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Creator
Sante, Lucy
Call number
MssCol 185466
Physical description
13.86 linear feet (32 boxes, 3 oversize folders). 8.5 gigabytes (2180 computer files). 16 audio recordings. 11 video recordings
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Lucy Sante papers, Manuscripts and Archives Division, The New York Public Library
Repository
Manuscripts and Archives Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

Lucy Sante (1954-) is a Belgian-born American writer and artist known for her nonfiction writing as well as work in filmmaking, poetry, collage, and graphic design. Sante's papers detail her creative output throughout her literary and artistic career. The collection includes Sante's writing, lectures, interviews, research, correspondence, photographs, visual works, and personal ephemera.

Biographical/historical information

Lucy Sante (1954-) was born in Verviers, Belgium on May 25, 1954. Shortly after Sante's birth, her father lost his job, and the family relocated to the United States, where they moved in with family friends in New Jersey. Sante was awarded a scholarship to attend Regis High School, a Jesuit school in New York City. However, she was expelled and finished her studies at a public school in New Jersey. This period is explored in Sante's first memoir, The Factory of Facts (1998).

Sante moved to New York City to attend Columbia University from 1972 through 1976. After finishing her studies, she began working at the Strand bookstore, where she met several other artists and writers. In 1978, Strand employees began a unionization effort, and Sante organized and edited Stranded, a zine loosely centered on workers' rights. The zine featured artwork and poetry from many of Sante's colleagues and peers, including Kathy Acker, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Robin Crutchfield, Phil Kline, and Amos Poe.

After leaving the Strand, Sante began working in the mailroom of The New York Review of Books (NYRB) and was eventually promoted to the assistant to editor Barbara Epstein. In 1981, Sante published her first piece in the NYRB, a review of Albert Goldman's Elvis that was accepted after another writer turned the assignment down. Sante left her staff role at the NYRB after three years, but remained a frequent contributor to the magazine.

In the late 1970s, Sante and the film director Jim Jarmusch began a collaborative creative relationship. Jarmusch, and Sante read poetry in downtown New York City and briefly established a band called The Del-Byzanteens, fronted by Jarmusch, with lyrics and graphic designs by Sante. During this time, Sante was hired by Shelley Wanger as the film critic for Interview magazine. Sante also continued to write critical essays for many magazines, including The New Republic, New York Magazine, and Spy.

Sante explored her fascination with downtown New York from the 1840s through the 1920s in her first published book, Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York (1991). She has been featured in many interviews and documentaries about New York City in the late 1800s due to her knowledge of the culture of the Bowery during that period. Sante also served as a historical researcher for Martin Scorsese's 2002 film Gangs of New York, for which she consulted on the script and traveled to Italy for a film shoot.

Vernacular photography is another topic of interest in Sante's work. Sante compiles groups of found images in Evidence (1992), OK You Mugs (1998), and Folk Photography: The American Real-Photo Postcard, 1905–1930 (2009). The books contain reproductions of photographs that Sante discovered or collected. The images are accompanied by critical essays about non-artistic photography and the nature of looking at pictures.

Sante taught in the Masters of Fine Arts writing program at Columbia University in New York City from 1994 to 1997. After Sante moved upstate in 2000, she taught writing and the history of photography at Bard College until retiring from teaching in 2023.

In 2021, Sante revealed that she is a transgender woman and was in the process of transitioning after living sixty-six years as a man. Sante wrote an essay about her experience that was later published in a 2022 Vanity Fair issue. This was followed by Sante's memoir I Heard Her Call My Name in 2024. In the memoir, Sante reflects on her career, later-life transition, and how most of her creative work was published under her birth name, Luc Sante.

Sante currently lives in upstate New York.

Scope and arrangement

The collection, dated 1960 to 2019, chronicles Sante's career as a writer, visual artist, and cultural critic. Sante's papers are ordered into six series that include her writing, public appearances and lectures, correspondence, photographs, visual works, and biographical files. The collection addresses Sante's interests in photography, visual art, and New York City and Paris in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Sante's own artwork is also present, particularly her collage work and photographs.

The Lucy Sante papers are arranged in six series:

  • Series I: Writing
    1970-2019

    Series I details Sante's writing career and is arranged into files related to her books, essays and poetry, works of other writers, press, and zines and chapbooks.

    The books files mostly relate to Sante's published works, which are arranged chronologically and hold research, drafts, manuscripts, layouts, and mockups. There is content from one unpublished novel, Summer with a Thousand Julys. Titles most widely represented include Low Life: Lures and Snares of Old New York, Evidence, The Factory of Facts, OK You Mugs, Folk Photography: The American Real-Photo Postcard, 1905–1930, and The Other Paris.

