Incoming correspondence is arranged alphabetically by the last names of the senders. The last four folders of the sub-series contain correspondence identified by the senders’ first names only and correspondence from unknown senders.

Among the family and friends sending letters to Cynthia Macdonald are many noteworthy writers and artists, including: Roger Angell; John Ashbery; Charles Baxter; John Barth; Marion Barthelme; Gay Block; Rita Mae Brown; Alan Cheuse; Judy Collins; Jane Cooper; Robert Coover; Peter DeVries; James Dickey; Mark Doty; Rita Dove; Rackstraw Downes; Rikki Ducornet; Alan Dugan; Stephen Dunn; Judy Dworkin; Stuart Dybeck; Louise Erdrich; Jules Feiffer; Carolyn Forche; Siv Cedering Fox; Helen Frankenthaler; Tess Gallagher; James Gleick; Vivian Gornick; Donald Hall; Barbara Hamby; Brenda Hillman; Edward Hirsch; Maureen Howard; Richard Howard; Donald Justice; Barbara Kellerman; Carolyn Kizer; Maxine Kumin; Philip Levine; Audre Lorde; Beverly Lowry; Thomas Lux; Frances Mayes; James Michener; Vassar Miller; Simon Moss; Carol Muske; Hans Namuth; Howard Norman; Kathleen Norris; Cynthia Ozick; Molly Peacock; Robert Peters; Marge Piercy; Stanley Plumly; Adrienne Rich; Joanna Russ; William Safire; Grace Schulman; Anne Sexton; Tom Sleigh; Nicholas Spice; Daniel Stern; Gail Storey; James Surls; May Swenson; Anne Truitt; Alberta Turner; Chase Twitchell; Mona Van Duyn; Sidney Wade; Diane Wakoski; Nancy Willard; Charles Wright; Marguerite Young; and Adam Zagajewski.