Human Authorship in the Archives: Writing in the Presence of the Record

Camille Charette; Sarah Hartman-Caverly

Human Authorship in the Archives: Writing in the Presence of the Record

Spark talk delivered for Heterodox Libraries Symposium, Spring 2026: HUMAN AUTHORSHIP. April 10, 2026. CC BY-NC the contributors:

This lightning talk explores how mindful engagement with primary sources can cultivate empowered human authorship. Archives introduce real voices, conflicts, and historical stakes. They create friction between what is recorded and what is lived. In that friction, imagination becomes grounded and relational rather than abstract.

Drawing from this classroom case study, I argue that special collections are not only repositories of the past but sites of human encounter that place us in direct contact with the voices, choices, and lived realities of others. From that encounter, archival research emerges as a powerful inspiration for creative, courageous, and deeply human authorship shaped by empathy, accountability, wonder, and presence.

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Metadata

Work Title	Human Authorship in the Archives: Writing in the Presence of the Record
Access	Open Access
Creators	Camille Charette Sarah Hartman-Caverly
Keyword	archives creative writing
License	CC BY-NC 4.0 (Attribution-NonCommercial)
Work Type	Conference Proceeding
Acknowledgments	Michael Dudley, reviewer. Randy Souther, reviewer. This project is supported is supported in full by Heterodox Academy. The opinions expressed at this event (or through such activities) are those of the individual Grantees, organizers, speakers, presenters, and attendees of such events / activities and do not necessarily reflect the views of Heterodox Academy.
Publisher	Heterodox Libraries
Publication Date	April 10, 2026
DOI	doi:10.26207/bdff-f168
Related URLs	https://psu.pb.unizin.org/hxlibraries26humanauthorship/chapter/human-authorship-in-the-archives-writing-in-the-presence-of-the-record/ https://psu.mediaspace.kaltura.com/media/Spark+talk+-+Human+Authorship+in+the+Archives+-+Charette+-+HxLibraries+Symposium+2026+HUMAN+AUTHORSHIP/1_vwndovk1 https://hxlibraries.substack.com/p/symposium
Deposited	May 27, 2026

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Human Authorship in the Archives: Writing in the Presence of the Record

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View: ACCESSIBLE_VERSION_HUMAN-AUTHORSHIP-Charette.pdf

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View: README_Charette_spark_talk_2026_HUMAN-AUTHORSHIP.txt

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