Paul Bowles correspondence with Mark Dery

Collection — Box: 1, Folder: 11

Identifier: MS-0869

Staff Only

Content Description

Derived from dealer description: This collection consists of sixteen letters and one postcard from Paul Bowles (1910-1999) to Mark Dery (born 1959), and ten letters from Dery to Bowles. The letters spans May 6th, 1980 to August 19th, 1988. They concern, among other topics, Bowles's advice for writing surreal poetry, problems regarding the transcript of an interview of Bowles conducted by Dery, an exhibition of drawings by Mohamed Mrabet that Dery organized at City Lights bookstore in San Francisco, Bowles's feedback on Dery's writing and vice versa, health matters, and Bowles's friends, including Edouard Roditi, Lawrence Ferlingetti, Marcel Duchamp, and Mohamed Mrabet. Envelopes of Bowles's letters to Dery are included.

Dates

1980 May 5-1988 August 19

Creator

Bowles, Paul, 1910-1999 (Person)

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is housed off-site and requires 48-hours' notice for retrieval. Contact Special Collections for more information.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for determining any copyright questions. It is not necessary to seek our permission as the owner of the physical work to publish or otherwise use public domain materials that we have made available for use, unless Johns Hopkins University holds the copyright.

Biographical / Historical

Paul Bowles (1910-1999) was an American writer and musician who spent most of his life in Tangier, Morocco. He published musical scores, novels, short stories, poetry, translations, an autobiography, and many of his letters. His most famous novel is The Sheltering Sky (1949).

Biographical / Historical

Mark Dery (born 1959) is an American writer, professor and cultural critic. He is recognized as having coined the term "Afrofuturism," and previously taught at Yale, New York University, and University of California Irvine. Much of his research has concerned cyberculture.

Extent

.167 Cubic Feet (1 legal sized folder)

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Abstract

This collection consists of twenty-six letters, and one postcard, exchanged between Paul Bowles and Mark Dery between the dates of May 6th, 1980 and August 19th, 1988. Paul Bowles (1910-1999) was an expatriate artist who lived in Tangier, Morocco; Mark Dery (1959) is an American writer, professor and cultural critic.