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This series focuses on Kennedy's second book Legs, the first in his "Albany Cycle" of novels. Published in 1975, Legs is a fictional account of the notorious Albany gangster Jack "Legs" Diamond. Included are multiple working and edited manuscript drafts spanning a period of several years, galley proofs, rejected and omitted pages, book reviews, profiles about Kennedy, book cover artwork, and correspondence with the publisher. There also are newspaper articles from the 1920s and 1930s about Legs Diamond which Kennedy used to conduct research on Diamond and the period. Please note the overall series dates are not inclusive.

This series includes draft copy, galleys, research materials, correspondence, and notes used to prepare William Kennedy's Riding the Yellow Trolley Car, a collection of his essays, articles, and reviews written across four decades. This second nonfiction book from Kennedy appeared in 1993. Of note is the earliest item within the collection, a short story entitled "Eggs" from 1946 which Kennedy submitted to Collier's: The National Weekly for consideration. In addition there are files about publicity, including a book tour, reviews, and fan mail. Please note the overall dates for the series are not inclusive.

This series contains correspondence sent to William Kennedy from fellow authors, journalists, politicians, and members of the film industry. Most notably, the files document his relationships with other well-known writers of American literature, especially his decades-long friendships with mentor Saul Bellow and Hunter S. Thompson. Also included is correspondence with Philip Roth, Joyce Carol Oates, Frank McCourt, Doris Grumbach, John Updike, and more. Materials include letters, greeting cards, post cards, fax transmissions, e-mail and one Western Union mailgram. Nearly all of the other series also include correspondence related to the respective series.

Published in 1983, William Kennedy's nonfiction work O Albany! is based upon a series of articles he wrote about the city for the Albany Times-Union in the early-mid 1960s, which garnered him a Pulitzer Prize nomination for journalism. The book looks at Albany neighborhoods, different ethnic and racial groups who settled within the city, landmarks and institutions, and key political leaders. The series includes manuscripts and draft copy, Kennedy's earlier newspaper features, research materials and notes. As all the materials span a significant amount of time, please note the overall dates for this series are not inclusive.

Contains materials about Kennedy's first novel The Ink Truck, initially published in 1969 and then re-issued in 1984 following his success with Ironweed and his receiving the MacArthur Foundation's Genius Award. The novel details the last days of an unsuccessful newspaper strike and is very loosely based on Kennedy's experiences during a newspaper strike in Albany in the mid-1960s. The series includes multiple manuscript drafts, author's notes, book reviews, galleys, publisher agreements and correspondence, and advertising. Please note that the overall series dates are not inclusive.

This series consists of draft articles, background research materials, memos, notes, magazine and newspaper clippings on a number of subjects that William Kennedy explored and reported upon, especially for his Pulitzer Prize nominated series of features for the Albany Times-Union during the mid-1960s. Those articles included investigations into Albany slums, poverty, housing integration, and racial inequalities. While the initial copy appeared in the 1960s, the files in this series document Kennedy's continued interest and active research of the same topics in subsequent decades. Kennedy used the materials on slums as background for O Albany!. Please note the overall dates for the series are not inclusive.