Emory U makes Clifton papers public

ATLANTA, GA - Emory University's special collections library has made public the literary papers of poet Lucille Clifton, who died last weekend in Baltimore.

The 73-year-old former poet laureate of Maryland was a National Book Award winner and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Family members said the cause of her death was unclear, but Clifton had been fighting an infection for more than a week.

Her papers span 1930 to 2009 and include letters, writings, teaching and workshop files and photographs -- some of which predate Clifton's birth in 1936. It also includes the papers of her husband, artist and author Fred Clifton, who died in 1984.

Emory had opened the collection last month before Clifton's sudden death Saturday morning. The papers were donated by Clifton in 2006.

She was a native of Depew, N.Y.