Bozeman Magazine

The Montana State University Library will host a free public launch of its new Ivan Doig archive at 3 p.m. Monday, Sept. 19, in Ballroom A of the Strand Union Building on the MSU campus.

Doig (1939-2015) is the critically acclaimed author of 16 works of fiction and nonfiction primarily set in Montana. Doig’s widow, Carol Muller Doig, awarded the archive to MSU following a joint proposal the MSU Library and the MSU College of Letters and Science submitted last fall.

The event will include opening remarks by MSU President Waded Cruzado, MSU Library Dean Kenning Arlitsch and MSU College of Letters and Science Dean Nicol Rae. It will also include an unveiling of the print and digital versions of the archive, which contain Doig’s original manuscripts, diaries, personal interviews, correspondence, notes and memorabilia. The archive also features thousands of images, including family albums, travel and research photographs, as well as documentation detailing the author’s battle with multiple myeloma. 

A panel discussion of Doig’s work, life and his place in Montana’s literary and historical landscape will follow the unveiling at approximately 4 p.m. Panelists include Carol Muller Doig; Marcella Sherfy Walter, a research historian who worked closely with the author; Bill Wyckoff, MSU geography professor who has published extensively on the historical and cultural geography of the American West; and Rick Bass, Western Writer In Residence at MSU and an award-winning author. The panel will be moderated by Mary Murphy, Montana historian and MSU Letters and Science Distinguished Professor.

The event will conclude with a wine and hors d’oeuvres reception. For more information, contact the MSU Library at (406) 994-3119.