The Minnesota Authors Manuscripts Collection presently consists of materials by and about seven authors with roots in Minnesota. Each of the collections contain, in varying amounts: biographical information; news reports; published and unpublished manuscript materials; published works; photographs; multi-media materials, and other items.
"John Fischer" is a pseudonym for the collaboration of writers Ruel Fischmann and Joanne Fluke (husband and wife.) Fluke was born in Minnesota and Fischmann taught at St. Cloud State University, leaving to pursue a career as a television writer. The collection contains manuscripts for the novels High Stakes and Station Break.
The papers contain manuscripts for the novels The Other Child; Winter Child; Cold Judgment; Vengeance is Mine; The Stepchild; Video Kill; Final Appeal; Dead Giveaway; and Fatal Identity; as well as materials for a series of young adult novels written under her maiden name, Jo Gibson. In addition, Ms. Fluke authored the popular Hannah Swensen mystery series.
Hassler, educator and author, was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota in 1933. The papers contain manuscripts of both published and unpublished works. Manuscripts include Staggerford; Simon's Night; The Love Hunter, and A Green Journey.
Hinkemeyer is a native of St. Cloud, Minnesota. His papers include titles written under his own name and two pseudonyms: "Vanessa Royall" and "Jan Lara." Manuscripts include those for The Dark Below,Fields of Eden,Flames of Desire, Lilac Night; A Time to Reap, Soul Catchers, and others.
A longtime faculty member of the Department of English, Meissner has written several books, including Spirits in the Grass, The Road to Cosmos: The Faces of an American Town, American Compass, and Hitting into the Wind. These papers contain Meissner-penned poems, short stories, and manuscripts for The Road to Cosmos: The Faces of an American Town and Hitting into the Wind.
Surgeon and author, Nolen was born in Massachusetts. He lived and practiced in Litchfield, Minnesota from 1960 until his death in 1986. The papers contain published and unpublished work including numerous articles and manuscripts for Making of a Surgeon; A Surgeon's World; Surgeon Under the Knife, and others.
Spencer was born in Browerville, Minnesota in 1943. The papers here contain manuscripts for Hummingbird, The Hellion, Twice Loved, The Fulfillment, The Endearment, Years, November of the Heart, and others.
Longtime faculty members at St. Cloud State, the papers contain drafts of three editions of their 1970s book, Mass Media: Forces in Our Society.
The University Archives is fortunate to have a wealth of material relating to the world-famous author Sinclair Lewis, who was born in Sauk Center, Minnesota. These collections include:
Acquired in 1996, the 262 letters and 1 poem included in this collection were written by Sinclair Lewis to Marcella Powers between 1939 and 1947. Lewis met Powers in August 1939 when they were both acting in Eugene O’Neill’s play Ah Wilderness! at the Provincetown Theater in Cape Cod.
In these letters, Lewis discusses a wide variety of topics - his career, his writing, and his feelings for Powers. During the time of their relationship, Lewis traveled quite a bit throughout the United States giving lectures. Lewis also wrote about his social life, including the people that he met, the games of chess that he played, and the books that he read. Many of the letters are very long while others are quite short, with some including cartoons drawn by Lewis.
The Lewis Family Papers contain personal correspondence, photographs and clippings surrounding the life and times of Sinclair Lewis, his family, and those associated with them. The papers include autographed and other copies of Lewis' works; photocopies of his poems, short stories, criticisms and collected works about him.
Many of the items were purchased from or donated by Freeman Lewis, Virginia Lewis and Isabel Lewis Agrell, the children of Claude Lewis (brother of Sinclair) during the years 1973-1975. Additional material was donated by Isabel Lewis Agrell from 1986 to 1987.
Compton was born in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. In 1947, Compton met Sinclair Lewis while a graduate student at Williams College in Williamstown, Massachusetts. They began a friendship that lasted until his death in 1951.
Compton died in 1985 and her papers were donated to University Archives the following year. Most significant are the letters between Lewis and Compton from 1947 to 1951. Other correspondents includes Sinclair's older brother and sister-in-law, Claude B. and Helen Lewis, Lewis biographer Mark Schorer, former personal secretary Barnaby Conrad, and Random House's Bennett Cerf and Harry Maule.
In October 2007, the family of Hubert Irey Gibson donated manuscripts from the Sinclair Lewis and Lloyd Lewis play/novel Jayhawker to the University Archives. In 1933, Gibson served as Lewis' secretary in Chicago for the writing of Jayhawker, saving drafts of the play as it evolved from an idea to a finished product.
This collection contains 19 letters written by Sinclair Lewis to Joan McQuary between 1942 and 1945. In the fall of 1942, McQuary met Lewis as a student in his creative writing class at the University of Minnesota. When the class finished in December, Lewis moved to New York City. In these letters, Lewis discussed a wide variety of topics, giving a sense of his life while living in New York City. He discussed his search for a new apartment, missing his students and life in Minnesota, and his attitude towards writing after finishing his novel Gideon Planish.
Gathered by St. Cloud State librarians, this collection contains photocopies of articles, poetry, and other writing other than books which were written by Sinclair Lewis and others (after Lewis' death in 1951) from 1904 to 1966.