The fonds contains a number of revised and edited drafts of many of Nelson's poetry compilations, including Family Scandals (1991), Grasping Men's Metaphors (1993), and The Work of Our Hands (1998). The records demonstrate the processes by which Nelson revised her own drafts, shared her revisions with friends and colleagues, and played with formatting and layout.

The fonds also contains some correspondence Nelson exchanged with previous archivists at the Jewish Public Library Archives, programs for addresses given by Nelson and speech notes, and several essays by and about Nelson.