National English Literary Museum (Rhodes University)

Founded in 1972 in Grahamstown, South Africa, National English Literary Museum (NELM) is an institute that is funded by the South African government. It has a collection of documents and has grown into a national resource. It was declared a cultural institution on 18 April 1988 and currently falls under the Cultural Institutions Act 119 (1998).

The artefacts of the Museum are predominantly literary which involves the imaginative and creative writings in English of southern African writers. The three top collections at the museum are: 1) unpublished manuscripts and drafts, proofs, diaries, and private correspondence 2) genres of creative or imaginative writing published by Southern African authors 3) Information about Southern African authors - their lives, words and works recorded in the daily tabloids.

The collections are available to members of the public to consult. The bibliographic information is also available in electronic databases.

NELM collects and conserves material, and also aims to serve all reading communities. The museum’s opening hours are Monday to Friday, from 08h30 to 13h00 and 14h00 to 16h30.