The papers of an important member of the West Coast Beat poetry community. Lew Welch's papers include correspondence, poetry, prose, plays, essays, songs, scrolls, and notebooks. The collection as a whole contains information pertaining both to Welch's personal battle with recurring depression as well as his struggle to construct a Beat poetry that might do justice to his notion -- inherited from his hero, William Carlos Williams -- of "The American Idiom."

Although Lewis Barrett Welch's life was marked by uncertainty and a lack of permanent goals, he gained an enduring position in the world of literature through his writings and personal influence.

2.6 Linear feet (6 archives boxes and 1 card file box)

Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.

Original scrolls located in Box 7 are restricted; photocopies must be used instead. The most fragile scroll, a 1961 version of "Din Poem," has been scanned. The digital version may be viewed, upon request, in the Special Collections & Archives reading room.