Skip to Main Content

Creative Writing & Genre Fiction

This guide offers resources for creative writers and information about the Library's genre fiction collections.

Institutions: UNITED STATES: California

CALIFORNIA

Charles E. Masback Science Fiction Collection. 3rd Floor of the CSULB Library. 

The Masback Science Fiction Collection contains paperback copies of science fiction, fantasy, and horror novels and short story collections. There are more than 3000 titles in the collection. The collection, a memorial to Charles E. Masback, CSULB graduate, was established by his father Frederic J. Masback, Professor Emeritus of English, and his late wife Leona. Dr. Masback and his family and friends continue to support the collection's maintenance and growth. 

David N. Samuelson Science Fiction Magazine Collection. Special Collections, 3rd Floor of the CSULB Library. 

Professor Samuelson, CSULB English Department faculty member, donated lengthy, and often complete runs of 54 science fiction and fantasy magazines from the 1940's through the early 21st century.

Science Fiction Collection. Special Collections, California State University, Fullerton

The CSUF Science Fiction Collection "includes original science fiction manuscripts and related materials of several American authors including Philip K. Dick and Frank Herbert.  An extensive collection of science fiction periodicals is also owned."

 J. Lloyd Eaton Collection of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Utopian Literature. Thomas Rivera Library, University of California, Riverside

The Eaton Collection is the world's largest collection of materials in the field accessible to the public. It contains over 100,000 volumes, and many thousands of titles of science fiction and fantasy magazines, 40,000 comic books, graphic novels, approximately 300,000 fanzines (amateur publications by science fiction fans), as well as the literary papers of some of the worlds great science fiction writers.  Try out their videos: It Came from Riverside.  For information on the bi-annual Eaton Conference, see the Conference Website.

The LASFS Library  Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society, Burbank, California

"The LASFS maintains a Lending Library of material of interest to the science fiction and fantasy community. It is completely open for perusal, members may borrow, and non-members may borrow if spoken for by a member. The library is open on any day when club activities are going on and a member of the Library Staff is present." 

Robert A. and Virginia G. Heinlein Papers. Special Collections and Archives, University of California, Santa Cruz

This collection contains manuscripts of Robert Heinlein's literary works, including short stories, juvenilia, novels, articles, reviews, screen plays, and television and radio programs.. Also included are Robert and Virginia Heinlein's correspondence with editors, agents, producers, publishers, and other writers, as well as an amazing quantity of fan mail, often from enthusiasts active in other cultural fields. Heinlein's personal library, his collection of globes, artifacts from his early Naval career and political activity were also bequeathed to Special Collections, as were photographs, scrapbooks, yearbooks, and promotional material and ephemera from his many book and film projects.

Elizabeth Chater Science Fiction CollectionSpecial Collections and University Archives, San Diego State University

Based on a gift by professor emeritus of English, Elizabeth Chater, the Collection includes more than 4,000 science fiction and fantasy books and periodicals.

Institutions: UNITED STATES: By State


 

THE REST OF THE UNITED STATES:

Delaware

 

The Roland Bounds Science Fiction Collection  [Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware]  Library Catalog

UDel's Special Collections holds an extensive collection of twentieth century science fiction. This includes thousands of books in hardcover and paperback from the 1920s to the 1950s as well as several thousand magazine issues from hundreds of different titles featuring science fiction and pulp literature. In addition, the library holds comprehensive collections of the works of Edgar Rice Burroughs and of the African American science fiction writer Samuel Delany. The hardcover books in the collection can be found in DELCAT. The periodicals and the paperbacks are not in DELCAT but there are finding aids available in the department that list individual titles. The Roland Bounds Science Fiction Collection added 30,000 books and magazines to the Library's collections. You can identify over 800 titles in the collection by using as a DELCAT search term Roland Bounds Science Fiction Collection. 

Florida

 

Science Fiction and Fantasy  [Special Collections, Tampa Library, USF Libraries, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida]  Library Catalog

Science fiction and fantasy holdings include manuscript and printed materials related to this genre of twentieth-century American literature. Highlights of the collection include the personal papers and manuscripts of contemporary writers of speculative fiction as well as growing holdings of pulp magazines. Manuscript collections include Piers Anthony, Harry Harrison, Frederik Pohl, and Mike Resnick.

