Wright, James
Arlington, 1927-
James Wright Papers
1943-1985
University of
Minnesota Libraries. Literary Manuscripts Collection, Manuscripts
Division [mss]
33 cubic feet
Collection contains
correspondence, journals, manuscripts, typescripts and galley proofs of James
Wright's poetry and prose works. In addition, there are photographs, clippings
and other writings about Wright, plus teaching notes from his various academic
posts.
Mss66
English
Mezzanine
Administrative Information
Restrictions on Access
Access to this collection is restricted. Researchers must obtain
written permission to use these materials and should contact the curator of the
Manuscripts Division for further information.
Restrictions on Use
Copyright is retained by Wright's widow.
Preferred Citation
James Wright Papers (Mss66), Literary Manuscripts Collection,
University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.
Acquisition
Purchased, 1992.
Processing Information
The collection was processed and the finding aid written by Alan
Lathrop, 1992.
Arrangement
The collection is organized into nineteen series:
- Correspondence
- Financial
- Contracts
- Correspondence--Publishers
- Correspondence--Poetry
- Teaching Notes
- Education
- Reviews
- Wright Festival
- Personal
- Poetry
- Early Poetry
- Poetry--University of Washington
- Poetry 1954-1963
- Poetry 1961-1975
- Prose & Poetry
- Prose
- Poetry by Others
- Books
Biographical Note
James Arlington Wright was born in 1927 in Martin's Ferry, Ohio. After
serving in the Army in Japan, Wright attended college on the G.I. Bill,
graduating from Kenyon College in 1952. He received a Fulbright Fellowship and
studied at the University of Vienna before returning to the U.S. and completing
his M.A. (1954) and Ph.D. (1957) at the University of Washington. Wright taught
in the English Department at the University of Minnesota from 1957 to 1963 and
received subsequent appointments at Macalester College (St. Paul) and Hunter
College (New York City).
Wright was elected a fellow of The Academy of American Poets in 1971
and received the Pulitzer Prize in poetry for his Collected Poems in 1972.Wright died in New York in
1980.
Biographical information from the The Academy of American Poets Web
site.
Scope and Content Note
The collection contains correspondence, journals, manuscripts,
typescripts and galley proofs of James Wright's poetry and prose works. Among
his correspondence were noted American poets such as Robert Bly, James Dickey,
James Crowe Ransome (also a professor of Wright's at Kenyon College), Anne
Sexton, and Leslie Silko. Also included in the collection is correspondence
with Wright's biographer, Peter Stitt. In addition, there are photographs,
clippings and other writings about Wright, plus teaching notes from his various
academic posts.
Other Finding Aid
An unpublished finding aid with detailed contents is available in the
Manuscripts Division.
Index Terms
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog
of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about
related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these
headings.
Wright,
James Arlington, 1927
Bly,
Robert
Dickey,
James
Ransome,
John Crowe
Sexton,
Anne
Silko,
Leslie, 1948-
Stitt,
Peter
Poets, American--20th
century--Sources
Detailed Contents
The following section contains a list of the materials in the
collection. More detailed information is available in the Manuscripts
Division.
Correspondence
Aiken, Conrad
1
Ammons, A.R.
1
Auden, W. H.
1
Belle, Gardner
1
Bernetta, Sister M.
1
Berryman, John
1
Bly Family
1
Bly, Mary
1
Bly, Robert
1
Booth, Philip
2
Burns, Wayne
2
Carroll, Paul
2
Carruth, Hayden
2
Coffin, Charles
2
Cooper, Jane
2
Cuddihy, Michael
2
Dern, Prairie
2
DiGiovanni, Norman
2
Dickey, James
2
Doctorow, Edgar
2
Enscoe, Gerald
3
Everwine, Peter
3
Fan Mail
3
Fannie M.
