The collection is comprised of two main groups of records. Items 1-126 are papers of the Cambridge Poetry Society, covering 1982-1984. Items 127-200 are papers collected by John Wells in the course of organising poetry events in Cambridge; from item 133 onwards these can be considered as papers of the Association of Cambridge Poetry Societies, covering the years 1984-1986. The papers of both organisations are financial and administrative in nature, and include correspondence, accounts, agenda, bank books and statements, claims for expenses, invoices, membership records, minutes, and prospectuses. Principal correspondents include Laurence Staig, Pamela Clunies-Ross, Clive Wilmer, and Graham P. Allen. The documents do not preserve a full record of the organisations' affairs and there is no correspondence with poets who read in Cambridge.