What happened to the publication of Mavis Gallant’s journals?

August 31, 2024 11:12 AM

In 2012 it was announced that Knopf would publish all of Mavis Gallant’s journals in 5 volumes covering 5 decades of her life. This was with her cooperation. The first volume was slated to come out that year. So far nothing except a couple of excerpts have been publlished in the New Yorker. What happened?
posted by uans to Writing & Language (1 answer total)

Best answer: Check out this article

While I don’t know, I’m inferring that she got/stayed sick after that article was written, then died a couple years later. I’d guess that the project couldn’t be completed as she had intended to be a crucial part of the transcription process.

After she did return home, she asked me to transcribe and edit the diaries, but I knew that it would be an impossible task unless she could participate. So we meet, discuss, review, and she remains very involved in the decisions surrounding the project.

You could also try contacting the three people listed in the editors note at the beginning, and/or their respective orgs.
posted by seemoorglass at 1:17 PM on August 31, 2024 [2 favorites]