3
Flint, Roland
3
Fogelman, Betsy
3
Gardner, Isabella (Tate)
3
Garrett, George
3
Gibson, Morgan
3
Haag, John
3
Haines, John
3
Hall, Donald
3
Hecht, Roger
3A
Hecht, Tony
4
Heyen, Bill
4
Hill, Jeanne
4
Hoffman, Stan
4
Howe, Irving
4
Huff, Robert
4
Hugo, Richard and Barbara
4
Ignow, David
4
King, Dr. Martin Luther (clippings)
4
Kinnell, Galway and Maud
4
Kizer, Carolyn
4
Knight, Etheridge
4
Kray, Betty
4
Kunitz, Stanley
4
Kyle, Carol
4
Lefever, Frank
4
Lesser, Eugene
4
Levant, Howard
4
Linenthal, Mark
4
Logan, John
5
Macalester College
5
Mack, Maynard
5
Mazzaro, Jerome
5
Merwin, Bill
5
Mezey, Robert
5
Millar, Vassar
5
Minnesota (Dismassal)
5
Orr, Gregory
5
Parker, Hank
6
Perlman, Jim
6
Peters, Robert
6
Pinkham, Daniel
6
Plumly, Stanley
6
Poniewaz, Jeffrey (Antler)
6
Pugatch, Eugene
6
Pulitzer Prize Committee
6
Pulitzer Prize letters
6
Pyle, Marge and Paul
6
Ransome, John Crowe
6
Renner, Bruce
6
Robbins, Rick
6
Roethke, Theodore
6
Rothenberg, Jerome
6
Ruark, Gibbons
6
Russell, Peter
6
St. Martin, Hardie
6
Sanfedele, Ann (Blackstone)
6
Savic, Sally
6
Schneider, Franz
6
Sexton, Ann
6
Shaw, Dick
7
Shulman, Sheila
7
Silko, Leslie
7
Simpson, Louis
7
Smith, Dave
7
Smith, Jane
7
Snodgrass, W.D.
7
Stafford, William
7
Stitt, Peter
7
Stokes, Terry
7
Strand, Mark
7
Thomas, Debra
7
Thompson, Barbara
7
Thurn, Janice
7
Timberlake, Philip
7
Truesdale, Ann
7
Urseth, Sonjia
7
Valentine, Jean
8
Wakoski, Diane
8
Warren, Robert Penn
8
Weber, Brom
8
Weiss, Ted
8
Woods, John
8
Wright, Annie
8
Wright, Dudley
8
Miscellaneous poets
9
Trip to India
9
Vienna
9
Wright, Jack
9
Wright, Ted and Helen
9
JAW-Liberty Wright Divorce Decree
10
Wright, Franz [1]
10
Wright, Franz [2]
10
Wright, Franz [3]
10
Wright, Liberty [1]
10
Wright, Liberty [2]
10
Wright, Marsh (Marshall)
10
Wright, Marshall and Franz
10
1948-1960
11
12 folders
Wright, James
11
Wright, James (Army letters)
11
1961-1969
12
9 folders
1970-1975
13
6 folders
1976-1985
14
7 folders
Undated
14
Publishers
15
Contracts
Publishers
15
Financial
Publishers
15
Correspondence: Publishers
Publishers and teaching positions
16
Correspondence: Poetry
Publishers [1]
17
Publishers [2]
17
Miscellaneous
17
Poetry business
17
Poetry business--Readings, submissions
17
Literary correspondence
17
Teaching Notes
17.220-20
18
University of Minnesota
18
University of Minnesota [2]
18
Miscellaneous University of Minnesota
18
"Dept. Stuff"
18
Biographical data, Kunitz
18
Record of books ordered by mail from Blackwell's
etc.
18
My Americans--Honors Class
18
Poetics
18
Program called "Voices"
18
Quizzes and exam questions
18
The Spirit of Comedy
18
Classics of the Far East
18
Composition 28
18
Composition 28, Section 3, Folwell Hall 205
18
Comedy (Hunter)
18
Humanities Lecture, Quizzes
18
Humanities
18
Humanities 51
18
Humanities 3, Section 4
18
English 772--19th Century English Novel
18
Freshman lecture
18
17.387-1
19
1977
19
218--Topics for papers
19
220 Quizzes
19
Courses: 220-17 and 120-20
19
250 Mid-term and final
19
368 Mid-term
19
Freshman 120--Assignments
19
Exams 250-3, 218-1, 387-1
19
Hunter
19
Hunter College exams
19
Papers for 220, 368, 250, 287 Hunter
19
Hunter info.
19
Delaware
19
University of Delaware
19
Students' work, Delaware
19
Students' papers
19
Hardy, Thomas--Notes
19
Dickens, Charles
19
Dickens, Charles--Syllabus (graduate)
19
Comic Vision
19
18th Century Novel
19
Blackford, Anne Little--Thesis work
20
Stevenson, David (Hunter)
20
Thomas, Debra
20
Pilar (Zalamea)
20
Book lists
20
Reading requests and correspondence
20
Recommendations (letters of rec. for various
students)
20
Recommendations, Observations
20
Thesis works (by various students at Hunter
College)
20
Prizes, etc. (given to students at Hunter
College)
20
Spring 1980 schedule--End of Term info.
