Iroko and La Banda sheet music, circa 1995

Series 10, Collected Written Works, Music, and Visual Art, 1913-2018, undated, includes selections from Shange’s personal library from her home in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn (collected by Barnard archivists and Professor Kim Hall in 2014); as well as other texts, recorded music, and visual artwork collected by Shange. Many of the books and magazines from Shange’s library speak directly to her interests and influences and are annotated; published works by Shange are also included here, particularly rare editions and copies with marginalia. In cases where notes, scraps of paper, receipts, book marks, etc. were in the texts, archivists have left said markers in place. A full inventory of the 400 books, magazines, and other texts from Shange’s library included in this series is available. Unsolicited and seemingly unread manuscripts sent to Shange by others have been largely discarded, with the exception of works by close friends, family, and collaborators.