National English Literary Museum

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.

History

The museum was established in 1972. Prof Guy F Butler, 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.

References

Official NELM website: http://www.nelm.org.za/