Collections : [University of Michigan Special Collections Research Center]

The Ephemera series (3 linear feet, plus oversize materials) is made up of the subseries Publicity, Broadsides, Calendars, Clippings, and Other Material. Publicity is a broad category encompassing posters, flyers, programs, announcements, catalogs, and the like. Most of the material relates to poetry readings by Piercy or other events in which she participated. Some of it, however, pertains to events of other groups with which she has some affiliation. (Also included are a small number of announcements for private functions held by Marge Piercy and Ira Wood.) The Publicity subseries is arranged chronologically.

Broadsides are broken down into those by Marge Piercy and Others--that is, works by others. Within these divisions, work is arranged alphabetically, first by author, then by title. Some items which appear to be incomplete or unidentified have been put into a separate "Fragments and miscellaneous items" grouping. Outsize broadsides are housed separately.

The Book Jackets subseries contains primarily book jackets or covers for Piercy's books, many in the proof stage. Other non-manuscript proofs are also included, such as those for in-text graphics and compact disc cases. The researcher should note that such material may also be found within the Writings series, although the bulk of it resides in Ephemera.

Piercy's work is frequently quoted in calendars, notably the lunar calendars published by Nancy Passmore and her Luna Press. Editions of these lunar calendars, plus other calendars in which Piercy's work appears, make up the Calendars subseries.

Clippings are arranged chronologically, where date is known. The vast majority of the clippings pertain to Piercy--generally as interviews, reviews of her work, publication of her poems, and articles discussing or announcing her performances and appearances. In some cases, whole publications have been saved, either due to their content or to their rare or unusual nature (such as the periodicals of radical student groups or feminist collectives), although most such cases have been removed and cataloged separately.

The Other Material subseries contains works not matching any of the previous categories of ephemera. Currently only one item exists in this subseries. It appears to be a portion of a presentation on cyborgs, possibly relating to Piercy's background research for He, She, and It.