Joan Didion's Archive Acquired by the New York Public Library

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The New York Public Library did not get Joan Didion's Celine sunglasses. However, the storied institution has acquired Joan Didion and her husband John Gregory Dunne's joint archive. None of Didion's personal diaries are included in the collection, though decades of personal correspondence are included.

Didion, who passed away in 2021 at age 87, began her career as a copy writer before becoming an editor for Vogue magazine. She published her first book, novel Run, River, in 1963, before catapulting to fame with essay collections Slouching Towards Bethlehem and The White Album.

The archive acquired by NYPL spans 240 linear feet of material, beginning with documents of Didion's early life, through research for her classic essays, and notes and drafts for her memoirs. Manuscripts for Didion's first nine books are already at the University of California—Berkeley.

Didion and Dunne's archive "very much captures the significance and gravitas of their careers," Julie Golia, the library’s associate director of manuscripts, archives and rare books," told the New York Times. "But it’s also deeply personal."

A fun part of the archive is Didion's datebooks and dinner party plans. "She was both poetic and military in her approach to dinner party planning," Golia said. "It was clearly an experience. Everything was curated." Golia added, "she had a real commitment to Chantilly cream."

The papers are expected to be processed by early 2025, and after, anyone with a library card will be able to access them.

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