Finding Aid for the Kitty Tsui Papers LSC.1949

Finding aid prepared by Stacy Wood, 2011 and Sabrina Ponce, 2017; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé.
UCLA Library Special Collections
Online finding aid last updated 28 August 2017.
Room A1713, Charles E. Young Research Library
Box 951575
Los Angeles, CA 90095-1575
Business Number: 310-825-4988
Fax Number: 310-206-1864
spec-coll@library.ucla.edu


Contributing Institution: UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Kitty Tsui papers
Creator: Tsui, Kitty
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1949
Physical Description: 0.4 Linear Feet (1 flat box)
Date (inclusive): 1975-1996
Abstract: Although born in Hong Kong in 1952, Kitty Tsui spent her childhood in California. She earned a degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Her poetry and prose has been published in over 35 anthologies, and she has published three books. Tsui is also a competitive body-builder. She earned a bronze medal at the Gay Games in San Francisco in 1986 and a gold medal in Vancouver in 1990. This collection contains work by and about the poet, activist, and bodybuilder Kitty Tsui. Most of the materials contained are concerning her bodybuilder accomplishments and her regular sports writing featured in San Francisco news outlets.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.
Language of Material: English .

Conditions on Access

Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located on this page.

Conditions on Use and Reproduction

Property rights to the objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Kitty Tsui Papers (Collection 1949). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Provenance/Source of Acquisition

Provenance unknown.
This collection is part of an outreach and collection-building partnership between the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives , the UCLA Center for the Study of Women (CSW)  and the UCLA Library .

Processing Information

Processed by Stacy Wood, 2011. Description enhanced and further physical processing completed by Sabrina Ponce in 2017.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
The June L. Mazer Lesbian Archive  at UCLA is an outreach and collection-building partnership between the June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives , the UCLA Center for the Study of Women (CSW)  and the UCLA Library . These collections expand the pool of primary source materials available to researchers and to the community at large. This partnership was initiated by CSW and is funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to inventory, organize, preserve, and digitize more than eighty Mazer collections pertaining to lesbian and feminist activism and writings.
We are committed to providing ethical, inclusive, and anti-racist description of the materials we steward, and to remediating existing description of our materials that contains language that may be offensive or cause harm. We invite you to submit feedback about how our collections are described, and how they could be described more accurately, by filling out the form located on our website: Report Potentially Offensive Description in Library Special Collections.  

UCLA Catalog Record ID

UCLA Catalog Record ID: 9969563083606533 

Biography

Although born in Hong Kong in 1952, Kitty Tsui spent her childhood in California. She earned a degree in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. Her poetry and prose has been published in over 35 anthologies including Chloe Plus Olivie (1994) and Lesbian Erotics (1995). She received the CLAGS 1995 Ken Dawson Award for research in gay and lesbian history and was also listed as one of the 50 most influential people in gay and lesbian literature by Lambda Book Report. She has been featured in three films, Women of Gold (1990), Framing Lesbian Fashion (1992), and Cut Sleeve (1992). Tsui is also a competitive body-builder. She earned a bronze medal at the Gay Games in San Francisco in 1986 and a gold medal in Vancouver in 1990. Tsui is the author of three books: The Words of a Woman who Breathes Fire, Breathless, and Sparks Fly. Breathless won the Firecracker Alternative Book Award at the ABA in Chicago in 1996. Her third book, Sparks fly, was penned by her alter ego, Eric Norton, a gay leatherman in pre-AIDS San Francisco.

Scope and Content

This collection includes prose writings, correspondence, clippings, reviews, and poetry by Kitty Tsui. The majority of the collection consists of newspaper clippings from San Francisco area news outlets. The subject matter focuses on Kitty Tsui's sports writing and bodybuilding career.

Organization and Arrangement

Materials are maintained in their original order.

Related Material

Asian Pacific Islander Collection 1980-2001 . The collection is housed in University of California, Santa Cruz Special Collections.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Women bodybuilders -- California -- Archives.
Asian American women authors -- California -- Archives.
Tsui, Kitty -- Archives
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archives
June L. Mazer Lesbian Archive at UCLA

box 1, folder 1

Program Guides 1988 June - 1993 April

General Physical Description note: magazine, bound program guides

Scope and Contents note

Guides, schedules, and summaries of gay pride parades, film festivals, and other events.
box 1, folder 2

Correspondence 1996 January 29

General Physical Description note: photocopies

Scope and Contents note

Photocopies of correspondence to the June Mazer Collection about Tsui's book Breathless.
box 1, folder 3

Poetry undated

General Physical Description note: photocopies, printed paper

Scope and Contents note

Hand-constructed mockup of chapbook The Words of a Woman Who Breathes Fire and photocopies of published works.
box 1, folder 4

Interviews 1982 April 17 -1991 November

General Physical Description note: newsprint, photocopies

Scope and Contents note

Printed interviews with various community news outlets concerning activism, bodybuilding, and poetry.
box 1, folder 5

Flyers circa 1980 November 22 - 1993 April 23

General Physical Description note: photocopies, flyers

Scope and Contents note

Flyers for bodybuilding championships, art and literature workshops, poetry readings, conferences, and other programs.
box 1, folder 6

Reviews 1980 October - Spring 1993

General Physical Description note: newspaper clippings

Scope and Contents note

Reviews of Tsui's poetry, prose, and performances from various news outlets and community newspapers.
box 1, folder 7-8

Publications and news coverage 1975 September - 1993 June

General Physical Description note: newspaper clippings

Scope and Contents note

Newspaper articles and publications that grapple with activism, media blackout, identity politics, and other issues within the LGBT community, some of which mention Kitty Tsui's work and are written by her for San Francisco-based news outlets. Also includes sports coverage, poetry, and event and athlete profiles. Folder 7 contains materials dating from August 1981 to September 1992. Folder 8 contains materials dating from September 1975 to June 1993.