Gail Sher Collection
Scope and Contents
The Gail Sher Collection includes several manuscripts, both handwritten and typescript, along with notebooks for some manuscripts. The collection also includes a file of correspondence between Sher and her publishers; correspondence between Sher and Andrew Schelling, documenting their collaborative process in writing renga; photographs of Gail Sher and artwork by Gail Sher; and documentation of her published work, including many journals in which her poetry has appeared.
Dates
- 1975-2023
Creator
- Sher, Gail (Person)
Terms of Access and Use
The Gail Sher Collection is open for research. Digital files are accessible via the Gail Sher Digital Collection.
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 requesting photocopies and/or publishing quotations from materials in the collection. Once permission is obtained, most papers may be copied in accordance with the library's usual procedures unless otherwise specified.
Historical Note
Gail Sher is a San Francisco area-based writer, teacher, and psychotherapist. She earned her B.A. in English from Northwestern University, received a Ford Foundation Fellowship to study linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin but chose instead to study middle English and (later) harpsichord at the University of California, Berkeley. She won a Teacher of the Year award from the combined education faculties of Berkeley, Stanford, and San Francisco State for her high school teaching of English. She completed her M.A. in Clinical Psychology at John F. Kennedy University and has been a practicing psychotherapist since 1991. In 1970 she was ordained as a lay disciple of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, and her work as both a writer and a therapist is influenced by her training in Zen Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, and Yoga. Since 1982, she has published over thirty books of poetry and three books on writing as a craft and a spiritual practice.
Extent
2.5 Linear Feet (6 boxes; one item in map case drawer)
299.282 Gigabytes (1,220 files)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Gail Sher is a San Francisco area-based writer, teacher, and psychotherapist. She earned her B.A. in English from Northwestern University, received a Ford Foundation Fellowship to study linguistics at the University of Texas at Austin but chose instead to study middle English and (later) harpsichord at the University of California, Berkeley. She won a Teacher of the Year award from the combined education faculties of Berkeley, Stanford, and San Francisco State for her high school teaching of English. She completed her M.A. in Clinical Psychology at John F. Kennedy University and has been a practicing psychotherapist since 1991. In 1970 she was ordained as a lay disciple of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, and her work as both a writer and a therapist is influenced by her training in Zen Buddhism, Tibetan Buddhism, and Yoga. Since 1982, she has published over thirty books of poetry and three books on writing as a craft and a spiritual practice. The Gail Sher Collection includes both handwritten and typed manuscripts, correspondence between Sher and other poets and poet-editors, art, photographs, and documentation of her published work, including many journals in which her poetry has appeared.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged in five series:
Acquisition Information
Donated to the Poetry Collection by Gail Sher in 2016.
Accruals
Periodic additions to this collection are expected.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Marie Elia, 2016. Digital material processed by Sarah Cogley and Grace Trimper.
Digital files created by Gail Sher were transferred to the Poetry Collection on various types of storage media including compact discs and USB flash drives. Where possible, digital content saved on storage media was migrated from the storage media, normalized to standard preservation and access formats, and transferred to a stable preservation environment following the University Libraries' Digital Preservation guidelines.
- Buddhist poetry, American Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Poetry -- Women authors Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
Source
- The Poetry Collection (Repository, Organization)
- Title
- Finding aid for the Gail Sher Collection, 1978-2021
- Status
- Under Revision
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Marie Elia.
- Date
- 2016
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Revision Statements
- August 2021: Additions processed and finding aid revised.
- September 2021: Born digital material processed and finding aid revised.
- Aprl 2022: Born digital material processed and finding aid revised.
- August 2022: Born digital material processed and finding aid revised.
- September 2022: Additions processed and finding aid revised.
- September 2023: Additions processed and finding aid revised.
Repository Details
Part of the The Poetry Collection Repository
420 Capen Hall
Buffalo New York 14260-1674 US
716-645-2917
716-645-3714 (Fax)
lpo-poetry@buffalo.edu