Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1967 - 2003 (Creation)
Level of description
Archive Collection
Extent and medium
20 metres of material (19.5 linear metres)
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Barry MacSweeney was born in 1948 in Newcastle. After leaving school at 16, he worked as a journalist, mainly in Newcastle, Kent, Bradford and South Shields. He published numerous collections, including an earlier Selected Poems in The Tempers of Hazard, published and destroyed by Paladin in 1993.The Book of Demons (Bloodaxe Books, 1997), was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation. He won a Paul Hamlyn Award in 1997. He died in 2000. Two posthumous books appeared after his death, both in 2003, Wolf Tongue: Selected Poems 1965-2000 from Bloodaxe Books, and Horses in Boiling Blood: MacSweeney, Apollinaire: a collaboration, a celebration, from Equipage.
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
The papers were given to the library by the family of Barry MacSweeney in May 2001.
An accrual to the archive was gifted to Newcastle University Special Collections by Rose Gibson in 2017.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The personal papers of local poet Barry MacSweeney (1948-2000), who was an important figure in the Modern Poetry Revival, include manuscripts and published works, correspondence, literature reviews, poetry publications, photographs and newspapers articles.The correspondence includes a range of MacSweeney's friends, fellow poets and family including material from Clive Bush, Pete Bland, Tim Fletcher, Nicholas Johnson, Jackie Litherland, Maggie O'Sullivan, Eric Mottram, Elaine Randall, Jeremy Prynne and Chris Torrence.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
No further material is expected to be added to the collection
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Open
Conditions governing reproduction
Standard copyright restrictions apply.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Uploaded finding aid
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Final
Level of detail
Minimal
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English
Script(s)
Sources
Archivist's note
Date first made available to the public: unknown