Brigham Young University’s Harold B. Lee Library’s newest exhibit will give a unique view into the creative process of some famous and award-winning authors. “Literary Worlds: Illumination of the Mind” is now open in the L. Tom Perry Special Collections on the first floor, and admission is free.
The exhibit features manuscripts, correspondence and artwork by authors such as Lewis Carroll, Charles Dickens, Arthur Conan Doyle, Robert Louis Stevenson and Walt Whitman. The documents depict the creative process of the different authors and how they took different steps in creating a masterpiece.
The exhibit even ventures into the process of modern authors and local favorites like BYU faculty member and author Doug Thayer and New York Times bestseller and BYU alumnus Orson Scott Card. It also showcases work and artifacts from prominent leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, including Orson F. Whitney.
“This is a very unique opportunity,” said Roger Layton, communications manager at the library. “These collections are normally preserved in the vaults under the library, and we’ll be bringing them out for all to see.”
“Time has changed the way writers create their work,” Layton said. “This exhibit shows how authors have evolved from writing in calligraphy, to typewriting and computer processing. We have beautiful handwritten works from Louisa May Alcott and Leslie Norris, as well as drafts and personal letters from these wonderful poets and novelists.”
The exhibit will run until June 2011. For more information, contact Kristi Young at (801) 422-6041 or visit www.lib.byu.edu/exhibits/literaryworlds.
Writer: Brandon Garrett