 Georgia

 

The Bud Foote Science Fiction Collection  [Library & Archives, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia]  Library Catalog

The Bud Foot Science Fiction Collection was officially inaugurated in 1999 when Irving F. Bud Foote, professor emeritus in Georga Tech's School of Literature, Communication, and Culture, donated his personal collection of 8000 science fiction novels, magazines, and monographs to the university library . . . it includes first edition scientific romances and utopias from the late nineteenth century and most of the major novels published by science fiction authors thoughout the twentieth century. Special features include first editions of David Brin's major works (both in English and in translation) and a complete run of the Ballantine Fantasy series.

 

 Illinois

 

Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) Collection  [Rare Books & Special Collections, NIU Libraries, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois] 

NIU became a depository for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) in 1979. As part of their Circulating Book Program, they receive copies of items nominated for the Nebula Awards, which honor the best novel, novella, novelette and short stories for each year. These books form the core of the Science Fiction research collection. The Science Fiction Collection numbered over 2,000 volumes at last count.  They have a collection of SF magazines which is not yet fully catalogued.  NIU also has a small but growing Comic Book Collection with a comic book database, and American Popular Literature Collection, and the Albert Johannsen Dime Novel Collection.  The Curator of the SFWA Collection is Hugo Award winner, Lynne M. Thomas (co-editor, with Tara O'Shea of Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the Women Who Love It).

The Collection includes archives of a number of writers: Alma Alexander, Eleanor Arnason, Robert Asprin, Kage Baker, Elizabeth Bear, Donald J. Bingle, Alex Bledsoe, Tobias Buckell, Richard Chwedyk, Pamela Dean, Lori Devoti, L. Timmel Duchamp, Carol Emshwiller, Philip Jose Farmer, Eric Flint, Merrie Haskell, Jim C. Hines, Douglas Hulick, John Klima, Mary Robinette Kowal, E.E. Knight, Ted Kosmatka, Naomi Kritzer, Catherine Lundoff, Elise Matthesen, Kelly McCullough, Jack McDevitt, Sarah Monette, Lyda Morehouse, Jaime Lee Moyer, Pat Murphy, Sean Michael Murphy, Nnedi Okorafor, Rebecca Ore, Jody Lynn Nye, Tamora Pierce, Tim Pratt, Cherie Priest, Sarah Prineas, Cat Rambo, Mark Rich, Margaret Ronald, Fred Saberhagen, Heather Shaw, Nisi Shawl, Will Shetterly, Sharon Shinn, Steven H Silver, Kristine Smith, Bud Sparhawk, Jennifer Stevenson, Caroline Stevermer, Catherynne Valente, David Weber, and Patricia Wrede. We also hold the 20th World Science Fiction Convention Collection, a collection of correspondence related to the 1962 WorldCon.

 

Indiana

 

The Center for Ray Bradbury Studies.  [Indiana University School of Liberal Arts.  Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana.]  Collection Catalog

Founded in Spring 2007, the CRBS is "the nation's first center for the study of Ray Bradbury, one of the best-known American cultural figures of the twentieth century."  The Center publishes the annual New Ray Bradbury Review and has a collection of original and photocopied Bradbury manuscript and published materials.

The Richard Dale Mullen Pulp Magazine Collection  [Archives, DePauw University Libraries, DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana]  Library Catalog

"DePauw University received the Mullen Pulp Magazine Collection from the estate of Richard Dale Mullen, founder of Science Fiction Studies and professor of English at Indiana State University.  It contains pulp magazines ranging in date from 1874-1965. The collection includes all genres of fiction, but more than half of the collection consists of science fiction titles such as Amazing Stories, Astounding Stories and Science Wonder Stories.  Another donor, a DePauw alumnus who had taken a science fiction class at the university, recently added two more science fiction titles, Astounding Science Fiction and Galaxy Science Fiction, to the collection in 2008."

 

Iowa

 

M. Horvat Collection of Science Fiction Fanzines  [Special Collections, [University of Iowa Libraries, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa]  Library Catalog  and   Finding Aid for Collection.

Acquired in December 2004, the Horvat collection of Science Fiction Fanzines [fan magazines] is estimated to contain well over 250,000 items. The Finding Aid includes links to other smaller collections of fanzines found at the U of Iowa.

Kansas

 

Science Fiction   [Special Collections, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas, Lawrence, Kansas]  Library Catalog

A large collection of science fiction books, periodicals, manuscripts, and fan publications, as well as oral history tapes from the Science Fiction Oral History Association, is house here. The University of Kansas also is home to the The Center for the Study of Science Fiction.

