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Donald Barthelme Literary Papers Finding Aid

Contemporary Literature, Finding Aids

Donald Barthelme

Photograph by Jerry Bauer 

The finding aid for the Donald Barthelme Literary Papers is now available on the TARO website. Special Collections acquired the collection from Marion Barthelme in 2002.

Donald Barthelme grew up in Houston, Texas, and attended the University of Houston as an undergraduate. After moving to New York City in 1962 he began regularly contributing short stories to the New Yorker, becoming well-known for his use of untraditional structures and his sense of the absurd. Barthelme would go on to publish numerous collected works, four novels, and a book for children. In 1979 he joined the faculty of the UH Creative Writing Program in Houston, eventually becoming Director, a position he held until his death in 1989. Barthelme’s Sixty Stories is considered a classic of contemporary American literature.

The Barthelme Papers include typescript drafts, galley proofs, and page proofs of Donald Barthelme’s novels, collected works, short stories, and other writings, plus collages and collage stories created by Barthelme. The collection also includes letters and cards from Barthelme’s writing friends and colleagues, and about a dozen photographs of the author.

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