The Moniza Alvi Archive comprises five notebooks, manuscript drafts, annotated typescripts, research notes and correspondence. The notebooks, which date from 1990 to c. 2015, contain poetry drafts, notes, and commonplace quotations. Manuscript and typescript drafts (dating from At the Time of Partition, 2013) provide a strong account of Alvi’s practice of composition and revision. Correspondence includes written letters and e-mail print-outs from Alvi’s publishers (Oxford University Press and Bloodaxe Books) as well as from individuals and literary magazines. A pilot digital project tracing the composition and revision of ‘Must We Go?’, a poem published in At the Time of Partition, can be found here.

A collection level description is available at Archives Hub. Readers wishing to consult the collection in person at the University Library Special Collections may complete our request form. Further information about Special Collections, including accessibility and opening hours, can be found here.