The papers of Jack Common (1900-1968) are a rich resource for those interested in the history of this talented Tyneside-born writer. They include published and unpublished typescripts and manuscripts of his work, including Kiddar's Luck, his fictionalised childhood autobiography, published in 1951. There are also Common's diaries, notebooks, research notes, news cuttings, correspondence and photographs.

The papers also include copies of articles and draft articles for his contribution to the socialist journals The Adelphi and New Britain. Correspondence to Jack Common includes letters from his friends George Orwell, E.M. Forster, Dorothy and Max Plowman, Richard and John Middleton Murry, Thomas McCullough and Connie Common, Jack's second wife. There is also correspondence from various publishers as well as from the BBC and Associated British Picture Corporation.