Scope and Contents
Collection comprises the papers of author Molly Gloss, including notes, planning documents, research materials, and drafts of novels, short stories, book reviews, and essays. The collection includes some correspondence with readers, editors and publishers, but lacks personal correspondence. The collection includes examples of Gloss’ work in several genres, including young adult fantasy fiction, Outside the Gates (1986); western fiction, The Jump-Off Creek (1989); science fiction, The Dazzle of Day (1997), “Interlocking Pieces” and “Lambing Season”; and adventure fiction, Wild Life: A Novel (2000).
The notes, planning documents and research materials concern Gloss’ novels The Jump-Off Creek, The Dazzle of Day and Wild Life: A Novel. The correspondence, notes and drafts concerning The Jump-Off Creek reveal its development over many years and through several versions to its final form, a “woman’s western” novel about a woman homesteader in Oregon in the 1890s. Related works are titled “Unfamiliar Ground,” “The Wolf Killers” and “The Lady of Two Creeks.” Of particular note in these materials is Gloss’ response to Ursula K. Le Guin’s comments on an early version of The Jump-Off Creek in which Gloss discusses women and the western novel. Later, Gloss addressed this topic and the evolution of The Jump-Off Creek in an interview and a lecture that are published in Talking up a Storm: Voices of the New West and Interchange, the journal of the Oregon Educational Media Association. These works are not included in this collection, but are available in the University of Oregon Libraries.
The notes, planning documents and research materials concerning The Dazzle of Day reveal the author’s efforts to ground her fiction on principles of social science. This type of science fiction has been referred to as anthropological science fiction or speculative anthropology. The materials include notes on language, agriculture and religion. Also included in these materials are diagrams of the spacecrafts in this novel.
The collection includes manuscripts of most of the author’s short stories, including early unpublished works and widely anthologized works such as “The Doe,” a reworking of the theme of William Stafford’s poem “Traveling Through the Dark,” and “Lambing Season,” a 2003 Hugo Award nominee.
Much of Gloss’ fiction is set in the Pacific Northwest and addresses the human response to wilderness and the theme of community. Her science fiction short stories, which often feature Western-type landscapes and themes, focus more on human feelings and social issues than science and technology.
Dates
- Creation: 1979-2003
Creator
- Gloss, Molly (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open to the public. Collection must be used in Special Collections and University Archives Reading Room. Collection or parts of collection may be stored offsite. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives in advance of your visit to allow for transportation time.
Conditions Governing Use
Property rights reside with Special Collections and University Archives, University of Oregon Libraries. Copyright resides with the creators of the documents or their heirs. All requests for permission to publish collection materials must be submitted to Special Collections and University Archives. The reader must also obtain permission of the copyright holder.
Biographical / Historical
Author Molly Gloss was born in Portland, Oregon on November 20, 1944 to Charles David and Eleanor Marie Lovelace. In 1966 she married Edward G. Gloss, with whom she had a son, Ben. Gloss received a B.A. and a secondary teaching certificate from Portland State College, now University, in 1966. She worked as a schoolteacher and a correspondence clerk for a freight company before becoming a full-time writer in 1980 after her son had entered school. In 1981, Gloss took a course in science fiction writing from Ursula K. Le Guin at Portland State University. Since then she has authored several short stories and novels in that genre, as well as works of western fiction, fantasy fiction, and young adult literature. In addition, Gloss has written book reviews, essays, an appreciation of Ursula K. Le Guin, and an introduction to the memoir of a woman homesteader. Molly Gloss lives and writes in the Pacific Northwest.
Extent
7 linear feet (19 containers)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Collection comprises the papers of American author Molly Gloss, including notes, planning documents, research materials, and drafts of novels, short stories, book reviews, and essays written between 1979 and 2003. The collection includes examples of her work in several genres, including young adult fantasy literature, Outside the Gates (1986); western fiction, The Jump-Off Creek (1989); adventure fiction, Wild Life: A Novel (2000); and science fiction, The Dazzle of Day, “Interlocking Pieces” and “Lambing Season”.
