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| Fonds/Collection Number: | F0498 |
| Title: | Karen Connelly fonds |
| Dates: | 1984-2006 |
| Extent: | 2.94 m of textual records 40 photographs |
| Biographical Sketch/ Administrative History: | Karen Connelly, poet, author and photographer, was born in Calgary, Alberta in 1969 and is the author of several books of nonfiction, fiction and poetry. Her novel 'The lizard cage,' was nominated for the 2006 Kiriyama Prize for fiction. She has read from and lectured on her work in North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia. Connelly lived for many years in Burma and Thailand and has residences in Canada and Greece. Her best-selling book, 'Touch the dragon : a Thai journal,' recounts her year spent in Thailand at the age of seventeen. It was awarded the Governor General's Award for Non-Fiction in 1993 and was a New York Times Notable Travel Book of the Year in 2002. Her other books include the poetry collections 'Grace and poison,' 'This brighter prison,' 'The disorder of love,' and 'The small words in my body,' which won the Pat Lowther Award for poetry in 1991. She is also the author of the memoir 'One room in a castle,' which recounts her travels in Spain, Greece and France. Connelly currently lives in Toronto, Ontario where she teaches creative writing at Humber College. |
| Scope and Content: |
The fonds consists of material that documents Connelly's personal and professional life and includes notes and drafts related to published and unpublished poems and short stories as well as complete drafts of her poetry collections 'Grace and poison,' 'This brighter prison,' 'The disorder of love,' and 'The small words in my body,' her travel memoirs 'One room in a castle' and 'Touch the dragon' and her novel 'The lizard cage.' It also includes personal correspondence consisting of letters received by Connelly as well as copies of letters sent by her to friends and family, which were subsequently used in the writing of her works of travel literature. The fonds includes copies of letters of received from Margaret Atwood, Timothy Findley, Dale Zieroth, Don Coles, Michael Redhill, Nino Ricci, Nancy Holmes, Libby Oughton, Silver Donald Cameron, Susan Swan and Steven Heighton, among others. It also includes Connelly's personal journals for the years 1984 to 2003 in which she documents events in her day to day life, her thoughts on literature and art, ideas and sketches for stories and poems and in which she recorded her observations based on her extensive travels through Thailand, Burma, Spain, France, Greece and Canada. |
| Language of material note: | Some material is in Burmese. |
| Restrictions on Access and Use: | Access is granted only with the permission of Karen Connelly until her death, at which time access is unrestricted. Researchers seeking access must make written application to Karen Connelly through the University Archivist, outlining their research project and their purpose in consulting the Karen Connelly fonds. |
| Finding Aid: | File list is available. |
| URL of Finding Aid: | http://archivesfa.library.yorku.ca/fonds/ON00370-f0000498.pdf |
| Accruals: | The fonds comprises the following accession: 2006-025. Further accruals are expected. |
| 2006-025 |
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| Immediate source of acquisition: | Donated by Karen Connelly in 2006. |
| Provenance Access Points: | Connelly, Karen, 1969- |
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Date of creation: 2006/08/03 Date of last revision: 2006/10/26 |
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