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Archive Collections at HHC: Literature & Drama

Guide to material held at Hull History Centre arranged by research theme, record creator and document type, with copies of published source guides.

On this page:

“Some of these things are true and some of them lies. But they are all good stories”

Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall 

Literature and Drama

Research Themes Supported

Hull History Centre holds large numbers of collections on subjects related to literature and drama. Such collections can aid research into many areas including:

  • Novelists and Creative Writing
  • Poets and Poetry
  • Playwrights
  • Theatre Production
  • Screen Writing
  • Female Authors
  • Journalism and Journalists
  • Literary Societies

Typical Record Formats

Literature and drama records commonly include drafts of works, scripts, notebooks, correspondence, programmes, publicity material, photographs, publications, society minutes.

Key collections

The following collections have significant research potential in the area of literature and drama:

  • Little Theatre and New Theatre Records (C DFBN)
  • Records of Alan Plater (U DPR)
  • Theatre Playbills Collection (U PN)

Further collections

The following PDF contains a list of HHC collections that may be useful to researchers interested in various aspects of literature and drama.

Additional supporting material

The following material may also be useful when researching this area:

  • Local newspapers, available on microfilm or via the British Newspaper Archive Online – newspapers often contain advertisements and reports of literary events held by societies, and of plays and theatre productions.
  • Local Studies and historical maps – these can help trace the development of buildings used as venues for staging plays or holding society meetings.