The Christie Harris Papers: An Inventory of the Archive at the University of Calgary Library

Cynthia R. Comacchio is an associate professor of history at Wilfrid
Laurier University. She is the author of Nations Are Built of Babies:
Saving Ontario’s Mothers and Children.

The Christie Harris Papers is a clear and comprehensive, inventory of
the primary materials that constitute the Christie Harris fonds held in
the Special Collections of the University of Calgary Library. A veteran
author of stories and radio programs for children, Harris is best known
for her award-winning retellings of Pacific Northwest aboriginal tales.

A penetrating “biocritical essay” by literary critic Alexandra West
provides an important context for Harris as folklorist and storyteller.
West suggests that, in view of the current sensitivity about cultural
appropriation, “It seems likely that, were she to be starting her
career as an author today, Christie Harris would not feel comfortable
with at least the early material for which she has become famous.”

As Harris’s first work was published over 70 years ago (when she was
barely 20), and her last novel, Something Weird Is Going On, appeared in
1994, her personal history traverses the better part of the 20th-century
Canadian literary and radio broadcasting scene. The Harris fonds, as
detailed here, contain a rich and multi-textured collection of
correspondence, notebooks, manuscripts, and drafts for publication and
radio, including idea folders and complete scripts. This book’s
“archival introduction” ably describes how the material is organized
according to specified series, subseries, and files. A brief but
informative description of the content of each of the latter is provided
by compiler Marlys Chevrefils. There are also useful indexes, including
an alphabetical listing of all Harris titles, with page references to
pertinent files in the collection as well as a general name and subject
index.

For those interested in Canadian studies (especially literature),
children’s literature, radio programing, and the history of childhood,
The Christie Harris Papers is an invaluable research aid.