PCL MS 156 Maumee Valley Romance Authors, Inc. Collection

The records of the Maumee Valley Romance Authors, Inc., formerly known as Maumee Valley Romance Writers of America, consist of approximately 0.4 cubic feet and were donated to the Browne Popular Culture Library in 1997 by Denise Koch, with additional donations made in 1998, 2000 and 2001 by Joyce Lane. The collection has no restrictions placed on its use for scholarly purposes. Researchers are responsible for securing copyright permission when using all published and unpublished works found in this collection.

This finding aid was prepared by Mary Koslovsky in February 2006.

The Maumee Valley Romance Authors, Inc. (MVRAI) was founded as Maumee Valley Romance Writers of America, local chapter Number 126 of the Romance Writers of America (RWA). Topics of interest to MVRAI include writing contests, locating a literary agent, submitting manuscripts to publishers, negotiating publishing contracts, and promoting sold work.

The records of the Maumee Valley Romance Authors, Inc. comprise 0.4 cubic foot and document the membership and activities of the organization from 1995-2000, then known as Maumee Valley Romance Writers of America. Organizational files (approximately .25 cu ft.) include a few pages of meeting minutes, membership lists, agendas, and correspondence, but the amount is not significant. A more complete series is the club newsletter, "The Maumee Valley Report" which gives a better idea of club interests and activities for the years 1997-2000. The club sponsors a contest, "He Said--She Said", and documents are present from the 1998-2000 contest years.

During the years 1996-1998 and 2000, the MVRWA and Bowling Green State University's Popular Culture Library sponsored two conferences, "Re-reading the Romance" and "Romance in the New Millennium." Files (approximately .25 cu ft.) documenting this activity are especially significant since they provide insights into the development of a romance writers' archives at BGSU's Browne Popular Culture Library, during the tenure of head librarian Dr. Alison Scott.

The collection includes chapter meeting minutes and agendas, newsletters, some chapter correspondence, officer reports, and contest related materials. These materials date from 1996-2000.

Of particular interest are files related to both the 1997 and 2000 academic romance conferences held at Bowling Green State University. These files include correspondence, marketing and publicity materials, and meeting minutes and notes.

A number of unidentified photographs related to the romance conferences and other events are scattered through the collection.