Michael Palmer Collection

Collection

Identifier: PCMS-0025

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

The Michael Palmer Collection includes 3,500 pages of manuscripts, primarily handwritten, for several of Palmer's books; 1,800 letters from such writers as Paul Auster, Charles Bernstein, Clark Coolidge, Bill Corbett, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, Lyn Hejinian, Susan Howe, and John Taggart; course material and other documents relating to Palmer's teaching in the Poetics Program at the New College of California; dance manuscripts and other material for over a dozen performances of the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company produced by Palmer; and printed material relating to various poetry, dance, music, and theater events.

Dates

1963-1988

Creator

Palmer, Michael, 1943- (Person)

Language of Materials

Collection material in English.

Terms of Access

The Michael Palmer Collection, 1963-1988, is open for research.

Copyright

Copyright of papers in the collection may be held by their authors, or the authors' heirs or assigns. Researchers must obtain the written permission of the holder(s) of copyright and the Poetry Collection before publishing quotations from materials in the collection. Most papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures unless otherwise specified.

Biographical Note

Extent

14.375 Linear Feet (35 containers)

Additional Description

Abstract

Michael Palmer is a poet, translator, and educator known for his lyric meditations and interdisciplinary collaborations with dance and the visual arts. He has published books of poetry regularly since 1971, as well as essays and translations, and has created and adapted work in collaboration with the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company. The Michael Palmer Collection includes six boxes of manuscripts material, primarily handwritten, for several of Palmer's books; 20 boxes of correspondence from such writers as Paul Auster, Charles Bernstein, Clark Coolidge, Bill Corbett, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, Lyn Hejinian, Susan Howe, and John Taggart; course material and other documents relating to Palmer's teaching in the Poetics Program at the New College of California; dance manuscripts and other material for over a dozen performances of the Margaret Jenkins Dance Company produced by Palmer; and printed material relating to various poetry, dance, music, and theater events.

Arrangement

This collection is arranged in five series:

Manuscripts, 1972-1988

Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, 1975-1984

Correspondence, 1964-1987

New College of California, 1979-1987

Printed Material and Ephemera, 1975-1985 (bulk)

Acquisition Information

Purchased from Michael Palmer in 1992.

Accruals and Additions

No further accruals are expected to this collection.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Marie Elia, 2016-2017. Collection was previously inventoried for appraisal purposes and has been made accessible to researchers while unprocessed, therefore original order cannot be ascertained. Where materials were grouped by manuscript title or correspondent, these groupings were preserved and described as such.