20
3x5 and 5x7 note cards for various courses
21
3x5 note cards for various courses
22
Education
Elementary and High School
High School Latin Club pin
23
High School papers
23
High School autobiography
23
High School anniversary book
23
23
Kenyon College
Correspondence with Kenyon Administration
24
Notes on classes, exam books, curriculum
notes
24
Programs--Graduation, Honors Day, Robert Frost
conf.
24
Script of Kenyon Radio program, "The Great Speckled
Bird"
24
Term papers
24
University of Washington
6 spiral notebooks of class notes
25
7 spiral notebooks of class notes
26
Correspondence re acceptance to Univ. of
Washington
26
"The Comic Imagination of Young Dickens" -- thesis
abstract
26
Critical essays (class papers)
26
Critical essays (class papers) [2]
26
Class outlines, exam book, and other
papers
26
Further notes, essays, etc.
26
Miscellaneous papers
26
Miscellaneous papers [2]
26
Miscellaneous Univ. of Washington papers
26
Reviews
"Collected Poems" -- Reviews
27
"Shall We Gather at the River" -- Reviews
27
"The Branch Will Not Break" -- Reviews
27
"To a Blossoming Pear Tree" -- Reviews
27
"Two Citizens" -- Reviews
27
"Wandering" -- Reviews
27
Hesse reviews and correspondence
27
Miscellaneous Reviews
27
Nerrida -- Reviews
27
Wright -- Translation review
27
Wright Festival
Flyers, articles, etc.
28
Personal
Personal -- General
Chinese Program--Acad. of Amer. Poets Chin. Music and
Poetry NYC
29
Documents
29
Personal memos
29
Photographs
29
Playbills from concerts
29
Clippings: Literature
30
Clippings: Humorous
30
Clippings: Miscellaneous
30
Clippings: Political
30
Clippings: Reprints
30
Personal -- Awards
Academy of American Poets Fellowship
30
Amer. Academy of Arts and Letters, Nat. Inst. of Arts
and Letters
30
American Legion Citation (high school)
30
Bibliography (JAW works)
30
Brandeis Award
30
Fellowship to the Academy in Rome
30
Guggenheim Grants
30
Ingram Merrill Foundation grant
30
Kenyon College honorary degree
30
Martha Kinney Cooper Ohioana Library
Assoc.
30
Music--JAW poems set to music
30
Poetry Society citation
30
Pulitzer Prize
30
Pulitzer Prize--Clippings
30
Rockefeller Foundation
30
Roethke Reading
30
Steepletop-Millay Colony for Arts, Inc., Austerlitz,
NY
30
Struga Poetry Festival
30
"Big Heart: A Minnesota Gathering..."
OS-1
Poetry
Poetry -- Translations
Finished translations and correspondence
31
Hesse poems
31
4 folders
Loose translations
31
Neruda translations
31
Poems by various Spanish poets
31
In black, 3-ring binder
Various poets
31
Vietnamese translations (not by JAW)
31
Poetry -- Translations -- Hesse, "Wandering"
Drafts
32
Drafts of "Wandering"
32
Hesse, "Krisis" (copy)
32
"Wandering"
32
2 folders
Poetry -- Translations -- Theodor Storm, "Rider on the
White Horse"
" A Green Leaf" drafts
33
"Immensee" drafts
33
"Rider on the White Horse" -- drafts
33
3 folders
"Veronika" drafts
33
Introduction and contents drafts
33
Saint Juergen drafts
33
Draft, pp. 1-132
34
Draft, pp. 133-352
34
Poetry: "Above the River"
Proofs, pp. 1-387
35
Proofs, misc. pp.
