Literary archives are attracting renewed interest as an important element in literary research. The archive of an author is of central importance in deepening the focus on his/her work, and enables a greater acquaintance with the scope of the writer’s writing, personality, relationships, and attitude towards writers and literature in general. This seminar is designed to provide practical tools and skills for research, which makes use of authors' archives.

This seminar will focus on Avraham Shlonsky and Nathan Alterman, both among the founders and shapers of modern Hebrew culture, whose archives are maintained in the Kipp Center for Hebrew Literature and Culture of Tel-Aviv University.

In this seminar, we will study how to derive the greatest benefit from the literary archive, and the various works it may produce. We will examine manuscripts, some of which have never before been published, and discuss different tools for archival research and literary detective work: working with manuscripts, effective unearthing of materials for research in archives, mapping of the relevant archives for the literary researcher, etc.