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Jun 15, 2006 12:39 am US/Pacific
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Huntington Library Will Get Bukowski's Works
SAN MARINO, Calif. (CBS) ―
The late poet and novelist Charles Bukowski will live on in Pasadena, thanks to his widow who will donate his papers, letters and books to the Huntington Library.
The literary archive includes corrected typescripts of poems, fan mail, first and foreign editions of his works, fine press collectors editions, magazine publications of his works, photography books and his own artwork, according to Lisa Blackburn, a Huntington Library spokeswoman.
"Bukowski's voice is one of the most original and important in modern American literature," said Sara "Sue" Hodson, the Huntington's curator of literary manuscripts. "We are thrilled that his papers are coming to the Huntington, where they will add new dimension to the extensive and wide-ranging literary collections."
Bukowski was born in Germany in 1920, the son of an American solider and a German woman. He and his family moved to Los Angeles when he was 2 years old.
He wrote more than 40 books of poetry, several novels and the screenplay for the film "Barfly." Bukowski's writing was strongly influenced by the geography and atmosphere of Los Angeles and marked by the use of direct, blunt language and violent and sexual imagery.
Bukowski struggled with alcoholism and worked a series of menial jobs before he became an underground writer and cult hero. He gained literary prominence since his death in 1994 and has been the subject of several Hollywood films, documentaries and graduate theses.
The Huntington Library will conduct readings from Bukowski's works and a panel discussion Sept. 20. The event, titled "Celebrating Bukowski," will be open to the public.
"It is with true pleasure and utter delight that my late husband's vast archive shall reside at the Huntington, to be expertly preserved, and lovingly cared for and appreciated in perpetuity," Bukowski's widow Linda Lee Bukowski said
(© 2006 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)