Judy Blume Archive Heading to Yale University’s Beinecke Library

Materials in the Judy Blume archive will be available to researchers during 2018.
From The Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library (Yale University):

The Beinecke Library’s extensive holdings in children’s literature will soon grow with the addition of the archive of renowned young-adult writer Judy Blume, opening new opportunities for future research, teaching, and exhibitions related to the field.
“If you ask anybody on the street to name a young-adult writer, the response often is Judy Blume,” says Timothy Young, curator of modern books and manuscripts at the Beinecke Library. “She is the iconic person that you’ve read and you loved, or you didn’t love but you knew her work.”
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The Blume archive spans more than four decades and documents the writing of over 20 published books, all of which have been popular across generations among readers of all ages.
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The archive includes several unpublished early works — including a 128-page story, “Donna and Jessie’s Name Hunting Society” — as well as the earliest incarnation of Fudge and Peter, the characters who would later appear in “Superfudge” and “Fudge-a-mania” — as a 12-page story titled “Peter, Fudge, and Dribble.” Among the published works represented in the archive are: “Flying Munchgins,” Blume’s first published story; “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret” (1970); “Otherwise Known as Sheila the Great” (1972); “Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself” (1977); “Superfudge” (1980); “Just As Long As We’re Together” (1987); “Fudge-a-mania”(1990); and “Double Fudge” (2002).
In addition to manuscript material, the archive also documents the reception of Blume’s work, from censorship and banning to grateful outpourings from legions of fans. Her impact on her readers over the years is represented with thousands of letters from children, teens, parents, teachers, and librarians that run the gamut from

Read the Complete Announcement
Note: Identical Announcement Also Posted by YaleNews
See Also: New Book Explores Yale’s Vast Archive Of Children’s Literature (Dec. 2016)

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