    Sante's shorter pieces are held in the Essays and Poems files. She labeled these files "Literary Stuff," and they hold original poems, a mixture of clippings of her critical essays (many were published in the NYRB), experiments in poetry and fiction, as well as more informal writing such as blog entries, dream notes, lists, and biographical sketches. Some poems are written under the pen name Dave Carluccio. Also present is a recording of The 8, which was a collaborative project with Jem Cohen. Files are arranged chronologically by publication date.

    Other Writers materials are arranged by the author's last name and contain files addressing collaborations, feedback, or writing about Sante's work. Of note are drafts of scripts and screenplays by Jim Jarmusch.

    Press files hold clippings assembled from 1979 through 2018, and contain reviews of Sante's books, as well as pieces written about Sante. There are also more general clippings related to art, New York City, crime, other writers, and Sante's public appearances.

    Zines and Chapbooks comprise Sante's collection of zines, artist books, and chapbooks dated from 1975 to 2018. While most of the zines and chapbooks in the series were published by or contain contributions by Sante, there are some zines present that were gifts from friends. Notable titles include Bird Effort, Stranded, Twelve Sides, Why Music Sucks, as well as Contents of Pockets and My Life In Poetry 1970-1981, both of which were authored by Sante.

  • Series II: Appearances and Lectures
    1974-2019

    Series II holds files from Sante's literary events, radio interviews, "talking head" clips, and teaching from 1974 through 2019. Highlights include Sante's Cullman fellowship from the New York Public Library and the PEN World Voices Conference. Teaching files hold examples of final exams and writing prompts for students in her writing and photography classes at Columbia University and Bard College. Also present are awards and certificates related to Sante's accomplishments in writing and academia.

  • Series III: Correspondence
    1970-2019

    Series III contains correspondence with friends, writers, and photographers dating from 1970 to 2019, the bulk of which is incoming correspondence. Notable correspondents include Paul Auster, Jeffrey Eugenides, Mary Gaitskill, Nan Goldin, Sally Mann, and Tom Wolfe. Also present are letters from the filmmakers Jim Jarmusch and Sara Driver.

    There is significant correspondence between Sante and her friends Robert Long and Eva Pierrakos. Long was Sante's friend from Regis High School, and the two began exchanging letters after Sante was expelled. Many letters contain collages, illustrations, and lists of movies and music the pair enjoyed. The letters between Sante and Pierrakos are from when Sante lived in New York City in the late 1970s and 1980s. A selection of these letters was transcribed and bound by Sante.

  • Series IV: Photographs
    1970-2019

    Series IV contains photographs of Sante, images of events, personal snapshots, and photographs collected by Sante. The series contains both professional headshots and more casual photographs of Sante, including several selfies. Sante also collected postcards, amusing tabloid images, and other visual items that reflect her interest in vernacular imagery. Of note are photocopies of Sante's selections for a 1999-2000 exhibition of Garry Winogrand's street photography at the Center for Creative Photography. Winogrand's images were shot in the 1950s and 1960s, but had previously never been exhibited or published.

  • Series V: Visual Work
    1971-2007

    Series V holds Sante's visual works, including collages, drawings, and illustrations. Many collages and illustrations present in this series were also reproduced in zines, particularly Sante's semi-regular zine Stranded. The series holds artwork created for flyers promoting concerts and poetry readings. Also present are promotional materials, reviews, and a copy of the guestbook from The Museum of Crime and The Museum of God, an exhibition in which Apex Art invited Sante to display her collection of ephemera, found photographs, and texts. Sante's artistic output has been lifelong, and additional artwork is located in series VI: Biographical.

  • Series VI: Biographical Materials
    1968-2019

    Series VI holds biographical files about Sante's family, education, and life in the late 1960s and early 1970s. There are also professional biographies, resumes, and daybooks that chronicle Sante's career.

    The bulk of the files are related to Sante's early writing and personal projects. The earliest writing present is a high school essay she wrote on Nostradamus. There are also some diaries present, though most were short-lived and include scarce entries, quotes, or missives.

    Also present is an assortment of personal ephemera such as club flyers, ticket stubs, and other memorabilia about Sante's life in New York City.

    Sante kept a file called "Santes," which holds a newsletter and genealogy files for families that share the surname. There is also a copy of a piece Sante submitted requesting information about relatives who left Belgium.

    A "Youth" file compiles memorabilia from Sante's life, including clippings, rejection letters for magazine submissions, flyers for poetry readings, Sante's astrological chart, and comics she published in her high school newspaper. The files date from high school, college, and Sante's time working at with the Strand.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Purchased in 2020.

Processing information

Processed by Emily P. Dunne in 2025.

Using the collection

Location

Manuscripts and Archives Division
Stephen A. Schwarzman Building
Fifth Avenue at 42nd Street, New York, NY 10018-2788
Brooke Russell Astor Reading Room, Third Floor, Room 328

Access restrictions

Emails in the Series III are restricted due to presence of personally identifiable information.