|
|
|
|
|
Lilly Library acquires Kurt Vonnegut papers
Sept. 27, 1999
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- The Lilly Library at Indiana University Bloomington has acquired the manuscripts and correspondence of Kurt Vonnegut, acclaimed author of Slaughterhouse Five and Player Piano. The thousands of pages of Vonnegut's literary papers also include typescripts, first editions, and about 50 rejection slips from the 1940s.
"Vonnegut has become a literary icon for many," said Lisa Browar, Lilly librarian. "In the 1970s, his short stories and novels captured the mood of a country disillusioned by the war in Southeast Asia. Today, he is acknowledged for his astonishing literary range and as a social critic whose wit and irreverence expose society's frailties."
Vonnegut is the author of several novels, including The Sirens of Titan, Player Piano, Mother Night, Cat's Cradle and Timequake, and hundreds of published short stories.
Captured by the Germans while serving in the U.S. Air Force during World War II, Vonnegut was one of the survivors of the fire bombing of Dresden in 1945. Slaughterhouse Five, perhaps his most recognizable novel, is based on this experience. After the war, he studied anthropology at the University of Chicago. Later he worked as a reporter and as a public relations writer.
A native of Indianapolis, Vonnegut was awarded an honorary doctorate by IU in 1973.
The Vonnegut papers at the Lilly Library complement the library's extensive holdings in 20th century American literature. The library houses the principal archives of Upton Sinclair, Sylvia Plath, Max Eastman and Galway Kinnell, among others. Researchers wishing to use the Vonnegut papers should contact the Lilly Library at 812-855-2452.
Housing more than 400,000 books, 7 million manuscripts and 150,000 pieces of sheet music, the Lilly Library is IU's principal special collections repository and one of the 18 libraries of the IU Bloomington Libraries. The Lilly Library is located on the Bloomington campus on Seventh Street, south of the Showalter Fountain. The library is open Monday-Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Public tours are available every Friday at 2 p.m.
(Eric Bartheld, 812-856-4817, ebarthel@indiana.edu)