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Aug. 25, 1999
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Lilly Library at Indiana University Bloomington has acquired the papers of Athol Fugard, the acclaimed South African playwright, actor and director known for his moving dramas that celebrate the strength of the human spirit.
Many of Fugard's works were written during South Africa's years of apartheid, and he became known as one of the most passionate artistic voices against its injustices.
"In the course of a night watching a play in a theater, you can have a new thought, a new sensitivity to something," Fugard has said. "And if you change people, you'll end up changing a society."
Fugard won an Obie Award in 1969 for Boesman and Lena, a New York Drama Critics Circle Award in 1978 for A Lesson from Aloes, and a Drama Desk Award in 1982 for Master Harold … and the Boys.
"Geopolitics notwithstanding, Athol Fugard's plays confront fundamental human truths, not the least of which is man's inhumanity to man," said Lisa Browar, the Lilly Library's head librarian. "His works also demonstrate the transcendent abilities of art and literature to heal the human spirit. It is a privilege to house Fugard's papers and make them available for scholarship."
The Fugard papers -- drafts, typescripts, working papers and production notes -- complement the Lilly Library's holdings of novelist Nadine Gordimer, the Nobel Prize laureate in literature from South Africa. The combined resources make the Lilly Library an important research center for contemporary South African literature.
"It is a source of great pride and satisfaction to know that my papers will be in the safekeeping of as distinguished an institution as the Lilly Library of Indiana University," Fugard said. "It is an added source of satisfaction to know that they will be joining those of my respected friend and colleague Nadine Gordimer. The two collections will offer scholars a unique perspective on the drama of political and social change that has taken place in South Africa."
The papers now at the Lilly Library are especially noteworthy because they include several drafts of many of Fugard's works, providing scholars the opportunity to follow the progression of his ideas and study the creative process.
Fugard's dramas are well known to American audiences. Master Harold … and the Boys was made into a well-received film starring Matthew Broderick. Actor Kevin Spacey played the leading role in Playland.
Housing more than 400,000 books, 7 million manuscripts and 150,000 pieces of sheet music, the Lilly Library is Indiana University's principal special collections repository and one of the 18 libraries of the Indiana University Bloomington Libraries.
For information about the Fugard collection, call the Lilly Library at 812-855-2452. (George Vlahakis, 812-855-0846, gvlahaki@indiana.edu or Eric Bartheld, 812-855-3403, ebarthel@indiana.edu)