The series consists of letters sent or received by Carol Coates. Letters received were authored by Coates' family members, friends, and admirers of her poetry. Letters sent are predominantly Christmas cards. The series features both original documents and photocopies.

Series consists of typed copies of dated and undated poems. Some poems are fastened in bound volumes or ring-bound folders. Most are final versions and thus contain few corrections or annotations.

Accrual adds to the existing series two notebooks of typed poems. One notebook is subdivided by year (1970, 1971, 1972) and the other notebook is subdivided by first by year (1973) and then by subject or “mood” (Poetic, Tranquil,Descriptive, Apperceptive, Turbulent, Humourous, and Personal.)

Series consists of a ring-bound folder containing miscellaneous notes, letters, photographs, newspaper clippings and Christmas cards pasted onto white paper. Many of the items are dated 1943-1945.

Series consists of a cover note for an anonymous gift of money to Mr. and Mrs. Coates, handwritten biographical notes by Mrs. Agnes Coates, typescript notes relating to Rev. Harper Coates' teaching post in the Theology Department of Aoyama Gakuin, a typescript article relating to Wells Coates, a letter from Professor E. Sedgewick to Miss Langridge regarding Carol Coates' poetry, a single title page of a work dated 1949, and a publicity sheet for Invitation to Mood issued by The Ryerson Press in 1949.

Series consists of Coates’ notebook from English 5, The Elements of Poetics (see: http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/pdfs/calendars2/UBC_Calendar_1928_29.pdf) ca. 1929, lecturer Mr. Larsen at University of British Columbia. In the back of the notebook are the syllabus for the class and an examination from English 9 with Dr. Sedgewick.

Series consists of loose-leaf typescript sheets of poems which have been lined through in pencil.

Series consists of material relating to Roy Daniells and Tuli Larsen, both professors of English Literature at the University of British Columbia. Also included is a newspaper clipping relating to the architect Sir Denys Ladsun, who worked with Wells Coates.

Series consists of letters of reference from the Prince of Wales High School, Corporation of Point Grey, Vancouver and from the Vancouver Normal School (also referred to as the Provincial Normal School). Also included is a certificate from the Vancouver Normal School.

Series consists of typescript sheets in one volume relating to the translation from the Japanese by Rev. Harper Havelock Coates and Rev. Ryugaku Ishizuka (Head of the Jodo sect of Buddhism), published in 1925 in Kyoto.

Series consists of a small notebook containing typed copies of poems from Tao Te Ching by Lau Tzu, translated by Gia-fu Feng and Jane English, printed by Wildwood House, London. Also included in the notebook is Land of the Reed Plains: Ancient Japanese Lyrics from the Manyoshu, translated by Kenneth Yasunda.

Series consists of magazines in which Carol Coates' poetry or prose was published. It includes a copy of ShanLing, or the Tale of the Celestial Tea-Pot (A Christmas Fantasy), Spoken English: Ideas and Developments in Oral Education, Candelabrum: A Magazine of Poetry, The Golden Blade, Pegasus 2 and several anthologies printed by the Camden Poetry Group. The series also includes loose-leaf printed sheets containing a selection of poems dated by year.

Series consists of one folder containing genealogical notes on the Coates and Wintemute families, Willson Coates' lecture to the Women's College Chapel on 7 Apr. 1943, writings by Willson Coates dated 12 Jul. 1976 and typescript copies of letters from Willson to Carol Coates dated 1969, 1970 and 1976.

Series consists of a small notebook containing handwritten copies of Japanese Hokku poems and a notebook with the title page "Poems for the day."

Series consists of an off-print of a book review by Willson Coates published in The American Historical Review of Oct. 1945, and a complete volume of The Journal of British Studies for Nov. 1961, of which he was the Editor. The series also contains newspaper clippings relating to the life of Willson Coates, including his return to Japan in 1971 and a literary award given by the Rochester Public Library in 1973. The series also comprises a biographical sketch introducing him at the Rochester Public Library award ceremony and his typescript account of his parents' lives in Japan. Material relating to his academic achievements is found in the tributes paid at his memorial service on 24 Oct.1976 which were printed for distribution.

