Mary Robinette Kowal papers

Collection

Identifier: SCA-RBSC-SFWA-031

Scope and Contents

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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novels housed in Sub-Series B and short fiction in Sub-Series C. Sub-Series B includes a typescript of Kowal's earliest unpublished novel, written for her niece and nephew, Journey to the East.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.

Dates

created: 1978-2021

Creator

Kowal, Mary Robinette, 1969- (Author, Person)

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research under the terms of the NIU Special Collections and Archives. Photographs and photocopies of collection are prohibited.

Restrictions, where applicable, are noted at the folder level.

Conditions Governing Use

Property Rights are transferred to the University Libraries per the signed Deed of Gift Document. Literary Rights are retained by the content creator. Any copyrights so stated in the materials remain in force.

Biographical Note

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Mary Robinette Kowal was born Mary Robinette Harrison on February 8, 1969 in Raleigh, North Carolina, and attended Eastern Carolina University, majoring in Art Education, with a minor in Theater and Speech.

Kowal first started working in the puppetry arts during high school when she joined a local puppetry troupe. While performing as Audrey II in a college performance of Little Shop of Horrors, she learned that a professional puppeteer had come to view the show. Kowal credits this as the beginning of her pursuit of a career in puppetry. In 1991, Kowal went on to intern at the Center for Puppetry Arts in Atlanta, Georgia, and in the late 90s she joined Jim Henson Pictures as one of the background puppeteers in the film Elmo in Grouchland. In 1996, Kowal and Jodi Eichelberger founded the theatrical puppet company Other Hand Productions. Kowal not only performed in puppet shows for Other Hand Productions but also constructed and designed her own puppets. Her designs have garnered two UNIMA-USA Citations of Excellence, the highest award an American puppeteer can achieve. Of note, Kowal spent over a year working in Iceland on the popular children’s show Lazytown.

Kowal brother’s move to China—with his family in tow—was the impetus to her professional writing career. Kowal began to write a children’s fantasy novel as a means to stay connected to her young niece and nephew. She later submitted short stories to publishers and successfully made her first sale in 2005 of "Just Right" to a small press magazine called The First Line and her first professional science fiction sale with “Portrait of Ari” to Strange Horizons in 2006. Kowal is a 2005 graduate of Orson Scott Card’s Literary BootCamp with "Salt of the Earth" being the first story written after her participation in the workshop.

Her debut novel Shades of Milk and Honey (2010), a Regency romance drama interweaved with fantastical elements and magic, went on to be nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel and her subsequent novels have been positively received. Kowal is also an audiobook narrator and has recorded books by John Scalzi, Seanan McGuire, and Elizabeth Bear. She also served as President of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America from 2019 to 2021.

Full Extent

7.6 Linear Feet : (1 record box; 13 archival document boxes; 1 oversize box; 1 artifact box).

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Initial donation by Mary Robinette Kowal on April 5, 2010.

Accruals

Additions from Mary Robinette Kowal received on:

September 21, 2009
May 31, 2010
April 15 and September 19, 2011
May 12 and November 11, 2012
September 15, 2014
September 12, 2016
March 11 and April 15, 2017
April 26 and August 29, 2019

Processing Information

Originally partially processed in 2012 by SCA staff. Collection was reprocessed in July 2025 and finding aid revised to enhance arrangement and description.