William S. Burroughs Collection
Digital Collection PublicWilliam S. Burroughs was an American writer, visual artist, and major figure of the Beat Generation. He wrote eighteen novels and novellas, six collections of short stories, and four collections of essays, and was perhaps best known for the experimental and controversial 1959 novel Naked Lunch. He frequently collaborated with many musicians, artists, and performers.
The William S. Burroughs Papers extensively document his life and work. Materials range from 1849-1986 and include drafts, typescripts, proofs, correspondence, fan mail, printed matter, Burroughs Communications business files, photographs, clippings, and other archival material. Of note are the original manuscripts for Naked Lunch, The Soft Machine, Nova Express, The Ticket That Exploded! and Exterminator! Burroughs’s had a vast personal and professional network, and his correspondence contains letters from Charles Henri Ford, Brion Gysin, Allen Ginsberg, Anne Waldman, Patti Smith, Gus Van Sant, and others.
