The extensive archives of Douglas Coupland – one of Canada’s most renowned authors, an internationally recognized visual artist and a cultural icon who coined the term “Generation X” – have a home at UBC Library. The archives were donated in 2010 to Rare Books and Special Collections (RBSC).
Although best known as a novelist, Coupland is also an accomplished graphic designer, journalist, visual artist, playwright, and filmmaker. Some of his archival material includes manuscripts, photos, visual art, fan mail, correspondence, press clippings, audio/visual material and more.
A finding aid describing the collection’s contents is available online. Users can view the collection’s contents and make a request to view material.
RBSC presented a series of blog posts called “Unpacking the Coupland fonds,” detailing the work behind-the-scenes. The blog gathered some media attention, including an article in Quill and Quire entitled “Behind the scenes at UBC’s Douglas Coupland archives,” and a piece in the Ubyssey entitled “Douglas Coupland article finds home in Irving K. Barber.”
Coupland’s first-ever article about “Generation X,” defined as the generation of people born – after the baby boomers – in the 1960s and 1970s, was published Vancouver in September 1987. Generation X was later published as a novel, which Coupland followed with seventeen major literary works. Coupland also has written and produced for film and television projects, and has continued exhibiting as a visual artist.