Alive in Tangier: Selections from the Paul Bowles Papers Supplement

Paul Bowles (1910–1999) was an American writer and composer whose work included fiction, essays, poetry, travel writing, translations, autobiographical writing, and music. He and his wife, the writer and playwright Jane Bowles, traveled extensively before settling in Tangier, Morocco, in the late 1940s. Tangier remained the Bowleses home for most of their lives, and the couple became entwined with the social fabric of the city and its wider environs. A mid-century meeting place for writers, artists, musicians, and other visitors from around the world, as well as a jumping-off point for Paul Bowles's relationships and collaborative efforts with native Moroccans, Tangier stood as the nexus for the writer's creative efforts for most of his lifetime.

Alive in Tangier features selections from the newly-discoverable Paul Bowles papers supplement, an extensive collection of the writer's archival materials held in the University of Delaware Library's Special Collections. The exhibition focuses on Bowles's relationships with a wide circle of artists and writers, his associations with Moroccan art and music, his translation work with Moroccan storytellers, and the ways Morocco, and particularly Tangier, are represented in his writing and in the work of those around him.