Yonnondio: From The Thirties - Publication History

Publication History

Olsen was just 19 years old when she began writing Yonnondio: From the Thirties in 1932. She managed to publish a portion of the first chapter in a 1934 issue of Partisan Review under the title “The Iron Throat”. However, due to her pregnancy with her second child, her political activities and employment, she set aside the drafts of the unfinished books only to find them 40 years later while searching for another manuscript. Olsen put together the numerous drafts and old papers she found in order to present this unfinished novel. She notes that although she had to make decisions as to where different scenes belonged and whether to include some drafts, she didn’t add to or rewrite any parts of the novel. The unfinished novel was published in 1974. The book has been published by different publishing houses including Faber and Faber (1974), Delacorte Press (1974), Dell Publishing (1979), Virago Press Ltd (1980), Delta (1988), Bantam Doubleday Dell, and University of Nebraska Press (2004).