“Mr. Naipaul exempted neither colonizer nor colonized from his scrutiny. He wrote of the arrogance and self-aggrandizement of the colonizers, yet exposed the self-deception and ethical ambiguities of the liberation movements that swept across Africa and the Caribbean in their wake. He brought to his work moral urgency and a novelist’s attentiveness to individual lives and triumphs.”
Rachel Donadio, New York Times, 2018
A Nobel Prize recipient for Literature, V.S. Naipaul was a highly praised and scrutinized author. Born to parents who were indentured servants that moved from India to Trinidad, Naipaul was raised in Trinidad but left for Oxford University in 1950. After university he settled in England. However, he was a man who never remained content in one place. He travelled the world, writing more than 30 books, both fiction and nonfiction, that were inspired by his critical takes on displacement, personhood, belonging, and citizenship. Considering all this prestige, it may surprise you to learn that V.S. Naipaul’s personal collection of manuscripts, mementos, letters, and other possessions reside in McFarlin’s own Special Collections Library.
I was able to chat with the Director of Special Collections, Melissa Kunz, and the Archival Processor for the V.S. Naipaul Collection, Elissa Howe, about the significance of Naipaul’s archival collection and some of the items it contains.
With the help of former Provost George Gilpin, the collection was originally acquired in 1993. “Naipaul himself was interested in having his collection in a university. Provost Gilpin was interested in Naipaul, and interested in bringing the collection here,” Melissa explained. After the initial acquisition Naipaul would send things to Special Collections twice a year, so that he could have some control over what went in. This transactional nature allowed Naipaul to have a say in what researchers could view. However, this also meant that at one point this was a living collection. With a constant influx of new materials, the chance to complete accurate and accessible archival processing was complicated. After Naipaul’s passing in 2018, the collection needed assessment and reorganization – a process that had to be done to ensure that researchers could use it and fully understand the importance of the artifacts contained. Special Collections needed a full-time Naipaul processor.
In 2023, McFarlin Library founded the Adrian Alexander Librarian in Residence program. This program was started thanks to a generous gift from Peggy Helmerich in Dean Emeritus of McFarlin Library Alexander’s name, upon his retirement. With this donation, Special Collections hired Elissa Howe, a graduate of the TU Museum Science Management program, as the archival processor for Naipaul’s collection. Though it may be difficult to grasp the importance of having a dedicated archival processor for a collection, Melissa recognized that it was a critical step in getting this collection ready for public viewing. Naipaul’s collection “has the importance and prestige of being the lifetime collection of a Nobel Laureate,” Melissa explained. “It’s now a fully archived, fully accessible collection. This is a big reason to celebrate in the archive’s world. Multiple attempts have been made to bring it into control.” Elissa working on this, and finishing it, is a phenomenal accomplishment.
When I asked Elissa if it was the work itself or Naipaul specifically that drew her to this position, she explained that she joined Special Collections for the chance to process a collection. Elissa stated that she knew nothing about Naipaul – “I knew some of his contemporaries, but I wanted to go in blind so I could learn about him directly from his materials.” While processing this collection, Elissa began by first using an old finding aide to assess the collection. Then she had to sort manuscripts, letters, photographs, and various other artifacts in order to establish the organizational structure. She explained that “for a few years, Naipaul had some say in how it was organized. So, I used modern day standards to make notes on the reorganization of the older processes.” If this seems overwhelming or even baffling to you, then you best believe that Elissa encountered her own share of challenges with this collection of over 30,000 items.
As is true with many archival collections, letters are an essential element. Elissa explained “you never expect that your letter will end up in an archive. A lot of time when people sign a letter they don’t put their last name. When attributing credit, [the archivist] wants to represent everyone accurately, so they have to make some educated guesses. Fortunately, for half the correspondence from early on in his life, Naipaul made notes on who items were from. So, I can use these notes to make a match.” What happens to the correspondence that cannot be attributed? It remains in the collection in hopes that one day connections can be established.
At this point you are probably eager to know what’s in this collection. While I was not able to view the collection in person, Elissa and Melissa gave me a teaser of some of the item holdings both commonplace and unique. In addition to his own writings and correspondence, Naipaul’s wife, Patricia, also has items in this collection. Though she lived in the shadows, Patricia was more than just a wife to this Nobel Laureate, she had her own research, was involved in community politics in 1960-90s London, and even gave input on some of her husband’s writings. Elissa learned that Naipaul dictated some of his books to Patricia and she would suggest edits. There are notecards in the collection with records of these interactions. Also, there are unpublished writings and notes from Naipaul’s father who had a failed writing career. While these items may not seem out of place, this once living collection has far more than pieces of paper.
Some of the unexpected items in this collection are…
- keys to Patricia’s mother’s house
- a random 45 vinyl
- an empty 1970s airline peanut bag
- money from various countries such as Iran, Pakistan, Canda, and Indonesia
- all his used checkbooks, over 200, as well as over a 1000 canceled checks
- receipts (which he apparently loved) including many from American eateries like IHOP
- an invitation from Buckingham Palace for a garden party
- a fan letter from actress Miriam Margolyes
With such an array of items that might seem inconsequential to some, Melissa clarified that the variety “speaks to Naipaul’s sense of what his collection meant and its importance.” In a way, this collection is a time capsule that truly allows a life to be fully documented and examined.
In addition to the exhibit beginning in January, there will be an exhibition catalogue that will include essays from Colm Tóibín, George Gilpin and Hermione de Almeida, Bhoe Tewarie, and Lars Engle. And, in Spring 2025, a New York Times article by journalist Aatish Taseer will be published about V.S. Naipaul. Taseer was travelling the US in 2024 writing about his favorite authors who explored themes of exile. Elissa was interviewed by Taseer because of her work with the collection and developed understanding of his life.
Be sure to look for upcoming announcements for the opening day of the exhibit “Man Without a Country” to learn more about this illustrious author.