National English Literary Museum
Encyclopedia
The National English Literary Museum (NELM) houses extensive archival material relating to Southern African English Literature. It is located in Grahamstown
. NELM has principally three collections: manuscripts, books and journals, and press clippings. The museum also conducts many outreach programmes (mainly focussed on school pupils and university students) aimed at promoting and creating awareness of South Africa's rich literary heritage. It has a substantial collection of materials of the South African author, and later terrorism writer, Jillian Becker.
, the Head of Department of the Rhodes University
English Department and himself a poet, became aware of the need for the manuscripts of South African authors to be collected. His collection of his and other writers' material soon became too large for the cupboard he at first housed it in. By an act of parliament NELM was eventually born. The NELM collections currently occupy three adjacent buildings in Beaufort Street.
Grahamstown
Grahamstown is a city in the Eastern Cape Province of the Republic of South Africa and is the seat of the Makana municipality. The population of greater Grahamstown, as of 2003, was 124,758. The population of the surrounding areas, including the actual city was 41,799 of which 77.4% were black,...
. NELM has principally three collections: manuscripts, books and journals, and press clippings. The museum also conducts many outreach programmes (mainly focussed on school pupils and university students) aimed at promoting and creating awareness of South Africa's rich literary heritage. It has a substantial collection of materials of the South African author, and later terrorism writer, Jillian Becker.
History
The museum was established in 1972. Prof Guy F ButlerGuy Butler (poet)
Guy Butler was a South African poet and writer....
, the Head of Department of the Rhodes University
Rhodes University
Rhodes University is a public research university located in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa, established in 1904. It is the province’s oldest university, and is one of the four universities in the province...
English Department and himself a poet, became aware of the need for the manuscripts of South African authors to be collected. His collection of his and other writers' material soon became too large for the cupboard he at first housed it in. By an act of parliament NELM was eventually born. The NELM collections currently occupy three adjacent buildings in Beaufort Street.