Series consists of one album containing 21 photographs showing the Rudolf Steiner School production of The Jade Heart in 1946, the Revelstoke School Dramatic Club production of The Jade Heart in 1947 and Camp Glenbrook, New Hampshire with the cast of The Jade Heart. The series also includes a single photograph of a group of Japanese men and women gathered around the gravestone of Harper Coates. On the verso is the inscription: Miss Kurayo Kawai, 976 Higashiibamachi, Hamamatsu, Japan.

Series consists of two newspaper clippings from The Church Observer dated 15 Sep.1945 regarding the death of Mrs Harper Havelock Coates (Sarah Agnes Wintemute Coates). It also includes obituaries of Dr. Wells Wintemute Coates from various American and British newspapers, the UBC Alumni Chronicle, and an account of his architectural achievements in The Architectural Review of Dec.1958.

Series consists of one lecture entitled "The Art of Flower Arrangement" given to the University Women's Club of Toronto on 19 Apr. 1940. It presents the symbolism and Zen Buddhist principles of Japanese flower arrangement.

Series consists of reviews of plays attended and books read. Quotations and bibliographic references are given for the book reviews. These notebooks include notes of events and miscellaneous jottings.

Series consists of two cloth bound volumes containing diaries in the form of letters. Many letters are written to Dante and others to friends or relatives such as Bertha, Sally, Loraine and Roy. Some letters appear to be drafts of business correspondence.

Series consists of printed diaries containing Carol Coates' handwritten notes of events and drafts of poems.

Series consists of paper-bound typescripts of the story "ShanLing or the Tale of the Celestial Tea-Pot (A Christmas Fantasy)" and the prose essays "Theirs by Adoption" and "A Question of Honour." Also included are two large ring-bound folders containing many short prose works. The first folder in the series includes: "This Side of East: Sketches from a Japanese Notebook," "Black, White and a Touch of Red," "The Ghost that Wasn't" and "The Unwanted Messenger." The second folder in the series includes: "Supplement to the Sutras of the Speechificators. Commonly Known as the Prayer Book by Hans Pusch," "The Imperial Reply. A Tragedy in One Act," "First Aid for Flowers," "The Souls of Flowers" and "Blossom Time in Canada."

Series consists of typescripts of two plays: "Antidote to Chaos" and The Jade Heart. The third item in this series includes a list of performers and pencil drawings of costumes for The Jade Heart. It contains an explanatory note: "The first three pages are from the original manuscript used for the first production at the Rudolf Steiner School."

Series consists of 11 notebooks containing handwritten final drafts of poems. There are few corrections or annotations in these notebooks. This series also includes presentation copies of poems in volumes made of boards with silk padded covers and cardboard cases. One volume is untitled and within it, each poem is handwritten in ink facing Japanese prints. Two presentation copies of Fancy Free, 1938, are included in this series. The second version has a typed frontispiece: "Of this edition of Fancy Free by Carol Coates, two hundred and fifty copies only have been printed. This Chap-book is a product of the Ryerson Press, Toronto, Canada, 1939."
Accrual adds to the existing series four notebooks of handwritten final drafts of poems. Enumerated Book II through Book V, each volume is begun with a title page giving the dates of the poems and sometimes referring to other volumes containing typed or draft versions.

Series consists of one volume containing loose-leaf typed copies of poems with handwritten corrections dated Sep. 1979. Also included is a single typescript sheet with handwritten annotations; the first line is "The poet knocks on the Pearly Gates and a voice says."

Series consists of 18 small notebooks containing handwritten rough drafts of poems. There are many poems in each volume, and often a single poem is re-written several times. Carol Coates would place a note at the bottom of her drafts of poems to show the date when she copied them into other notebooks containing final handwritten drafts. An explanation for this copying process is provided in the notebook of Sep.1972-Dec.1972: "copied means transferred to the fair copy book." The notebooks also contain drafts of letters, recipes, lists of events, book reviews, addresses and quotations from other poets.