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.
Repository
Series I: Trinidad Theater Workshop Subject Files, 1958-2007, inclusive
Language of Materials
Scope and Contents
Series comprises play programs, play scripts, and clippings related almost exclusively the Trinidad Theater Workshop, very little relating to the Little Carib Theater, and some clippings about Derek Walcott plays performed elsewhere than at the Trinidad Theater Workshop and in Trinidad.
Arrangement
This series is arranged into five subseries:
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
Subseries A: Productions Written by Derek Walcott, 1958-1994, inclusive
Language of Materials
Productions Written by Derek Walcott, 1958, 1973-1982, 1998
Language of Materials
Productions Written by Derek Walcott, 1973-1994
Language of Materials
Subseries B: Productions Written by Others, 1983-1989, inclusive
Language of Materials
Productions Written by Others, 1983-1984, 1988-1989
Language of Materials
Subseries C: Laurence Goldstraw Subject Files, 1990-2007, inclusive
Lawrence Goldstraw Subject Files, 1990, 2007
Language of Materials
Subseries D: General Trinidad Theater Workshop Subject Files, 1965-1993, inclusive
General, 1965, 1973-1976, 1984-1993
Language of Materials
Subseries E: The Little Carib Theater
Language of Materials
The Little Carib Theater, undated
Language of Materials
Series II: Derek Walcott Subject Files, 1945-2008, inclusive
Language of Materials
Scope and Contents
Series comprises periodicals containing poems, essays, and reviews by Derek Walcott, some small publications of Walcott's, photocopies of poems by Walcott, and reviews of and essays on Walcott's work as well as general articles on Walcott.
Arrangement
This series is arranged into two subseries:
Subseries A: Work by Derek Walcott
Subseries B: Work about Derek Walcott (Press, Reviews)
Subseries A: Work by Derek Walcott, 1945-2008, inclusive
Language of Materials
Work by Derek Walcott, 1945, 1957-1969, 1970-1986, 2005, 2008
Language of Materials
Subseries B: Work about Derek Walcott (Press, Reviews), 1964-2005, inclusive
Language of Materials
Work about Derek Walcott (Press, Reviews), 1964-1979, 1984, 1986, 1992, 2000, 2005
Language of Materials
Series III: Irma Goldstsraw's Derek Walcott Bibliography, 1931-1986, inclusive
Language of Materials
Scope and Contents
Series comprises drafts and notes, annotated photocopies of poems by Walcott, and correspondence--all related to Irma Goldstraw's Derek Walcott: an annotated bibliography of his works, 1984.
Irma Goldstsraw's Derek Walcott Bibliography, undated
Language of Materials
Irma Goldstsraw's Derek Walcott Bibliography, 1931, 1979-1986
Language of Materials
Series IV: University of the West Indies Derek Walcott Collection, 1978-2000, inclusive
Language of Materials
Scope and Contents
Series comprises material relating to the Derek Walcott Collection at the University of the West Indies.
University of the West Indies Derek Walcott Collection, 1978-2000
Language of Materials
Series V: Audio, 1971-1990, inclusive
Language of Materials
Scope and Contents
Series comprises two phonograph records, a compact disc, and a cassette tape from the collection.
Arrangement
This series is arranged into three subseries:
Subseries A: Access Copies
Subseries B: Originals
Subseries C: Paper Material Separated from Audio
Subseries B: Originals, 1971-1974, inclusive
Language of Materials
The Joker of Seville, undated
Language of Materials
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Format: CD-Rs
"Goldstraw", undated
Language of Materials
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Format: Audiocassettes
The Joker of Seville, 1974, inclusive
Language of Materials
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Format: Phonographs, LPs
Poets of the West Indies, 1971, inclusive
Language of Materials
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Format: Phonographs, LPs
