PCL MS 196 Richard Erlich Collection

Title

PCL MS 196 Richard Erlich Collection

Introduction

The Richard Erlich Collection consists of approximately 4 linear feet of manuscript materials, including correspondence, business files, and academic manuscripts. The materials primarily relate to Erlich's book Coyote's Song: The Teaching Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin, but also contain materials relating to his unpublished book The Starmont Reader's Guide to Ursula K. LeGuin as well as Clockworks: A Multimedia Bibliography [i.e., List] of Works Useful for the Study of the Human/Machine Interface in SF, written with Thomas P. Dunn, his frequent collaborator.

The collection was donated in 2006 by Dr. Erlich to the Browne Popular Culture Library. At the request of Dr. Erlich, files containing correspondence between himself and Ursula K. Le Guin are currently restricted, however there are no other restrictions placed on the materials for research purposes. Researchers are responsible for securing copyright permission from the author when reproducing any unpublished or published works included in the collection.

The collection was processed and the finding aid prepared by Manuscripts & Outreach Archivist Steve Ammidown in October, 2016.

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Erlich received his Ph.D in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1971, and taught English at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, from 1971-2006. He has written extensively on science fiction and fantasy, and is best known as a scholar of Ursula K. Le Guin. His book Coyote's Song: The Teaching Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin (1997) features a close reading of nearly every Ursula K. Le Guin story to that point, at a length of more than 650 pages.

In collaboration with Thomas Dunn, Dr. Erlich edited the Clockworks series of essays on robots and machines in science fiction, which continues on as a wiki titled Clockworks 2. Their work on this project is archived at the Browne Popular Culture Library as The Thomas Dunn and Richardt Erlich Collection (MS-039).

Scope and Content

The Richard Erlich Collection contains approximately 4 linear feet of manuscript material. The bulk of the collection consists of drafts and manuscripts that eventually composed the book Coyote's Song: The Teaching Stories of Ursula K. Le Guin (1997). There is also a collection of conference papers on the work of Ursula K. Le Guin written by Dr. Erlich as well as by others. A collection of research materials including photocopies of Le Guin's essays and short stories, as well as theoretical works written by others is included as well. Business files relating to Coyote's Song and several other works by Dr. Erlich are included, including correspondence with publishers and colleagues, as well as files relating to the process of academic research and writing.

Two files containing correspondence between Dr. Erlich and Ursula K. Le Guin have been restricted at the request of Dr. Erlich. Please contact the archivist for more information.

Dr. Erlich's analysis of the work of Ursula K. Le Guin is an essential addition to the scholarship on this renowned author. This collection sheds light on the process of Dr. Erlich and acaedmic writing in general, and the participation of Le Guin in the project will be of great interest to other scholars of her work.

Series Description

Business Files
1981-2001
Arranged chronologically
Contains publisher correspondence and roylaties information, as well as some materials relating to academic writing and research.

Conference papers
1977-1998
Arranged chronologically
Papers written about the work of Ursula K. Le Guin, by Dr. Erlich as well as other scholars.

Research
1974-1997 (approximate)
Arranged chronologically
Primarily photocopies of printed articles, some by or about Ursula K. Le Guin.

Correspondence
1977-2006
Arranged by participant, and then chronogically
Contains correspondence with scholars of Ursula K. Le Guin as well as with Le Guin herself.

Academic manuscripts
1991-1997
Arranged by type (chapters and then manuscripts) and then roughly chronologically
Contains chapter drafts, partial and complete draft manuscripts, some with comments written by Ursula K. Le Guin.

Inventory

Box 1
Folder	Description	Date
Business Files
1	Royalties and Other Money Stuff	1981 - 1985
2	Greenwood Press	1983
3	Browne Popular Culture Library- BGSU	1984 - 1989
4	Correspondence with Starmont House, Inc.	1988
5	Correspondence- Starmont Guide to Le Guin	1990
6	Materials related to Advanced Research Appointment	1993 - 1995
7	Correspondence with Borgo Press re: Contract	1995
8	Correspondence re: Clockworks	1993 - 1994
9	Reviews- Clockworks	1994
10	Coyote's Song- Correspondence re: Copyright	1996
11	Coyote's Song- Fragments & Correspondence	1996
12	Coyote's Song- Correspondence with Publishers	1999
13	OAST: Funding	1999
14	Gale Story Guides- Style Manual	2000
15	Coyote's Song- indexing notes & invoices	2001
16	Coyote's Song- ebook cover art	2001
17	Computer disks- 1 zip disk, 2 3 1/2" disks, 7 5 1/4" disks	undated

