Archival & Manuscript Collections

Abstract Helen Adam (1909-1993) was a poet and visual artist of the San Francisco Renaissance. Born in Scotland, she garnered acclaim at a young age for her collection of poems titled The Elfin Peddlar. After attending Edinburgh University for two years Helen and her sister and frequent collaborator Pat Adam worked as journalists in London before moving to the United States with their mother in 1939. The family made their way to San Francisco, at the beginning of...

Abstract Norma Cole is a poet, translator, visual artist, and educator. Born in Toronto, Canada, she learned French at an early age and received her B.A. in Modern Languages and Literature and M.A. in French Language and Literature from the University of Toronto. She has translated a number of French writers into English, and has published over 30 books and chapbooks of her own poetry, some of which incorporates her visual work. Cole has lived in San Francisco since the early 1970s and has held...

Abstract

This collection consists of letters between Thomas Connolly and various writers, some of which are personal and/or relate to his research interests, but most of which document the hiring of writers as faculty for summer sessions at the University at Buffalo.

Abstract

The Robert Duncan collection comprises over 100 linear feet of manuscript material, correspondence, artwork, ephemera, audio visual material, and printed material related to Robert Duncan’s (1919-1988) life and work, including a significant amount of material related to his partner, Jess (1923-2004), a visual artist who often collaborated with Duncan.

Abstract

The Harry Jacobus collection includes 400 prints of digital art by Jacobus, some of which are manipulations of his paintings and drawings; photographs from San Francisco and travels in Europe and Mexico; a file on the King Ubu Gallery, including photocopied exhibition fliers; correspondence from Jess and other friends and associates; and a digital recording of Robert Duncan's "Foust Foutu" performed at The Six Gallery.

Abstract

The Robert Kelly Collection contains an extensive collection of Kelly’s autographed and typed manuscripts and notebooks (approximately 58,000 pages); over 4,000 letters to Kelly from such writers as Cid Corman, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, Ted Enslin, Clayton Eshleman, Charles Olson, Jonathan Williams, and Diane Wakoski; and copies of many of Kelly’s letters to others.

Abstract

The Manroot/Paul Mariah Collection contains the editorial and business records for Manroot including production material, correspondence, and financial records; personal records for Paul Mariah including manuscripts, correspondence, school work, poetry community ephemera; and activism records for gay and prisoners rights.

Abstract The John Montague Collection contains an extensive collection of manuscripts, typescripts, proofs, reviews, and/or correspondence for many of Montague's books; Montague's notebooks from 1956 to 1972; 20 letters from and other materials relating to Hugh MacDiarmid; 18 letters and other materials relating to Robert Graves; 10 letters or letter-cards from Samuel Beckett; approximately 100 pages of correspondence with Thomas Kinsella; other correspondence with writers such as Thomas Parkinson,...

Abstract

The Phoenix collection consists of approximately 5,000 pages of letters and manuscripts underscoring the magazine's literary and political principles. The archive contains significant correspondence from Henry Miller, Anaïs Nin, Robert Duncan, Michael Fraenkel, Frieda Lawrence, and Derek Savage; material by James Peter Cooney; and photographs.