Irma Goldstraw Collection
Call Number
Dates
Creator
Extent
Language of Materials
Abstract
Irma Goldstraw, author of Derek Walcott: an annotated bibliography of his works, was a librarian at the Alma Jordan Library at the University of the West Indies and a friend of Derek Walcott. Her husband acted in many of Walcott's productions at the Trinidad Theater Workshop. The collection contains photographs, scripts, newspaper clippings, some manuscripts and typescripts, some correspondence, and some audio elements relating to Derek Walcott and his work for the Trinidad Theater Workshop, and to Irma Goldstraw's Walcott bibliography.
Biographical Note
Irma Goldstraw, author of Derek Walcott: an annotated bibliography of his works, was a librarian at the Alma Jordan Library at the University of the West Indies and a friend of Derek Walcott. Her husband, Lawrence "Laurie" Goldstraw, was a Trinidadian actor who acted in many of Walcott's plays produced by the Trinidad Theater Workshop.
Derek Walcott (b. January 23, 1930) is a Saint Lucian poet and playwright. Walcott formed the Trinidad Theater Workshop in 1959. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992.
Sources:
(2004). "The Irma Goldstraw Collection." http://www.mainlib.uwi.tt/divisions/wi/collsp/summaries/irmagoldstrawcollection.htm
Banham, M. and Hill, Errol. (1994). The Cambridge guide to African and Caribbean theatre. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 247.
Arrangement
This collection is divided into five series, many of which are further arranged into subseries:
Series I: Trinidad Theater Workshop
Subseries A: Productions Written by Derek Walcott
Subseries B: Productions Written by Others
Subseries C: Laurence Goldstraw Subject Files
Subseries D: General Trinidad Theater Workshop Subject Files
Subseries E: The Little Carib Theater
Series II: Derek Walcott Subject Files
Subseries A: Work by Derek Walcott
Subseries B: Work about Derek Walcott (Press, Reviews)
Series III: Irma Goldstraw's Derek Walcott Bibliography Series IV: University of the West Indies Derek Walcott Collection Series V: Audio
Subseries A: Access Copies
Subseries B: Originals
Subseries C: Paper Material Separated from Audio
Oversize Series:
Series I: Trinidad Theater Workshop Subject Files
Series II: Derek Walcott Subject Files
Series V: Audio
Scope and Contents
The collection contains photographs, scripts, newspaper clippings, some manuscripts and typescripts, some correspondence, and some audio elements. Most of the material relates to Derek Walcott and his role as founder of and a playwright for the Trinidad Theater Workshop. Some material relates to Irma Goldstraw's book Derek Walcott: an annotated bibliography of his works. Other materials include publications by and about Derek Walcott; some material regarding the Derek Walcott Collection at the University of the West Indies; a folder of material concerning the Little Carib Theater; and a few folders regarding Laurence "Laurie" Goldstraw, an actor with the Trinidad Theater Workshop and husband of Irma Goldstraw.
Subjects
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open without restrictions.
Conditions Governing Use
This collection is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use materials in the collection in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).
Preferred Citation
Published citations should take the following form: Identification of item, date (if known); Irma Goldstraw Collection; MSS 240; box number; folder number; Fales Library and Special Collections, New York University Libraries.
Location of Materials
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Purchased by Angela Carreno, Head of Collections Development at New York University Libraries, in 2009.
Provenance
Material relating to the Trinidad Theater Workshop was collected by Laurence Goldstraw. Material relating to the Walcott bibliography was compiled by Irma Goldstraw. It is not know who collected the Walcott ephemera that can be found in Series II. It is possible that Ms. Goldstraw collected the material in connection with her bibliography, but it is uncertain. The collection was brought to the Fales Library and Special Collections in 2009 by Angela Carreno, Head of Collections Development at New York University Libraries, who bought the collection from Ms. Goldstraw through the Barbadian book dealer Alan Moss.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Audiovisual materials have not been preserved and may not be available to researchers.
Separated Materials
The following book has been removed to Fales Special Collections.
Hamner, Robert D. Derek Walcott. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1981.
About this Guide
Processing Information
The collection was processed at the box level. A description of contents is given for each series (see Scope and Contents Note, above). These descriptions are in no way comprehensive. Where possible, folders are filed in the original order in which they were received. Otherwise, there is no particular order to the folders within each series.
Material too large to be put in a legal-sized folder and filed in a bankers box has been separated out from the rest of the material in its series, placed in a large flat box, and described by series in "Oversize Series."
In February 2019, materials from boxes 6 and 7 were moved from their original boxes to new boxes.
