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Recipient of the Association of Documentary Editing
2026 Lyman H. Butterfield Award
2026-27 Events
(check back for updates as more dates are added)
July 17, 6pm. Bishop and Wilde, Portland, OR.
August 28, 7pm. Elliott Bay Books, Seattle, WA.
September 12, 1:30pm. Portland Institute for Contemporary Art, Portland, OR.
October 22, 6:30pm. Martin E. Segal Center, New York, NY.
November 6, 7pm. Word Virus, Portland, OR.
A page of notes next to a diary entry from February 1, 1965. The Living Theatre Collection, Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University. Courtesy of the Malina Estate.
"Io, it is history that I am writing."
-Judith Malina, May 18, 1959.
The Diaries of Judith Malina is a four-volume set that publishes for the first time together the edited diaries of radical theater director, actor, and activist Judith Malina from 1947 to 1971, the most influential period of her remarkable and storied career. A committed anarchist and pacifist, Malina made theater as a way to engage in revolutionary action. Her diaries showcase her political and social observations, cultural commentary, self-reflection, and wit. This expertly prepared set invites us to recognize Malina for her accomplishments not only as an artist and an activist but as one of the great literary diarists.
Kate Bredeson reads at the book launch at Bishop and Wilde bookshop in Portland, OR. July 17, 2026.
Where to buy The Diaries of Judith Malina, volumes 1-4
Bishop and Wilde, Portland independent lesbian-owned bookshop
Northwestern, the publisher
Author Bios
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JUDITH MALINA (1926–2015) was cofounder, with collaborator and husband Julian Beck, of The Living Theatre, a radical experimental company that rose to social and cultural prominence in New York City and internationally in the 1950s and ’60s and which she led until her death. She was a lifelong activist, artist, and diarist. |
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KATE BREDESON is a theater historian, translator, director, and dramaturg. She is a professor of theater at Reed College. She has published seven books with Northwestern University Press: Occupying the Stage: The Theater of May ’68; The Inheritor: A Play, by Théâtre de l’Aquarium, cotranslated with Thalia Wolff; The Diaries of Judith Malina, volumes 1-4; and she is editor for Anthony Hudson’s Lamp Back: Plays and Other Grievances. |
The Books
Volume One
ISBN: 9780810149458
A new edition of The Diaries of Judith Malina, 1947-1957 (Grove Press, 1984), edited by Judith Malina, with a new introduction and photos selected by Kate Bredeson.
Judith Malina’s newly restored diaries from a critical early decade in her personal, artistic, and political development
Judith Malina’s diaries from 1947 to 1957 are brought back into print in this volume, which charts her cofounding of The Living Theatre with husband and lifelong artistic partner Julian Beck. In these diaries, she narrates her developing political commitments and her expansive collaborations and personal relationships, as well as a moving account of her time in prison with activist Dorothy Day. This new edition features Kate Bredeson’s comprehensive introduction, which offers a detailed examination of Malina’s life and work in this period, along with additional historical context of these years and never-before-published photographs from Malina’s personal archives.
Volume Two
ISBN: 97808101494
An edition of Malina’s previously unpublished diaries from 1957-August 1968, edited by, and with an introduction and photos selected by Kate Bredeson, with a forward by Thomas Walker.
A previously unpublished volume of diaries recording Judith Malina’s extraordinary life and career in a moment of cultural revolution
Judith Malina’s diaries from the pivotal years of 1958 to 1968 are presented here in print for the first time. Meticulously edited and with an essential introduction by Kate Bredeson that offers a detailed discussion of Malina’s life and works during this period, the volume includes additional historical context and never-before-published photographs from Malina’s personal archives, as well as an illuminating foreword by Living Theatre archivist and longtime company member Tom Walker. This decade covers some of the most important years of Malina’s life and in the history of The Living Theatre, from career-defining productions of The Connection and The Brig to the company’s self-imposed European exile, when they created their signature works, including Paradise Now, Antigone, and Frankenstein.
