The full and extensive literary Archive of James Kelman is lodged in the National Library of Scotland. Some may be viewed online via the Spirit of Revolt archive (http://spiritofrevolt.info/james-kelman-collection/). The original items in this folder either remain with the family of James Kelman or are lodged in the National Library (nls.co.uk).

Archival Material Selection

JK with novelist Peter La Salle and poet August Kleinzamer at the Dog & Duck, Austin, Texas, now sadly gone: JK, P LaSalle, A Kleinzamer
(there is a great clip of the late Ian McLagan playing at the same bar with the Bump Band in 2009, check out: Video clip)

In May 2017 JK presented a paper at the opening of the Beckett Research Centre at the University of Reading. He had prepared the paper fully at home but the day before the event he revised it thoroughly by pencil in his Reading hotel room. This one page abstract indicates the extent of the revision. Draft page

JK gave variations of this reading list to the Creative Writing students attending his classes at the University of Texas, Austin and San Jose State University, California.
Reading List

A flyer for the East End Anthology 1988.

This page is an extract from the contacts’ list in JK’s 1983 diary.

For this PEN event at Baruch College, New York City JK delivered an essay on the literary influence of Rene Descartes.

JK’s first collection of short stories had been published in the spring of 1973. He continued driving buses until early 1975, then got a job in a factory:
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