Papers of Angela Olive Carter née Stalker (b.1940, d.1992) and her family. The Angela Carter Papers relate mainly to her writings and literary work, with the notable exception of 'The Magic Toyshop' novel, but include some family papers and photographs.
The Angela Carter Papers are divided into six sections. The first section, Writings and Literary Material, is the most significant section, comprising about half of the archive as a whole. This contains successive drafts and fair copies of the various literary works by Angela Carter. It is sub-divided into Novels, Short Stories, Plays for Radio, Film and Television, Journalism, Essays, Reviews, and Other Writings.
The remaining sections are Collected and Research Material, including adaptations of Angela Carter's work by other authors and material relating to Angela Carter and her work, Correspondence, Diaries, Photographs, and Legal, Financial, Biographical and Family Material.
Although the greater part of the archive relates to Angela Carter, other family members represented are her second husband Mark Pearce; her son Alexander Pearce (b.1983); and her father Hugh Stalker, Night News Editor of the Press Association.
As a general rule, drafts, fair copies and re-writings of the same work have been arranged in order of creation, so far as can be determined. Annotations are in Angela Carter's hand unless otherwise indicated. For her notes and drafts, she often re-used the backs of coloured sheets of paper bearing typewritten copies of children's submissions for a literary competition. Many of Angela Carter's works were written or published as individual pieces, and later reprinted in compilations such as Fireworks, The Bloody Chamber, Black Venus and American Ghosts (short stories), Expletives Deleted (journalism), and the three-volume Collected Angela Carter, issued after her death by Chatto & Windus. In the present archive, the smaller published works are arranged under the relevant compilation, with details given of earlier appearances in print if known.