Archives and Creative Writing

Consider the following questions from "Using Archives and Special Collections in Creative Writing Research"

• How might you use this resource for Creative Writing research?

• What can you learn about the historical and local context in which the resource was created?

• Who was the author/creator of the resource and what can you learn about them?

• Why do you think this particular resource was preserved by its creator and/or by the archive?

• What gaps or absences can you detect?

• Erasure poetry

  • First, read “The Near Transitive Properties of the Political and Poetical: Erasure” by Solmaz Sharif
  • Optional: “The Weight of What’s Left [out]: Six Contemporary Ereasurists on Their Craft” by Andrew David King

• Found poetry

  • If working with archives of a writer, consider a cento

• Consider using anaphora or writing a sestina using language from your source

• Imagine the life of the creator and/or the subject

• Writing about your POV: what does the object look like, what do you observe, what does it make you think about?

• Imagining the object’s POV: what does it feel, what does it see, what does it think about or remember?