of original pen and ink drawings and calligraphy, in the form of a letter, signed by Acker.
38 pages of layout with drawings and text, including 8 original black and white drawings; plus The Persian Poems by Janey Smith, 23-page original holograph manuscript. All are approximately 8.5 x 11.5 inches.
Color photocopies
Negatives
Layouts
Some of the materials in this accession are not immediately accessible because they require further processing before use. Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the Rubenstein Library to use this collection.
[Disks 001, 002, 003, and 004 removed and their contents migrated to the electronic records server. Use copy of disks 001-005 in box. Disk directories log exists. Contact a Reference Archivist.]
[Technical Services needs to format for use copies of audio cassettes before use.]
[Attention: Contains pictorial materials.]
[Disk 005 removed and its contents migrated to the electronic records server. A use copy can be found in Box 1 of this accession. Disk directory log exists. Contact a Reference Archivist.]
[Attention: Contains pictorial materials.]
[Technical Services staff may need to reformat newsprint, coated fax paper, or other brittle paper.]
[Notebooks are listed according to the notebook title or the first line of writing within the notebook.]
[Oversize material removed to oversize folder 1.]
[Attention: Contains pictorial materials.]
[Attention: Contains rusty fasteners.]
[Technical Services staff may need to reformat newsprint, coated fax paper, or other brittle paper.]
[Oversize materials removed to oversize folder 2.]
[Technical Services staff may need to reformat newsprint, coated fax paper, or other brittle paper.]
[Technical Services needs to format for use copies of audio cassettes before use.]
[Attention: Contains pictorial materials.]
[Attention: Contains pictorial materials.]
[Notebooks are listed according to the notebook title or the first line of writing within the notebook.]
[Notebooks are listed according to the notebook title or the first line of writing within the notebook.]
[Notebooks are listed according to the notebook title or the first line of writing within the notebook.]
Historical Note
| Date | Event(s) |
|---|---|
| 1948 | Born. |
| 1963-65 | Studied Classics at Brandeis University. |
| 1967 | Received BA from University of California at San Diego (UCSD). |
| 1968-1970 | Studied at UCSD Department of Literature. |
| 1971 | Studied at New York University Classics Department. |
| 1975 | Published The Childlike Life of the Black Tarantula. |
| 1975-1976 | Creative Artists' Public Services Program New York State Grant For Fiction. |
| 1978 | Published Kathy Goes to Haiti. |
| 1980 | Published I Dreamt I Became A Nymphomaniac: Imagining. |
| 1980 | Published The Adult Life of Toulouse-Lautrec. |
| 1980-1981 | Instructor, The San Francisco Art Institute, Video and Performance Department. |
| 1981 | Pushcart Prize. |
| 1982 | Published Hello, I'm Erica Jong. |
| 1983 | Published Great Expectations. |
| 1984 | Published Algeria: A Series of Invocations Because Nothing Else Works. |
| 1984 | Published Blood and Guts in High School. |
| 1986 | Published Don Quixote. |
| 1988 | Published Empire of the Senseless. |
| 1988 | My Death, My Life, By Pier Paolo Pasolini published in Literal Madness. |
| 1989 | Published Young Lust; Kathy Goes to Haiti; The Adult Life of Toulouse Lautrec; Florida. |
| 1990 | Published The Seven Cardinal Virtues. |
| 1990 | Published In Memoriam to Identity. |
| 1991 | Published Hannibal Lecteur, My Father. |
| 1991-1995 | Adjunct Professor, San Francisco Art Institute. |
| 1992 | Published Portrait of an Eye: Three Novels. |
| 1993 | Published My Mother Demonology. |
| 1994 | Visiting Professor, UCSD. |
| 1994 | Visiting Professor, University of California at Santa Barbara. |
| 1994 | Visiting Professor, University of Idaho. |
| 1996 | Published Pussy, King of the Pirates. |
| 1997 | Died. |
Subject Headings
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- .
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- My mother demonology.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- In memoriam to identity.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- Don Quixote.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- Great expectations.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- Girl gangs take over the world.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- Childlike life of the black tarantula.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- I dreamt I became a nymphomaniac!: imagining.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- Adult life of Toulouse-Lautrec.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- Variety.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- Ripoff Red: Girl detective.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- Empire of the senseless.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- Blood and guts in high school.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- Pussy, King of the Pirates.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- Thesmophoriazusae.
- Acker, Kathy, 1948- Story of My Life.
- American fiction--Women authors.
- American fiction--20th century.
- Punk culture--United States--Fiction.
- Experimental fiction--Women authors.
- Authors, American--20th century--Correspondence.
- Machine-readable records.
- Audio cassettes.
- Color slides.
- Color photographs.
- Color negatives.
- Black-and-white negatives.
- CD-ROMs.
- Phonograph record.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Kathy Acker Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
Provenance
The Kathy Acker Papers was received by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library as a purchase in 1999-2002.
Processing Information
Processed by Ginny Daley; Tracy Brown
Completed September 14, 1998
Additions minimally processed by Ann Langford; Erin Lawrimore; Allan Maule
Encoded by Erin Lawrimore
Last updated July 1, 2002
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant.