Chapter 6: “Diving into the Wreck”: On Archiving and Queer Becoming

This chapter discusses how themes of queer archival consciousness in poetry have shaped my approach to librarianship and archiving. I will particularly focus on the poems “Diving into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich, “Meat Eater No. 5” by Carmen Maria Machado, and Alison C. Rollins's poem “Self-portrait of Librarian with T.S. Eliot's Papers.” These three poems encourage their readers to intimately and humanistically center people, challenge what is considered standard practices in archives, and to consider what it means to be good to our historical subjects in the content of the poems. Poetic form is what makes these poems so effective – the examination of the intimate, the everyday, and emotional tone is what makes these poems so impactful. The chapter is a combination of critical analysis and personal essay, particularly because my progression toward a career in archiving, librarianship, and literary studies is deeply intertwined with the path I’ve taken in coming into my own queerness. These poems have been critical toward understanding my personal relationship to language, queer language, and identity.