 

Louisiana

 

The Laughlin Collection.  [Special Collections, Hill Memorial Library, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana]  Library Catalog

 

"Hailed as the father of American surrealist photography, New Orleans photographer Clarence John Laughlin (1905-1985) was also an avid book collector. In 1986, LSU purchased his library, which comprises more than 30,000 volumes. The collection's main focus is on science fiction, fantasy, mystery and the macabre. Other subjects, however, are well represented, including 20th-century art and design, European and American architecture, photography, Victoriana, humor, sex and sexuality, psychology, spiritualism, and the occult. "

 

Science Fiction & Fantasy  [Special Collections, Howard-Tilton Memorial Library, Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana]  Library Catalog

A collection of more than 6,300 volumes, plus runs of SF & F periodicals.

 

Maryland

Azriel Rosenfeld Science Fiction Research Collection and Popular Culture Collections [Special CollectionsAlbin O. Kuhn Library & GalleryUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore CountyLibrary Catalog

The Rosenfeld Collection includes "science fiction and fantasy pulps, comics, fanzines, and published works" and literary manuscripts from a number of authors, including Brian C. Daley (1978-1996), Roger Zelazny (1970-1976) and David F. Bischoff (1970-1991), as well as the Coslet Collection of fanzines.

 

Massachusetts

 

Clarkson Collection   [Houghton Library, Harvard University.  Cambridge, Massachusetts];  and the Ordway Collection.  [Widener Library, Harvard University.  Cambridge Massachusetts]  Search the Hollis Classic catalog for either "ordway gift" or other call number "sf" (for the Clarkson)

For information on the Clarkson Collection, which went shamefully went unprocessed at Harvard for 50 years, please see:  "A Science Fiction Collection for Harvard."  Harvard Library Bulletin  9.3  (Autumn 1955): 422-423;  "Clarkson Collection."  Startling Stories 33.3  (Fall 1955): 6;  Batteau, D. Wayne.  "Science Fiction, Prophet & Critic: Harvard's Collection of an Esoteric Literary Genre."  Harvard Alumni Bulletin  60.5  (30 November 1957): 209-211, 223;  Hillegas, Mark R.  "The Clarkson Collection of Science Fiction at Harvard."  Extrapolation  5.1  (December 1963): 2-14; and Lerner, Frederick Andrew.  Modern Science Fiction and the American Literary Community (1985).

MITSFS Library   [MIT Science Fiction Society],  Massachusetts Institute of Techonology, Cambridge, Massachusetts]  

"The world's largest open-shelf collection of science fiction is the MITSFS Library.  . . . We have both fantasy and high-tech sf, including sf horror; our collection includes some foreign-language material and over 90% of all science fiction ever published in English. Special efforts are made to obtain a copy of every sf book that comes out; sometimes we manage to get books from the publishers before the bookstores do, occasionally by months---in some cases we get proofs of the book before the book is finished.  Anyone can come and browse whenever the Library is open." 

 

Michigan

 

Science Fiction Collection of the Russell B. Nye Popular Culture Collection  [Special Collections, MSU Libraries, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan]  

With over 250,000 items the Nye Collection is a major scholarly resource for the study of popular culture from the nineteenth century to the present. It is organized into categories of Comic Art, Science Fiction, Juvenile Literature, Popular Information, Textbooks, Westerns, and Performing Arts. While the emphasis for years was American popular culture, materials from other countries are now being collected as well. A large vertical file collection on a wide variety of popular topics supports and complements the collection. Science fiction is a heavily used section in the Nye Popular Culture Collections. Combined monographic and periodical holdings total approximately 12,000 items, ranking this collection in the top 20 of its kind among research collections. Over 70 periodical titles are represented, and the collection has current subscriptions to several major science fiction magazines. 

 

New Mexico

 

Jack Williamson Science Fiction Library  [Special Collections, Library, Eastern New Mexico University, Portales, New Mexico]

The Williamson Science Fiction Library includes 17,000 volumes of science fiction works, both fiction and non-fiction. There are over 11,000 issues of science fiction pulps, dating back to the early 1900s, covering the entire history of science fiction with established magazines, fanzines, and short-run titles. Manuscripts include the working copies of Williamson's novels, describing the evolution of a novel from the initial germ, to character description, to finished work.

 

 

New York

 

Rare Book Collections and Manuscript Collections [Special Collections Research Center, E. S. Bird Library, Syracuse University Libraries, Syracuse, New York] 

The science fiction collection has a distinct relationship to books on the history of science. There are extensive runs of periodicals in science fiction among which should be mentioned Galaxy Magazine, Worlds of If, and the publications which appeared under Hugo Gernsback's editorship.: They maintain online finding aids for some of their science fiction and popular culture manuscript collections. 

Ohio

 

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Related Collections [Ray and Pat Browne Library for Popular Culture Studies, University Libraries, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio]  Library Catalog

Science fiction, fantasy, horror, and related areas are well-represented in the more than 190,000 cataloged volumes of the Library. The popular culture special collections also have extensive holdings of pulp magazines, fanzines and filk-related materials, the Ray Bradbury Collection, and significant numbers of manuscripts.

 

Oklahoma

Popular Culture Collections.  [Dept. of Special Collections & University Archives.  McFarlin Library.  University of Tulsa.  Tulsa, Oklahoma]  

Tulsa's major SF&F collection is the papers of R. A. Lafferty, but they also have the papers of Bruce McAllister and K. D. Wentworth, as well as other SF and compics materials.

 

Oregon

 

Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, and Fantasy Collections.  [Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries,  Eugene, Oregon]  Library Catalog

Includes the papers of Suzette Haden Elgin, Kate Elliott, Sally Miller Gearhart, Molly Gloss, Damon Knight, Ursula K. Le Guin, Laurie Marks, Joanna Russ, Jessica Salmonson, and Kate Wilhelm.

Pennsylvania

 

The Arthur O. Lewis Utopia Collection  [Special Collections Library, Rare Books and Manuscripts, Pattee Library, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania]  

The Lewis Collection is wide-ranging, including communal studies, the works of utopian theorists, and fabulous voyages. The collection gathers together as many utopias and dystopias in major languages as we can find. Works written in England and America predominate. Probably the best Utopian collection in the world. Penn State also has a science fiction collection though they do not have a webpage to link to for a description.

 

Paskow Science Fiction Collection  [Special Collections, Paley Library, Temple University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]  

The Paskow Collection was initiated in 1972 with the acquisition of the collection of David Paskow. In 1986, with the gift of the book collection of Roger Knuth and his interest in Lovecraft and Howard, fantasy was added to the collecting canon. Amateur and semi-professional science fiction and fantasy serials (fanzines) have been collected and added since the founding of the . . . collection. Professional pulp and slick magazines receive full library cataloging as well as those fanzines which evolved into mainstream publishing and distribution. This collection contains more than 30,000 volumes, magazines (pulps, fanzines, and academic journals), over 100 cubic feet of manuscripts, and selected posters, paintings, drawings, and related materials. The collection ranges from late 19th century through the 20th century first editions, book club and paperback editions, with international coverage. The . . .collection holds supportive 17th and 18th century imaginary voyages and the Gelfand H. G. Wells Collection. 

Texas

 

Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Collection  [Cushing Library, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas]  Library Catalog

The TAMU SF Collection contains more than 20,000 books of science fiction and fantasy, as well as works of history and criticism, reference books, film criticism, and related materials. The collection also contains some 90% of American SF pulp magazines prior to 1980 and strong holdings since 1980, as well as some foreign periodicals. The manuscript collection is particularly strong in materials from Chad Oliver (Texas author and TAMU anthropology professor), Michael Moorcock, and George R. R. Martin (including the Deeper than Swords exhibit and event).

 

Virginia

 

William J. Heron Collection of Speculative Fiction  [Digital Library and Archives/Special Collections, University Library Digital Library and Archives, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Virginia]

A collection of paperbacks, magazines, and reference books (approximately 16,000 items). Call the library directly for help.

 

Washington

 

Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame  [Seattle, Washington]

The SFM is the first museum devoted to science fiction. It is a nonprofit organization created to inspire new generations to reach beyond the prsent, imagine the future, and explore the infinite possiblities of the universe. It also includes the Science Fiction Hall of Fame which honors the legends and luminaries that have shaped humanity's visions of the future. In addition to their exhibits, they offer educational workshops and an Online Writers Workshops in Science Fiction. Their Teacher's Institute will soon begin offering lesson plans, in-services, and special events.

 

West Virginia

 

Isaac Asimov Collection  [Rare Book Room, Wise Library, West Virgina University, Morgantown, West Virginia]  

From the online exhibit description: Isaac Asimov was one of the greatest science fiction writers of the twentieth-century. Many critics, scientists, and educators believe Asimov's greatest talent was for popularizing or, as he called it, translating science for the lay reader. This online display features visuals and descriptions of some of the over 600 books, games, audio recordings, videos, and wall charts included in the West Virginia University Libraries Isaac Asimov Collection. Digital photography and scanning was used to create images for the exhibit so that Asmovians throughout the world can appreciate the collection.