35
Page proofs and galleys
35A
Page proofs and galleys
35B
Poetry: "Amenities of Stone"
Drafts
36
Drafts [2]
36
Poetry: "The Blessing"
Draft
36
Pulled pages
36
Poetry: "The Branch Will Not Break"
Correspondence
36
Draft
36
2 folders
Drafts, one journal entry
36
Drafts and proofs of various versions
36
Proofs
36
Clippings and reviews in 3-ring binder
36
"Mary Bly"
36
Poetry: "New Poems"
Drafts
36
Pulled sheets
36
Worksheets and drafts
36
Poetry: "Collected Poems"
Draft pp. 1-133
37
Draft pp. 134-294
37
Partial draft
37
Page proofs
37
Notes
37
Proof pages
35
Poetry: "The Green Wall"
Galleys and information in publications
38
Proof pages
35
Poetry: "Bill Heyen Project"
Draft
38
Poetry: "Hook"
Drafts
38
Drafts and correspondence
38
2 folders
Poetry: "Moments of the Italian Summer"
Notes and drafts
38
Poetry: "Now I Am Awakened"
"Very rough drafts...Just possibly useful"
(JAW)
39
Discarded drafts
39
Discarded drafts [2]
39
Drafts
39
Rough drafts
39
"Now I Am Awakened"
OS-1
Poetry: "Saint Judas"
Drafts
40
2 folders
"The Lamentation of Saint Judas" draft in
binder
40
Proof sheet, drafts, dust jacket
40
3-ring binder with dust jacket, clippings and
reviews
40
Proof pages
35
Poetry: "Shall We Gather at the River"
Draft
41
Draft [2]
41
Drafts
41
Drafts and worksheets
41
Drafts with suggestions by Galway Kinnell
41
Draft in brown binder
41
Worksheets and drafts in black binder
41
3-ring binder with dust jacket, clippings and
reviews
41
Transfer of copyrights (correspondence)
41
Poetry: "This Journey"
Draft
42
Page proofs
42
Proofs
42
Proofs (blues)
42
Proofs and unbound proof
42
Setting copy
42
Master set of proofs pp. 1-84
43
Master set of proofs pp. 1-84 [2]
43
Master set of proofs pp. 2-84
43
Misc. proof pages
35
Poetry: "Sketches and Mosaics"
Xerox copy of typewritten draft
43
Poetry: "The Case of Phaltiel"
Draft
43
Early ms., possibly written in Vienna
43
Poetry: "To a Blossoming Pear Tree"
Drafts
44
Drafts [2]
44
Drafts in blue binder
44
Galleys
44
Proofs
44
Proofs and setting copy
44
Xerox copy of new ms. written at Univ. of
Buffalo
44
Xerox copies of new poems, mostly copies of fair
copies
44
Proof pages
35
Poetry: "Two Citizens"
Edited drafts
45
Loose drafts and notes
45
Proofs
45
Proofs [2]
45
List of publications by JAW since "Two
Citizens"
45
Poetry: Miscellaneous
Wormwood
Review
46
Miscellaneous poetry
46
Early Poetry
Drafts
47
Drafts found with "The Will in Thought and Art of T.
Hardy"
47
Drafts from high school, Kenyon College,
Warnock
47
Drafts, including 1 spiral bound notebook
47
Drafts
48
Drafts [2]
48
Pre-"Green Wall" poetry drafts
48
Pre-"Green Wall" poetry drafts written in Vienna and
Seattle
48
High school poetry including: 3 brown accordian files,
some notebooks, occasional clippings
49
2 black binders containing drafts
50
Miscellaneous early poems--drafts
50
"Poetry drafts and mss. found among Kenyon College
papers"
50
1949 and earlier drafts
51
1949-50 drafts
51
Early poetry, undated
51
Mss from Kenyon years
51
Mss from Vienna, incl. 3 notebooks (2 spiral
bound)
51
Mss written in Vienna
51
Poetry -- University of Washington
Drafts
52
4 folders
Drafts in black folder/binder
52
Drafts, including 2 spiral bound notebooks
52
"Eleutheria" (formerly "The Riches of Air")
draft
52
"The Firing Squad" -- carbon in 1 manilla
envelope
52
"The Riches of Air" -- carbons in 2 manilla
envelopes
52
Poetry: 1954-1963
Drafts
53
Drafts, 1959, mostly 1960
53
Drafts including sheaf of poems by Richard
Hugo
53
"Fair copies"
53
Miscellaneous poems found in folders from U. of
Minnesota
53
Poetry drafts
53
3 folders
Poetry drafts, 1960
53
Poetry: 1961-1975
Black binder with misc. notes and poetry
54
"Castoff drafts" (undated)
54
"Copies of 'New Poems'" -- Drafts
54
Drafts
54
Drafts and fragments of prose to revise
54
Miscellaneous drafts
54
"Riots and Miseries" reject pages, notes by Sarah
Youngblood
54
Prose & Poetry
American Poetry Review
folio
38
Special issue
Journals and notebooks
55
13 notebooks, 2 manilla envelopes
Journals, notebooks, and address books
56
1 white envelope (address books), 18 notebooks
Journals
57
11 notebooks, misc. loose pages (some in 2 manilla
envelopes)
Prose
Prose: Essays and Reviews
Essay: "The Will in Thought and Art of T.
