Alan Bowne papers

Access and use

Location of collection:
George Mason University
2400 Fenwick Library
Special Collections Research Center
Fenwick Library MS2FL
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030
Contact for questions and access:
POC: Mieko Palazzo
Phone: (703) 993-2220
Fax: (703) 993-2669
Restrictions:

There are no access restrictions.

Terms of access:

The copyright and related rights status of this collection have not been evaluated (See http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/)

Preferred citation:

Alan Bowne papers, C0319, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Summary

Extent:
3 Linear Feet 5 boxes
Creator:
Bowne, Alan
Abstract:
The Alan Bowne papers consists of five boxes of materials created over the course of Bowne's career as a playwright and author. These include play scripts and drafts, short story and novel drafts, screenplays, technical writings, correspondence, notebooks, photographs, audio cassettes, and one reel-to-reel tape. These materials originate from circa 1964 - 1991, with the bulk of the collection originating from the 1980s.
Language:
English .
Preferred citation:

Alan Bowne papers, C0319, Special Collections Research Center, George Mason University Libraries.

Background

Scope and content:

Content Warning: Many of the notebooks in this collection contain graphic sexual content.

The Alan Bowne papers consists of five boxes of materials created over the course of Bowne's career as a playwright and author. These include play scripts and drafts, short story and novel drafts, screenplays, technical writings, correspondence, notebooks, photographs, audio cassettes, and one reel-to-reel tape. These materials originate from circa 1964 - 1991, with the bulk of the collection originating from the 1980s. The collections contains four series.

Series 1: Writings and Correspondence (1971 - 1991) includes multiple drafts and scripts of Bowne's work, including drafts for "Forty-Deuce," "Sharon and Billy," and "Wally Wonderstruck." It also includes correspondence and other materials related to submitting his written work to various publishers. Notable are two notebooks Bowne wrote in, one containing his thoughts on his presumed AIDS diagnosis.

Series 2: Photographs and Audiovisual Materials (circa 1970s - 1989) includes photographs of Bowne himself, with friends, on vacation, and of his Sonoma County, CA home and the surrounding countryside. The two audio cassettes and reel-to-reel tape contain recordings of a 1984 production of his play "Sharon and Billy."

Series 3: Additional writings (circa 1960s - 1980s) includes additional written materials donated in 2021 and 2023. These include drafts and scripts of Bowne's work, including "Cocaine and Underpants", "The Little Monsters", and draft materials for additional uncompleted novels and short stories, as well as freelance technical writings, resumes, and an obituary written after Bowne's passing.

Series 4: Notebooks (1979 - June 1989) includes five additional notebooks containing handwritten writing by Bowne. Contents include personal journal entries, including thoughts on his AIDS diagnosis, as well as personal reading and writing projects, including one focused on reading and responding to each of Shakespeare's plays.

Includes multiple drafts and scripts of Bowne's work, including drafts for "Forty-Deuce," "Sharon and Billy," and "Wally Wonderstruck." It also includes correspondence and other materials related to submitting his written work to various publishers. Notable are two notebooks Bowne wrote in, one containing his thoughts on his presumed AIDS diagnosis.

Graphic sexual content warning. Includes Bowne's thoughts on his potential, and eventually confirmed, AIDS diagnosis.

Includes a typed insert of some of Bowne's journal entries.

Includes photographs of Bowne himself, with friends, on vacation, and of his Sonoma County, CA home and the surrounding countryside. The two audio cassettes and reel-to-reel tape contain recordings of a 1984 production of his play "Sharon and Billy."

Scrapbook pages compiled for Bowne by friend Ed Kruse. Includes photographs of Bowne with friends, travel photos from various locales, and postcards.

Includes photographs of a house - presumably Bowne's - and friends in Sonoma County, CA.

Includes photographs of a house - presumably Bowne's - and countryside scenes in Sonoma County, CA.

20 vinyl records.

Includes additional written materials donated in 2021 and 2023. These include drafts and scripts of Bowne's work, including "Cocaine and Underpants", "The Little Monsters", and draft materials for additional uncompleted novels and short stories, as well as freelance techinal writings, resumes, and an obituary written after Bowne's passing.

Original title "Hermitage" is crossed out and "RD" written above it

Includes five additional notebooks containing handwritten writing by Bowne. Contents include personal journal entries, including thoughts on his AIDS diagnosis, as well as personal reading and writing projects, including one focused on reading and responding to each of Shakespeare's plays.

The book has been written in from both ends. One side is labeled "Journal 1979-1982" and the other is labeled "November 1986-January 1988". There are some blank pages in the middle between these two uses and some papers and wrappers inserted to mark various pages.

Includes several items, including two postcards, one photograph, and one postage stamp, adhered to various pages. There is a torn piece of a post-it note inserted to mark pages.

There are some papers inserted to mark various pages.

Biographical / historical:

Alan Bowne was an American playwright and author. Born William Alan Bowne on February 20, 1945 in Hemet, California, Bowne was best known for a handful of works, including "Beirut," "Forty-Deuce," "Sharon and Billy," as well as a novel, "Wally Wonderstruck." Perhaps his most famous and enduring work, "Beirut" is a one-act play that tells the allegorical story of a heterosexual couple dealing with a mysterious disease that ravages dystopian New York. This fictional disease presumably represented the real HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s. "Beirut" was eventually adapted into a 1993 television movie, re-titled "Daybreak." Bowne passed away from AIDS-related complications on November 24, 1989 in his Sonoma County home at 44 years old.

Acquisition information:

Donated by Barbara Hayes in January 2019.

Additional materials donated by Broadway Play Publishing, Inc. in August 2021 and by Barabara Hayes in November 2023.

Processing information:

Processing completed by Amanda Menjivar in March 2019. EAD markup completed by Amanda Menjivar in March 2019. Finding aid updated by Amanda Menjivar in February 2023. Additional processing completed and finding aid updated by Meghan Glasbrenner from March-April 2024.

Arrangement:

This collection is arranged into four series by format and then chronologically.

Series
  1. Series 1: Writings and Correspondence
  2. Series 2: Photographs and Audiovisual Materials
  3. Series 3: Additional writings
  4. Series 4: Notebooks
Physical / technical requirements:

The Special Collections Research Center does not have the equipment necessary to play reel-to-reel tapes. Additional time and money may be required to digitize this material for access.

Physical location:
R 73, C 3, S 1 & 4
Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard