All the books I never wrote (sketches, outlines, or notes) or wrote and/or never published (completed manuscripts) are presented in this collection. This is an auto–bibliography—a self-portrait constructed through the annotated bibliography of these unpublished manuscripts and fragments. Being a writer defined who I was. I constructed my self in and through textual production.

The presentation of these manuscripts is organized chronologically. An image of a single page, accompanied by commentary, represents each work. The texts embody ideas about what writing is, but also produce an idea of self and authorship through assumptions about texts and their production. What, in essence, did I think writing was in these many works and attempted works? Sometimes they are conventional—novels, short stories, poems—but often they are conceptual projects, with theoretical premises and frameworks. Many are experimental in their approach to language, testing the limits of syntax and structure. They vary considerably over time. The earliest manuscripts are poems written beginning in 1962. The most recent are from 2016 (as of this writing).

The manuscripts provide a body of evidence of the ways in which language moves into and through a writer, and of the multiplicity of conceptions of self and text. But each project has its own claims on attention as a work, or abandoned work, or idea about a work. These are neither failed works nor successful ones—those terms don‘t apply. They are evidence of a life lived in the belief that writing was what made experience into form and thus produced a self in the act. I wrote because I believed (and believe) I am a writer. The identity preceded the work, but was made in it. This project is a recapitulation of that writing of the self, an auto–bibliography.

Start reading: Introduction This site can be navigated linearly. A reader can progress from page to page following the chronology of the work and commentary. Each page contains short annotations about place, date, text type, period of my life, and other relevant information about the production, materials, length, or completeness of the manuscript. Part or all of each work is also available in pdf format, linked to the pages. The commentary is factual but descriptive, grounded in memory and external evidence. I have not made a narrative out of my life, but have constructed an auto–bibliographical profile. Alternatively, the site can be navigated using the links below or the links to Indexes. All materials are by Johanna Drucker and subject to copyright. [Upated 1_2_2017]