Vol. 19, No. 37

Aug. 10, 2000

Noted 20th-century author

Library exhibition highlights works of Paul Bowles

Paul Bowles, 1910-1999" will be on display from Aug. 22 — Dec. 15, in the Special Collections Exhibition Gallery of the Morris Library. Items in the exhibition are drawn entirely from the library's extensive holdings related to Paul Bowles, the American expatriate, author and composer who traveled the world and settled in Tangier, Morocco. Mr. Bowles' career, spanning most of the 20th century, crossed paths with leading persons in the arts from Gertrude Stein, Tennessee Williams and William Burroughs to Mick Jagger and Carson McCullers. "Paul Bowles, 1910-1999" will include newly discovered manuscripts and papers acquired from Mr. Bowles prior to his death in November 1999. An exhibition catalog, entitled Paul Bowles 1910-1999, and an electronic exhibition on the University of Delaware Library web site accompany the exhibition. A program and reception featuring remarks by Virginia Spencer Carr, Mr. Bowles' authorized biographer, will be held at 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 10, in the Class of 1941 Lecture Room in the library. Those interested in attending the free public program may request a printed invitation by calling 831-2231 or by sending e-mail to [UDLA@udel.edu]. Additional programming, including film screenings, lectures and musical programs also will be held in conjunction with the exhibition. Paul Frederic Bowles, born in New York City in 1910, began to publish at 17. He abandoned college and in 1929 began his life of travels with a trip to Paris, where he hoped to establish himself as a poet. Back in New York in 1930, he studied composition with Aaron Copland, whom he also accompanied to Yaddo, Paris, Berlin and Tangier. With the support of Copland and the composer, Virgil Thomson, he wrote incidental music and scores for ballet and theatre. He worked for the Federal Theater Project (including music for Orson Welles' Horse Eats Hat) and the Federal Music Project. Mr. Bowles became one of the preeminent composers of American theatre music, producing works for William Saroyan, Tennessee Williams and others. Inspired by the success of his wife, Jane Bowles, and her dedication to writing, Mr. Bowles began his career as an author, surpassing his successful reputation as a composer. He produced numerous works of fiction, essays, travel writing, poems, autobiographical pieces and other works. His best-known novels are The Sheltering Sky (1949) and The Spider's House (1955). A 1989 reprint of The Sheltering Sky and Bernardo Bertolucci's 1990 film version of the novel, starring Debra Winger and John Malkovich, revived international interest in Mr. Bowles' writing. Mr. Bowles is equally known as a prolific translator. He bestowed the title No Exit upon Jean-Paul Sartre's Huis Clos, and his 1946 translation of the work remains the standard version for English language productions. During the 1940s, Mr. Bowles translated the poems and stories of a wide variety of European and Latin American authors. The Bowleses spent much of their married life traveling throughout the world and in the late 1940s made Tangier, Morocco, their permanent home. Major figures in the world of letters and the arts and international society frequently visited them there. Mrs. Bowles died in 1973, and Mr. Bowles continued to reside in Tangier until his death. The University of Delaware Library maintained a longtime relationship with Bowles and, over the years, acquired an important collection of materials related to him. Timothy Murray, head of the Special Collections Department, and librarian Francis Poole, a former resident of Tangier and a longtime friend of Mr. Bowles, were invited to visit Tangier to discuss the disposition of his literary papers. Murray described the librarians' two visits to Tangier in March and September of 1999 as "adventures in discovery" adding, "It has been a great privilege and certainly a professional highlight to have had the opportunity to work with Mr. Bowles. Without his support and encouragement our efforts would not have been successful." By the end of their visits, Murray and Poole, with the help of Mr. Bowles' assistant, Abdelhouaid Boulaich, had transported more than 50 boxes of manuscripts and papers to the University of Delaware Library, materials which have never before been seen or used by scholars or researchers. A substantial portion of this material will be featured in the exhibition. UD President David P. Roselle, said, "The Paul Bowles Archive is a great resource for scholars and students who wish to do research related to this major American writer." Susan Brynteson, director of libraries, said that opening the Paul Bowles papers for scholarly use is a high point for the library. "The papers document the career of one of the most distinctive voices in modern literature," she said. The exhibition was curated by Murray and L. Rebecca Johnson Melvin, associate librarian in the Morris Library Special Collections Department.