The Harriet Doerr Papers contain materials from many of her published works including Stones for Ibarra, Consider This, Señora, Under an Aztec Sun, and The Tiger in the Grass. Comments and criticisms of the stories which make up the novels, as well as manuscripts prior to publication, may also be found in the collection. Also included are many short stories which were not included in her books or remain unpublished. Many of the stories were begun as writing exercises for creative writing classes Doerr took from author and Stanford professor, John L'Heureux. His critiques and comments can be found throughout the collection. Ephemera concerning interviews, talks, and book signings by Doerr are included from her personal collections. A segment is devoted to the Hallmark TV film of Stones for Ibarra, including scripts, photographs, and reviews. Newspaper clippings and magazine articles describing her success as an author make up another large part of the collection. Several boxes in the original accession and the addition are comprised of correspondence to Doerr from individuals praising her writing and success, as well as professional correspondence concerning books and stories published. Finally, it is interesting to note that Doerr included several computer disks apparently containing drafts of stories, both in the original accession and the addition.

Harriet Doerr was born in Pasadena, California, in 1910. She has lived much of her life in Mexico and now resides in her hometown. Educated at Smith College and Stanford University in the late 1920s, she returned to Stanford in 1977 to earn a bachelor's degree and do graduate work in fiction writing. With the help of a Wallace Stegner Fellowship at Stanford, she wrote her first novel, Stones for Ibarra, which is set in Mexico. This book won numerous awards, among them the National Book Award for a First Work of Fiction, and has also been adapted as a film for television. She has published short stories in periodicals such as The New York Times and Atlantic. One such story, "Edie: A Life," appeared in the O. Henry Awards Prize Stories and Best American Short Stories. Harriet Doerr has also published three more books, Consider This, Señora, another novel set in Mexico, and Under an Aztec Sun and The Tiger in the Grass, two collections of short stories.

18.25 linear ft.

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