The Riot Grrrl Epistolarium

Abstract

Presenting material from the recently formed archive Riot Grrrl Collection housed at The Fales Library at NYU, Chap. 5 argues that the life writing form of the letter played a vital part in the development and success of the counterpublic of Riot Grrrl. Drawing on life writing scholarship by sociologists and literary studies scholars, we consider the methodological challenges of reading the traces of correspondence that are left in the archive and what the letters housed in the Riot Grrrl collection might contribute to current scholarship on the movement. We outline the types of letters that appear in the Riot Grrrl epistolarium, such as letters of “first contact” sent by girls who identified with the politics of the movement and who wanted information on how to become involved, and those sparked by the public cultural products (music, zines and visual art) of Riot Grrrl. We also consider the important role letters played in maintaining relationships between artists and musicians within the movement.