She continued her education and obtained the M.A. degree from the University of Delaware, and completed graduate work at the University of California, San Diego. Kalpakian taught English at several universities including the University of Redlands and Western Washington University. Kalpakian's earliest works include several short stories which she developed into novels. The Laura Kalpakian Papers contain manuscripts and drafts of stories, novels, and speeches.
Correspondence relates to the creation and publication of several works.
Writings are arranged in chronological order within three series. This Gothic novel, begun in 1975, was published in England in 1982. Kalpakian published Crescendo, in the United States in 1987. She began the novel, originally titled Jerusalem's Curse, in February, 1985. Drafts of Part I are arranged by chapter, and a complete copy of Part I, the work upon which New York Times Books based their purchase of the novel, appears among the papers.