The New York Public Library to Open the Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne Archive

February 13, 2025—The New York Public Library will make the archive of Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne publicly available on March 26. Comprised of 336 boxes of items, most of which have never been seen publicly, the archive represents the most comprehensive collection of the authors’ materials, and is poised to spark a new wave of scholarship, enriching the public’s understanding of the lives and work of writers whose far-reaching influence is strongly felt today. 

A singular voice in American literature, Didion is best known for the spare, unflinching prose of her reportage, literary fiction, memoirs, and screenwriting. Dunne was a best-selling novelist, journalist, and screenwriter, chronicling Hollywood and American life at large with scathing flair. As pioneers of New Journalism, Didion and Dunne helped inaugurate a style of reportage that merges hard reporting with the traditional devices of fiction.

A rich repository brimming with candor and historical significance, this collection provides unprecedented insight into each writer individually as well as their collaborative process. They read and edited each other’s work throughout their careers, and the two worked closely together on a number of screenplays including The Panic in Needle Park (1971), A Star is Born (1976) and the 1972 film adaptation of Didion’s novel Play It as It Lays.

The collection will allow scholars to explore the complex personal and professional partnership of two of the most important writers working in the 20th century. The material sheds new light on their writing processes and research methods, as individuals and as collaborators. These include drafts, revisions, and notes from the construction of works such as Didion’s award-winning memoir The Year of Magical Thinking, which documented her grief following her husband’s sudden death and daughter’s illness. There are annotated typescripts and notes from Didion’s political reporting from the 1980s and 90s for The New York Review of Books, the archives of which are also housed at the Library.

Comprising approximately 150 linear feet, the collection contains candid photos of Didion and Dunne’s childhoods and early careers, courtship and marriage, family and social life; drafts of over two dozen co-written screenplays that reveal their collaborative writing and editing process; and correspondence spanning six decades with important figures, including Margaret Atwood, Nora Ephron, Diane Keaton, Justice Anthony Kennedy, Jacqueline Onassis, Philip Roth, and Tennessee Williams. 

"Few writers have shaped the world of letters as profoundly as Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne," said Brent Reidy, Andrew W. Mellon Director of the Research Libraries at The New York Public Library. "The opening of this archive provides scholars and writers alike with an unparalleled opportunity to explore Didion and Dunne's intellectual journeys, collaborations, and enduring impact on literature, journalism and criticism."

Highlights from the collection include: 

• Notes and typescripts from Didion’s interviews with former Manson Family member Linda Kasabian, Joan Baez, and The Doors;
• Transcriptions of the “confessions” from the Central Park jogger case (later revealed to be false), annotated by Didion during her research for her New York Review of Books essay, which was one of the first to cast doubt on the trial;
• Dunne’s extensive correspondence with the murderer of Brandon Teena, which led to his New Yorker piece, later adapted into the Oscar-winning film Boys Don’t Cry;
• Reference material for The Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights, including poetry and drawings of Didion and Dunne by their daughter, Quintana Roo;
• Didion’s and Dunne’s daybooks, in which they chronicled their day-to-day life in intricate detail for up to 50 years;
• Extensive records of menus, recipes, guest lists, setup notes, and handmade cookbooks documenting the couple's legendary dinner parties with guests like Warren Beatty and Annie Leibovitz;
• Didion’s “Babyhood” book with clippings and cards celebrating her birth, a lock of her hair, and calendars noting early milestones;
• Over 140 letters between Didion and her family from her college and Vogue years (1954–57).

“After two years of careful processing and preparation, the Library is thrilled to make the papers of Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne available to our communities of researchers,” said Julie Golia, Associate Director, Rayner Special Collections Wing, and Charles J. Liebman Senior Curator of Manuscripts. “The opening of this rich, expansive, and deeply personal collection will spark a new generation of scholarship on Joan Didion and John Gregory Dunne, their extraordinary lives and careers, and their impact on American literature, journalism, and popular culture.”  

Housed in the Manuscripts and Archives Division at the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on Fifth Avenue, the collection will be available to anyone with a library card. Appointments are encouraged and can be made by emailing manuscripts@nypl.org. A world-renowned research center, the Schwarzman Building is also home to the papers of several of Didion and Dunne’s contemporaries, including Tom Wolfe, Jean Stein, and Camilla and Earl McGrath, as well as the records of the New York Review of Books, which both authors contributed to frequently. 

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