Series I. Writings, Publishing, and Related Projects, 1961-2012, undated, inclusive

This subseries contains Lally's writing files for published and unpublished works, notecards tracking his published works (1960s to 2009), and files related to his publishing ventures, O Press and Some of Us Press (SOUP). His work files on individual pieces and books typically contain notes, manuscripts, contracts, proofs, publicity, and correspondence, including files for The South Orange Sonnets, Catch My Breath, It Takes One to Know One, and It's Not Nostalgia. These work files also contain larger editing projects, including his work on the anthology None of the Above: New Poets of the USA which included works by L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poets Ron Silliman, Bruce Andrews, and Ray DiPalma; New York School poets Alice Notley and Joe Brainard; and poets working outside any community association such as Patti Smith. Files containing unpublished loose poems are in this subseries, as well as chronological poetry manuscript books dating from the 1950s through the 1980s, his journals with writing ideas, and Lally's reviews of others' work. This subseries contains files on his first published piece Markings on the Wall including rejection slips, manuscript, and correspondence from the 1960s. Files with his unpublished biographies Loose Canon and Poor Moth Boy in the Moon are in this subseries. Lally's editorial work is also represented through his Franklin Library files and Venice Magazine files, which include photographs by musician Andy Summers.

These approximately 300 small and large circulation newspapers and magazines contain works by Lally which date primarily from the 1960s through the 1980s. Alternative press titles include All You Can Eat (1972), FagRag (1973), The Great Speckled Bird (1970-1971), and literary magazines Blue Suede Shoes (1971), L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E (1978-1980), and Buffalo Stamps (1972). Lally also contributed articles, editorials, reviews, letters, and poems to publications of a radical, political, counter-cultural and/or gay orientation including Campus Underground (1968–1969), Daily Rag (1973), Unicorn Times (circa 1974), Washington Review, (1979-1993, 2001), Washington Review of the Arts (1975-1977), and Woodwind(1972). Issues of Venice Magazine (1988, 1990, 1995) which Lally founded and edited are in this subseries. Black Box, a publication in audiocassette form and which Lally was editor for a time, can also be found in this subseries. The publication, Matchbook, which is 1-word poems contained within real matchbooks is in this subseries.

This subseries contains material related to Michael Lally's performances as a poet, including poetry readings and recorded spoken albums. Contracts, publicity, posters, ephemera, reviews, and audiovisual and digital recordings of Lally's poetry readings and events date from the 1970s to the 2000s. Lally's Poetry in Motion series files contain publicity and planning material related to readings performed by a mix of Hollywood celebrities (Alec Baldwin, Robert Downey, Jr., and Ally Sheedy) and poets (Jack Grapes, Hubert Selby, Jr., and Wanda Coleman) in the 1980s and 1990s in while he was living in Los Angeles. See Series II.C. for correspondence files on this project. Electronic records in this subseries contain poetry reading albums and other event recordings, including Jazzspeak: A Word Collection , Michael Lally: Lost Angels, and Poets Against War. Digital images of a 2004 poetry reading and a digital video recording of a documentary on Hubert Selby, Jr. with a Lally interview are also in this subseries.

This subseries contains correspondence with poets, writers, and colleagues, which often include manuscripts and ephemera. Lally's correspondence documents his involvement with the avante garde L=A=N=G=U=A=G=E poet group during their formative years in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as the poetry communities in Iowa City, Washington, D.C., and New York City. Correspondence is especially extensive with those he collaborated with and published through O Press and Some of Us Press (SOUP) in the 1970s, including Bruce Andrews, Max Blagg, Joe Brainard, Gerald Burns, Tina Darragh, Ray DiPalma, Tim Dlugos, Etheridge Knight, Jerome Sala, and Terence Winch. This series also contains four poster-sized message paintings by Sylvia Schuster.

This subseries contains correspondence dating from the 1970s through the 2000s which had been separated from Lally's manuscript files, specifically relating to the publication of his works through smaller presses. Those correspondents with extensive files include Dennis Cooper with Little Ceasar Press, John and Elaine Gill from The Crossing Press, and George Mattingly from Blue Wind Press and Something Else Press. This subseries also contains a large collection of correspondence, mail art, and manuscripts from Jim Haining of Salt Lick Press, of which Lally's book Catch My Breath was one of the company's best selling works.