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Unpacking the Douglas Coupland fonds

By Jessica Woolman on July 30, 2012

Douglas Coupland fonds

Internationally renowned author and artist Douglas Coupland has recently added twenty-six pieces to his already substantial personal archives at UBC Library.

Coupland’s archives, donated to UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections in 2010, include more than 1425 photographs and 30 metres of textual and graphic material. The recent additions include a varied range of medium – everything from large-scale sculptures to screenplays. 

Three student workers, tasked with processing the recent additions, are blogging about their progress to highlight the unique challenges mixed media can present for archives.

“Influenced by Coupland’s own fondness for the blog format, we will chronicle our journey here. Follow our progress as we unpack the work of the prolific writer and artist.”

Several blog posts have been published – which include photos of the material being processed. To read about the project and follow its progress, visit the “New at Rare Books and Special Collections” blog. 

  • Part 1: A new acquisition and a new project
  • Part 2: Order and disorder
  • Part 3: Taxonomies and tagging
  • Part 4: How to nest a nest
  • Part 5: No food allowed! Or, cleaning up the cheese
  • Part 6: A world of boxes
  • Part 7: Taxonomies Part Two: How they’ll help you get to the good stuff
  • Part 8: Final Thoughts
The blog has gathered some media attention, including a recent article in Quill and Quire entitled “Behind the scenes at UBC’s Douglas Coupland archives,” and a piece in the Ubyssey entitled “Douglas Coupland article finds home in Irving K. Barber.”
 

About Douglas Coupland

Coupland’s first-ever article about “Generation X,” defined as the generation of people born – after the baby boomers – in the 1960s and 1970s, was published Vancouver in September 1987. Generation X was later published as a novel, which Coupland followed with seventeen major literary works. Coupland also has written and produced for film and television projects, and has continued exhibiting as a visual artist.

Posted in General | Tagged with archives, collections, Douglas Coupland, Media coverage, special collections

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