Box 2
Folder	Description	Date
Conference Papers by Erlich and Others
1	Presentations on Le Guin by others- PCA Meetings	1977, 1979
2	Papers on Le Guin- miscellaneous	1977
3	Paper- Evolutionary Ethics in The Left Hand of Darkness	1978
4	Papers relating to Le Guin's poetry	1978
5	Erlich- Le Guin in Frontierland	1979
6	Le Guin in Frontierland- PCA presentation	1979
7	Materials relating to Le Guin in Frontierland paper	1978 - 1984
8	Papers by Erlich on Le Guin- miscellaneous	1979, 1983
9	Papers from PCA session- "Le Guin: Earthsea & Other Fantasy"	1980
10	Lathe of Heaven- papers by Erlich & others	1981, 1983
11	Draft and notes for Lathe of Heaven paper	1983
12	Papers by others on Le Guin's Hainish works	undated
13	Erlich article in Extrapolation	1987
14	Paper and handout for PCA presentation on Le Guin's short fiction	1992
15	PCA Paper- "Le Guin and Her Audience"	1993
16	Le Guin research- emails	1994 - 1995
17	Handout for talk at Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts	1996
18	"Utopus Revised and Reconsidered"- paper at Society for Utopian Studies	1997
19	Article on Le Guin by Mike Cadden	1998
20	Earthsea series synopsis by Carol Stevens	undated

Box 3
Folder	Description	Date
Research
1	Le Guin book: Left Hand of Darkness materials	undated
2	Le Guin books- Literature for Review	undated
3	Interviews with Le Guin	1988, 1997
4	Schrodinger's Cat by Ursula K. Le Guin- photocopy	1974
5	Is Gender Necessary? Redux by Ursula K. Le Guin- photocopy	1987
6	Forgiveness Day by Ursula K. Leguin- photocopy	1994
7	Short works by Ursula K. Le Guin- photocopies	undated
8	Writings by Ursula K. Le Guin- photocopies	1975, 1982, 1985
Correspondence
9	Correspondence- miscellaneous	1994 - 2002
11	Correspondence with Jim Bittner	1977 - 1984
12	Correspondence with Ursula K. Le Guin- RESTRICTED	1979 - 2006
13	Correspondence with Ursula K. Le Guin re: Coyote's Song- RESTRICTED	1996 - 1999

Box 4
Folder	Description	Date
Coyote's Song- Chapter drafts
1	About This Book	1997
2	About This Book, Draft 2	1997
3	Conclusion/Introduction, Draft 2	1996
4	Conclusion/Introduction, Draft 3.5:S	1997
5	Conclusion/Introduction, Draft 4.5	1997
6	On Violence, Aggression, Utopia, Dystopia, Ethics- and Sex	1991
7	Aggression & Utopias	1995
7	Aggression & Utopias, Draft 2	1996
8	Aggression & Utopias, Draft 3	1996
9	Aggression & Utopias, Draft 3	1997
10	Picture Books, edited first draft	undated
11	Picture Books, Draft 1.5	1996
12	Picture Books, Draft 2.5	1997
13	A Fisherman of the Inland Sea	1996
14	A Fisherman of the Inland Sea, Draft 1.2	1996
15	A Fisherman of the Inland Sea, Draft 3	1997

Box 5
Folder	Description	Date
Coyote's Song- Chapter drafts, cont'd
1	Background for FIS, Draft 1.2	1996
2	Background for FWF, FIS, Draft 2	1997
3	The Hainish Universe Revisited..., Draft 5	1997
4	Gender-Separated Societies, Draft	1996
5	Rer Stories, Draft 2.3	1996
7	Transition: Daoism and Magic	1997
8	Toward the Feminist Works, Draft 1	1995
9	Always Coming Home, Draft 5	1997
10	Tehanu, Draft 3	1997
11	Buffalo Gals, Draft 2	1997
12	New Heroes, Draft 4	1997
13	Solitude, Draft 2	1997
14	Poems, Draft 1.1	1996
15	Poems, Draft 2	1997
16	Works Consulted	undated

Box 6
Folder	Description	Date
Coyote's Song- Manuscripts
1	1st Draft, 1 of 2	1995
2	1st Draft, 2 of 2	1995
3	Draft 1 Reformatted	1995
4	Partial Manuscript	undated

Box 7
Folder	Description	Date
Coyote's Song- Manuscripts, cont'd.
1	1st Draft marked up (includes comments by Le Guin), 1 of 3	1995
2	1st Draft marked up (includes comments by Le Guin), 2 of 3	1995
3	1st Draft marked up (includes comments by Le Guin), 3 of 3	1995

Box 8
Folder	Description	Date
Coyote's Song- Manuscripts, cont'd.
1	Edited manuscript (includes comments by Le Guin), 1 of 3	undated
2	Edited manuscript (includes comments by Le Guin), 2 of 3	undated
3	Edited manuscript (includes comments by Le Guin), 3 of 3	undated

Box 9
Folder	Description	Date
Coyote's Song- Manuscripts, cont'd.
1	Copyedited manuscript, 1 of 3	undated
2	Copyedited manuscript, 2 of 3	undated
3	Copyedited manuscript, 3 of 3	undated

Box 10
Folder	Description	Date
Coyote's Song- Manuscripts, cont'd.
1	Final manuscript, 1 of 3	1997
2	Final manuscript, 2 of 3	1997
3	Final manuscript, 3 of 3	1997
Starmont Guide to Ursula K. LeGuin
4	Copyedited manuscript	1990

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PCL MS 196 Richard Erlich Collection

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