The fonds includes material documenting William Deverell’s career primarily as a writer and a lawyer. Among other material, included are research and drafts relating to most of his books and screenplays; other writing; documents re court cases, particularly those used as background for books and screenplays (including the CBC series Scales of Justice); records relating to The Writers Union of Canada; material relating to early activities including newspaper articles written by Deverell and clippings etc. relating to his election campaigns and trials he was involved in; videocassettes of his films Shellgame and Mindfield; correspondence with agents, publishers, producers, fans, etc., and other records relating to the publication and promotion of his books and films; and professional and personal correspondence with Carol Shields, Marian Engel, Margaret Atwood, Susan Musgrave, Stephen Reid and others.