Page one of “Pigeon Shoot” chapter draft from Truck Dance, featuring edits from Donald Barthelme (Olive Hershey Papers).
We are very pleased to announce the recent publication of the Olive Hershey Papers finding aid.
Born in Houston, Texas in 1941, Olive Hershey was educated at Connecticut College and the University of Texas at Austin before attending the University of Houston’s Creative Writing Program. Studying under trailblazing postmodernist Donald Barthelme and alongside the likes of Tracy Daugherty, Hershey earned her M.A. from UH in 1987. Her published works include a collection of poems entitled Floating Face Up and her novel Truck Dance (originally her thesis while studying at UH).
The Olive Hershey Papers contain drafts, revisions, editorial notes, and writings from a handful of Hershey’s projects, however the bulk of materials are related to Truck Dance. Particularly noteworthy are the drafts of the various chapters filled with the edits and suggested revisions of Daugherty and the unmistakable scrawl and insight of Barthelme.
A fine complement to our Contemporary Literature collections, the Olive Hershey Papers help provide even more context for a community of authors that established the University of Houston as a destination for emerging and talented literary voices. For more information on the life and work of Olive Hershey we invite you to consult this newly published finding aid. The original materials of the Olive Hershey Papers can be viewed in the Special Collections Reading Room.