The American Writer’s Archive Joan Didion exponent of the New Journalism, and her husband, also a writer John Gregory Dunne, It was acquired by the New York Public Library.
Both are considered fundamental authors in the United States. Materials purchased include personal and professional writing; cards with figures like Margaret AtwoodNora Ephron y Philip Rothand photographs of the couple and other objects both from their life as a couple and from each other.
Didion’s archive, who died in 2021, includes drafts of her book The year of magical thinkingwho wrote after losing her husband and daughter and which earned him the 2005 The National Book Award for a non-fiction work. In addition to transcripts of a an interview with Linda Kasabian, a member of the Manson Family; notes of the “confessions” of the famous case of rape in Central Park in 1989, and correspondence with the murderer of the young transgender Brandon Teena.
“This collection, which is both deeply intimate and professionally importantis unmatched in the caliber of its materials and offers unprecedented insight into its creative processes,” said NYPL Special Collections Manager Declan Kiely.
