Fonds consists almost entirely of Allan Cairns' scholarly and creative writing. A small number of items relating to his teaching responsibilities in the Department of English and to his career as a whole are included amongst the records reflecting his professional activities, and correspondence relating to the publication of his work are filed along with copies of his writings which appeared in print. The records were sorted and arranged after Cairns' death by an appointee of his executors: it is unclear what changes were made to Cairns'original arrangement. The fonds has been arranged into six series, including Professional Activities, Scholarly Writing, Poetry, Short Stories, Novels, and Publications and associated material.