Volume Three
ISBN: 9780810149472
A new edition of The Enormous Despair: The Diary of Judith Malina, August 1968-April 1969 (Random House, 1972), edited by Judith Malina, with a new introduction and photos selected by Kate Bredeson.
A newly restored edition of Judith Malina’s legendary diaries narrating a key moment of social, political, and cultural upheaval
Originally published by Judith Malina as The Enormous Despair, this slim, gripping collection of diaries from a pivotal period between 1968 and 1969 follows The Living Theatre’s return to the United States after their years of self-exile in Europe, their increasing notoriety and frequent arrests, and their cross-country touring. In these pages, Malina wrestles with the company’s artistic and political efforts during a moment of societal crisis and grapples with their future. Kate Bredeson’s introduction contextualizes Malina’s life and work in this period, while additional historical context and never-before-published photographs add new detail and depth to a stirring account of American social and political history.
Volume Four
ISBN: 978081014949610
An edition of Malina’s previously unpublished diaries from April 1969-September 1971, edited by, and with an introduction and photos selected by Kate Bredeson, with a forward by Ilion Troya.
Judith Malina’s never-before-published diaries describing a period of profound personal and professional transformation
The years 1969 to 1971 saw The Living Theatre’s greatest rupture, reckoning with its desire to leave its defining productions from the 1960s behind and move forward with new artistic works and practices. In these previously unpublished diaries, Judith Malina recounts these pivotal years, describing her transformative time in Brazil, including her experiences of daily life in jail while awaiting trial with her company members. This meticulously edited volume includes Kate Bredeson’s introduction, examining Malina’s life and work in this period, as well as additional historical context and never-before-published photographs. Living Theatre member Ilion Troya offers a foreword that provides new context for understanding the volume’s historical significance.
Praise
“You could read The Diaries of Judith Malina as a guide to thinking about how American theatre might push beyond where it is now. But you could also enjoy them as an important document of the American 20th century. They should take their place alongside Studs Terkel’s oral histories and John dos Passos’s USA trilogy. Each volume contains dozens of evocative black-and-white photographs from Malina’s life... There are magnificent photos of the diaries themselves, of collages and scribbles, and of the company at the theatre, on the picket line. There are production stills. There are poems, production notebooks, jottings about analysis and love affairs, reports on the political and social zeitgeist. They are gorgeous.”
- American Theatre
“Malina never stopped ardently believing that a “nonviolent beautiful anarchist revolution” was possible and that theater could help make it happen; reading her diaries can just about make you believe it too.”
- Jewish Currents
“Bredeson’s scholarly edition preserves and interprets the life and work of Judith Malina, a German-American Jewish theatre director, activist, diarist, and co-founder of The Living Theatre. For more than a decade, Bredeson undertook nearly every aspect of this project independently, shepherding the project to publication while balancing a full-time faculty position and substantial teaching responsibilities. The resulting publication represents an important contribution to documentary editing, as well as history, gender studies, and theater. Across four meticulously edited volumes, Bredeson presents both newly edited editions of Malina’s previously published diaries and never-before-published materials, creating a documentary record of twentieth-century cultural, political, and activist history that recognizes Malina in her own right as one of the earliest professional female stage directors. The edition demonstrates how documentary editing can recover overlooked voices and expand the field’s scope beyond traditional subjects and formats.
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Bredeson’s achievements reflect exactly the kind of dedication, intellectual ambition, and editorial excellence the Butterfield Award was created to recognize. Her work inspires new directions in documentary practice and reaches communities, subjects, and audiences beyond its traditional boundaries. In awarding the 2026 Lyman H. Butterfield Award to Bredeson, the ADE seeks to recognize not only an exceptional documentary editor, but also a scholar who has made important contributions to the vitality, inclusiveness, and future of the field itself."
- The Association for Documentary Editing. Bredeson is winner of the 2026 Lyman H. Butterfield Award for The Diaries of Judith Malina, volumes 1-4.
Project contact info
Editor: kbredeso@reed.edu
Publicist: charlotte.keathley@northwestern.edu
Social media: Instagram