Arrangement
Collection is organized into the following series: Series I. Short Stories, Book Reviews, and Other Writings; Series II. Novels; Series III. Oversize Materials. Titles are arranged within series in chronological order by date of publication or, for unpublished works, date of creation. Within each subseries, materials are arranged by type, for example drafts, notes, research materials. Within each type, materials are arranged in chronological order.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection is a gift of Molly Gloss.
Bibliography
- Gloss, Molly. “Alice Day Pratt and the Homestead Dream.” In A Homesteader’s Portfolio, by Alice Day Pratt. Corvallis, Or.: Oregon State University Press, 1993.
- ———. “The Blue Roan.” In New Frontiers, edited by Martin Greenburg and Bill Pronzini. New York: Tor, 1989.
- ———. “The Blue Roan.” In New Roger Caras Treasury of Great Horse Stories. New York: Bristol Park, 1999.
- ———. “Children of the River, by Linda Crew.” CALYX: A Journal of Art and Literature by Women 12(3) (1990): 97-98.
- ———. Dazzle of Day. New York: Tor, 1997.
- ———. “The Doe.” CALYX: A Journal of Art and Literature by Women 6(1) (1981): 45-50.
- ———. “The Doe.” In The World Begins Here: An Anthology of Oregon Short Fiction, edited by Glen A. Love. Corvallis, Or.: Oregon State University Press, 1993.
- ———. “The Doe.” In A Line of Cutting Women, edited by Beverly McFarland. Corvallis, Or.: Calyx Books, 1998.
- ———. “A Few Things I Know About Ursula.” In Nebula Awards Showcase, edited by Vonda N. McIntyre. New York: Roc, 2004.
- ———. “Field Trial.” Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine 10 (1986): 76
- ———. “Interlocking Pieces.” In Universe 14, edited by Terry Carr. Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, 1984.
- ———. “Interlocking Pieces.” In The Year's Best Science Fiction: Second Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois. New York: Bluejay Books, 1985.
- ———. “Interlocking Pieces.” In The Norton Book of Science Fiction: North American Science Fiction 1960–1990, edited by Ursula K. Le Guin and Brian Attebery. New York: Norton, 1993.
- ———. “Joining.” The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction 66 (1984): 57-66.
- ———. The Jump-Off Creek. Boston: Houghton, 1989.
- ———. “From The Jump-Off Creek.” In Circle of Women: An Anthology of Contemporary Western Women Writers, edited by Kim Barnes and Mary Clearman Blew. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2001.
- ———. “Lambing Season.” In The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twentieth Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2003.
- ———. “Molly Gloss.” In Talking up a Storm: Voices of the New West, edited by Gregory L. Morris. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1994.
- ———. Outside the Gates. New York: Atheneum, 1986.
- ———. “Personal Silence.” Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine 14 (1990): 114.
- ———. “Personal Silence.” In The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eighth Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois. New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 1991.
- ———. “Personal Silence.” In Dreamers and Desperadoes: Contemporary Short Fiction of the American West, edited by Craig Lesley and Katheryn Stavrakis. Corvallis, Or.: Oregon State University Press, 1993.
- ———. “Reading and Writing Westerns.” In Many Faces: An Anthology of Oregon Autobiography, edited by Stephen Dow Beckham. Corvallis, Or.: Oregon State University Press, 1993.
- ———. “Seaborne.” The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction 67 (1984): 35.
- ———. “Verano.” Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine 16 (1992): 72.
- ———. “Wenonah’s Gift.” Isaac Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine 10 (1986): 124.
- ———. Wild Life: A Novel New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000.
- ———. “Women and the West.” Interchange 20(1) (1991): 14, 16-20.
Processing Information
Collection processed by staff.
This finding aid may be updated periodically to account for new acquisitions to the collection and/or revisions in arrangement and description.
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the Molly Gloss Papers
- Status
- Revise Description
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Nathan Georgitis
- Date
- 2004
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
- Sponsor
- Funding for encoding this finding aid was provided through a grant awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Oregon Libraries, Special Collections and University Archives Repository