Hardy"
46
Includes four folders with numerous drafts
Essay: "What Emily Bronte Believed In"
58
Essay: "Whitman's Immediate Presence"
58
Essay: "Hardy's Poetry
58
Essay: "Turgenev's Devotion"
58
Essay: "The Madmen of 'Barnaby Rudge'"
58
Essay: "The Art of Richard Hugo"
58
Essay: "The Quest for the Child Within"
[2]
58
Essay: "Addison and Some Modern Milton
Criticism"
58
Essay: "The Structure of Poetry"
58
Essay: "A Secret Widely Shared"
58
Essay: "An Introduction to Chaucer's
Animals"
58
Essay: "David Ignatow"
58
Essay: "Gravity and Incantation"
58
Essay: "Some Defenses of Poetry"
58
Essay: "The Delicacy of Walt Whitman"
58
Essay: "The Delicacy of Walt Whitman" (final
version)
58
Essay: "The Few Poets of England and
America"
58
Essay: "A Master of Silence"
58
Essay: "The Quest for the Child Within"
58
Essay: "The Stiff Smile of an Exaggerated
Formality"
58
Essay: "Gravity and Incantation" [2]
58
Draft of "Collected Poems of James A.
Wright"
58
N.Y. Times reviews by JAW (with clippings and
correspondence
58
Occasional essay: "The Problem of 'Unity' in
Malory"
58
Review of "New Poets of England and America" (ed. Hall
and Pack)
58
Review for "Poetry" magazine
58
Review for "Sewanee Review"
58
Review of "Selected Poems: 1928-1958" by Stanley
Kunitz
58
Review of "The Jacob's Ladder" by Denise
Levertov
58
Review of "The Looking Glass: New Poems" by Isabella
Gardner
58
Review, "Hardy's Poetry: A Study and a
Selection"
58
Review for "Sewanee Review"
58
"Collected Prose"
58A
Prose by Others
Herman Salinger, translation of German
verse
59
"In Defense Against This Exile: Letters of Wright to
Burns"
59
Prose by various authors
59
Prose (published copies by various
authors)
59
St. Judas essay by Dominick Hart
59
Poetry by Others
Akamine, Sheri Mae
60
Berg, Steve
60
Blackford, Anne
60
Blum, Morgan
60
Bly, Robert
60
Carruth, Hayden
60
Coltos, Helen
60
Crome, Nicholas
60
Cudihy, Michael
60
Drake, Carol
60
Ekeloef, Gunvar
60
Etheridge, ---
60
Foster, Richard
60
Gaines, Anna
60
Gibson, Morgan
60
Gibson, Richard
60
Haag, John
60
Hall, Donald
60
Hamod, Sam
60
Hanson, Kenneth
60
Hecht, Anthony
60
Hill, Jeanne
60
Hugo, Richard
61
Humphries, Rolfe
61
Jenkins, Louis
61
Kimbrell, Allen
61
Kimbrell, Pilar
61
Kinnell, Galway
61
Lattimore, Richard
61
Levant, Howard
61
Livingston, Claire
61
Lieberman, Laurence
61
Logan, John
61
Mazzaro, James
61
Meredith, Bernard
61
Mezy, Bob
61
Millar, Vassar
61
Mills, Ralph, Jr.
61
Myers, Neil
61
Nelson, Peter
61
Norris, Kathleen
61
Ottinger, Maurice
61
Poems by Simpson, Gardner, Ammons, etc.
61
Prince, F.T.
61
Pugatch, Eugene
61
Putnam, H. Phelps
61
Renner, Bruce
61
Ruark, Gibbons
61
Rubenstein, Carol
61
Sanfedele, Ann Blackstone
61
Savory, Teo
61
Sexton, Ann
61
Shaw, R.
61
Sobiloff, Hy
61
Stein, Arnold
61
Students
61
Swift, Joan
61
Turco, Lewis
61
Wagoner, David
61
Woods, John
61
Poems by friends
62
"Poems by others typed out by JAW"
62
In black 3-ring binder
Unidentified
62
Books
"A Critical Introduction to Ethics" by Phillip
Wheelwright
63
"A Kierkegaard Anthology" ed. by Robert
Bretall
63
"Bright's Anglo-Saxon Reader" by James R.
Hulbert
63
"Gerald Manley Hopkins" by Kenyon Critics
63
"Readings in Ethics" ed. by Gordon H. Clark and T.V.
Smith
63
"Silo"
63
"The Prose Style of Samuel Johnson" by W.K. Wimsatt,
Jr.
63
"The Student's Milton" ed. by Frank Allen
Patterson
63