"Pyramid of Lights", circa 1991

The Mary Robinette Kowal Papers consist of materials pertaining to her puppetry and authorial careers as well as some personal papers.

Series I is devoted to her early puppetry career, containing papers from her earliest puppetry internship at the Center for Puppetry Arts, theater scripts, and her puppet designs. This series also includes photographs of Kowal with her puppets and original sketches by Kowal. Sub-Series A focuses on papers pertaining to Other Hand Productions, the puppet theater founded by Kowal and Jodi Eichelberger. The partnership contract between Kowal and Eichelberger can be found in Box 4, folder 1.

Series II contains Kowal's original fiction typescripts with novels housed in Sub-Series B and short fiction in Sub-Series C. Sub-Series B includes a typescript of Kowal's earliest unpublished novel, written for her niece and nephew, Journey to the East. Many of the short fiction typescripts include hand-written critiques received during the various writers' workshops Kowal attended.

Kowal participated in numerous events and conventions throughout her career. Series III consist of materials obtained during her participation in these events, many of which were science fiction conventions. Researchers will also find materials from writers' workshops and awards in this series.

Personal papers including juvenilia can be found in Series IV. Calendars in this series were created by Kowal's brother and include photographs of Kowal during her early career. Correspondence from publishers and fan mail is housed in Series V. Of note, Kowal welcomed and encouraged correspondence from fans during the Covid-19 pandemic which can be found in Box 13 folders 12-14. Series VI contains writing by others, many of these typescripts were sent to Kowal for review. Series VI also contains papers from SFWA during the time Kowal served as President.

Digital files are listed in Series VII. These files were sent to SCA by Kowal in several email correspondence. Prior arrangement with SCA is required to access these files.