The series consists of records documenting the writing and publishing of Barbara Gowdy's novels and collected short stories, arranged by title of publication. Photographic content includes publicity photographs for the novels.
The material on Through the Green Valley includes annotated excerpts from books and other printed material interfiled with Gowdy's manuscript notes documenting her research on Wales and Ireland. Some of the material reveals a colour coded system of organizing the research, a system that is later reflected in The White Bone files as well. Included are research notebooks kept by Gowdy and notes on her own manuscript as well as on other novels she drew upon as sources. Gowdy's research material includes eight nineteenth century letters, dated 1851-1858, written by a William Evans in Bath, England, concerning family matters in Wales.
The material on the novel Falling Angels includes some printed research material, drafts of the novel and corrected page proofs, and correspondence relating to the book. The correspondence includes letters from agents, publishers and translators (Czech, Norwegian, Swedish).
The material on We So Seldom Look on Love includes typescript drafts with extensive manuscript revisions of the short stories included in this collection. Included is correspondence regarding the publication of some of the stories in journals and magazines, including Saturday Night, Descant, Malahat Review, Story, Quarry, Canadian Fiction Magazine, and others. Among the letters are ones from writers Steven Heighton and T.F. Rigelhof commenting on the stories.
The material on the novel Mister Sandman includes manuscript notes relating to research for the novel and typescript drafts with extensive manuscript revisions. Included are drafts with annotations by Christopher Dewdney and Gowdy's editor, Patrick Crean. Also included is correspondence regarding the novel's publicity, including a card from Margaret Atwood.
The material on the novel The White Bone includes Gowdy's research notes and annotated typescripts of field notes and reports by Cynthia Moss and Martyn Colbeck, among others, on African elephants. There are extensive typescript drafts with manuscript revisions, including ones with annotations by Christopher Dewdney and editors. Included are hand-drawn genealogies by Gowdy.
The series also includes typescript drafts with manuscript revisions of articles, book reviews, a film treatment, letters to the editor, a short story and some occasional verse. The film treatment deals with Siamese twins and bears comparison with Gowdy's short-story The Two-Headed Man. There are drafts of an unpublished short story, Reverence, originally intended for an anthology edited by Alberto Manguel, but never completed.
Additional material includes the original manuscript of The White Bone submitted to HarperCollins for the American edition published by Metropolitan/Henry Holt. The manuscript documents Gowdy's many last minute revisions and was used in the copy-editing.
There are extensive manuscripts relating to The Romantic, including early drafts of the first chapters as well as complete manuscripts documenting the later stages of revision. These include ones marked by Christopher Dewdney and Iris Tupholme. Also interfiled are inserts, including passages reworked following comments by Gowdy's British editor, Philip Gwyn Jones.
Series contains drafts for the novel Helpless, including drafts with comments by Jackie Kaiser, Marni Jackson and Christopher Dewdney.
Series contains a copy-edited draft of The Romantic returned from the publisher as well as research material for the work and launch and promotion for the work, including profiles and interviews of Gowdy concerning the work.
Contains correspondence and drafts of a film script written with Marni Jackson. Also includes a script treatment of Siamese twins written with Bill Edgar titled "Double or Nothing".
Contains scripts of adaptations of her work sent for Gowdy's comments by Bruce McDonald, Bruce McCulloch, Esta Spalding and Lynne Stopkewich. Also includes a video of a performance of the story "The Two-Headed Man".
