There are no restrictions on access to the collection.
Copyright retained by the creator.
Robert Bly papers (Mss 81), Literary Manuscripts Collection, University of Minnesota Libraries, Minneapolis.
Collection was acquired from the creator in 2006, with additional accruals beginning in 2007.
The collection was processed and finding aid written in 2010 by Ann Mulfort, with the support of student assistants, Sarah Marrone and Kerry Ritterbusch. There was ample evidence of rodent and insect excretions, and other environmental effects in the original materials.
To maintain Robert Bly's original order of usage of the documents, his file contents and titles were retained, where possible. Therefore, if the contents of one file include materials from multiple series, they are located with Bly's original organization of the materials. For example, the file entitled: "Don Hall's comments on 'Light Around the Body'" is found in the Poetry manuscripts series, because it includes revisions to his poetry, but also includes some correspondence from Hall which provides context for the revisions.
Robert Bly's career includes many vocations, and the series designations reflect this diversity. Because of his varied career, there is much crossover in the materials of this collection. Researchers are encouraged to review the descriptions of each series carefully.
The files are organized based on what is contained in the majority of the materials for each file. For instance, when most of the items in a particular file contain translated poetry and prose, they are located in the Translations series. When most of the items in a file embody publishing and editing work in translation, they are located in the Publishing and Editing series. Therefore, to study poetry translations as a publishing business venture, researchers are encouraged to review both series.
The collection is organized into eighteen series. Because of the extent of information in the collection, each series is described in a separate finding aid. Please click on the desired series below for a full description of materials contained in it.
Robert Elwood Bly was born on December 23, 1926 in Madison, Minnesota, to Jacob Thomas and Alice Myrtle (Aws) Bly. Growing up on his parents' farm, he raised livestock and showed them at 4-H gatherings. He graduated from Madison High School in 1944, and enlisted in the United States Navy the same year. He was honorably discharged in 1946, and enrolled at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota. After completing one year at St. Olaf, he transferred to Harvard University in 1947. Graduating Magna Cum Laude, he was named Class Poet for the Harvard Class of 1950. While at Harvard, Bly met many poets, including Donald Hall. Their friendship grew and endured throughout their lifetime.
To launch his writing career, Bly sought a solitary period in northern Minnesota and New York City for some time. In 1954, he enrolled at the State University of Iowa; married Carolyn McLean in 1955 in Duluth, Minnesota; and received a Master's degree from Iowa in 1956.
After leaving Iowa, Bly was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study poetry in Oslo, Norway. It was there that he was exposed to poetry by international writers for the first time. In 1958, he collaborated with William Duffy to publish
During the 1960s and early 1970s, the Bly family grew from two to six. Bly's first book of poetry,
Robert Bly's National Book Award winning book of poetry,
Throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, Bly continued to write his own poetry and publish the works of other poets, including international poets. His translating expertise grew as he collaborated with poets and translators around the world.
In 1975, Bly organized the first annual Great Mother Conference. In the course of the ten day event, poetry, music, and dance were utilized to examine human consciousness. These conferences evolved into the Great Mother and New Father Conferences, adding storytelling, fairy tales, mythology, and other creative expressions to the many workshop offerings.
In May 1982, Bly collaborated with Keith Thompson to publish a groundbreaking article, "What Men Really Want" in
From a very early age, Bly had aspirations of performing in front of groups. That desire was realized again and again by his public appearances around the world. The notoriety of Bly's stature as award-winning poet, translator, and publisher created a demand for his unique style of reading of both his own and others' poetry. Always generous in sharing the stage, many of Bly's performances incorporated musical and other accompaniment, and left audiences forever transformed.
Bly continued to write and translate into the 21st century, including translating Henrik Ibsen's
Bly's awards and honors include:
Robert Bly has written original poetry, prose, and plays; translated
poetry and prose of other writers; and published and edited numerous works. The
"Blyography" is vast, and has not been gathered comprehensively. For listings
of his works, see
Note: Throughout all of the finding aids, "mss" is an abbreviation for manuscript or manuscripts.
The collection includes manuscript materials; correspondence; photographs; journals and diaries; news clippings; posters and advertisements; audiovisual items; publishers' galley proofs; and personal items from circa 1900s to 2009. Besides English, some documents in the collection are written in French, German, Greek, Italian, Norwegian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, or Urdu.
Because Robert Bly collected; translated; received inspiration and quoted poetry from at least the 12th century forward, the dates detailed in the finding aids are the dates of his record-keeping activity. They are not necessarily the original creation dates of each document found in the collection.
The materials in this collection will provide powerful sources of research for many subjects including: biographical information; the study of poetry in general; the artistic process of creating poetry, prose, and plays; analysis of changes in 20th century poetry; genealogy; Vietnam War protest documentation; Men’s Movement development and continuation; translation of poetry from various original languages; history of 20th century publishing; among many other topics. Researchers are also encouraged to access this collection for the large amount of intimate correspondence with many recognized poets and other notable people. His audiovisual materials will be useful to observe his reading and other performance techniques.
For information about Robert Bly in other collections held at the
University of Minnesota Libraries; Manuscripts Division, see:
Robert Bly has written copiously to many notable people. For an
extensive search of letters written by him, as well as other items in
additional collections, researchers may consult the
The following list provides a partial representation of the more than 700 internationally notable persons, including other poets, musicians, politicians, activists, and editors whose letters are contained in the collection. They may be located in the Correspondence series, or in other series under other file titles. Please consult the archivist for more detailed information found in the internal Collections file.
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.
The links following each series description below provide access to detailed lists of the materials available in the respective series.
This series includes handwritten, typed, and computer printed correspondence; wedding invitations; programs; booklets; receipts; greeting cards; and poetry. It is a rich source for the analysis of poetry. Because of Robert Bly's position as publisher of the very influential literary magazine,
There is also a large number of correspondents who wrote highly personal letters. Bly's work in his readings, workshops, and conferences evoked remarkably intimate letters where writers "bared their souls" to their confidante.
Following Robert Bly's organization of correspondence, this series is organized into two subseries; chronological and subject.
Bly's protests against the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War are well documented in the correspondence throughout the 1960s.
The chronological correspondence was received in the Archives boxed by year. The undated correspondence listed at the end of each year was found in the associated year's box.
Many of the envelopes received in the Archives dating from 1978 had the stamp cut off. Occasionally, the enclosed letter was also cut with the stamp.
In 1998 and 2007, there are a number of copies of letters written by Bly to many correspondents.
The materials in this subseries are correspondence received by Robert Bly, arranged alphabetically by subject. There are file titles in this subseries which correspond with other series, such as Vietnam, Readings, and Translations. However, because the documents in these files are entirely correspondence, they are located in this series.
Some correspondence, dated in 1960 and 1961, was received in the Archives in monthly envelopes. That arrangement was maintained to demonstrate Bly's and William Duffy's organization at the beginning of their business venture of publishing
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This series includes bound volumes and loose sheets of paper that
Robert Bly used to record his daily, personal accounts of his experiences,
attitudes, and observations; as well as inspirations "on the spot" wherever Bly
was, quotes and passages of others' works, self-analysis, and names and
addresses of family members and friends. Some journals have poetry, prose and
play passages; and some appear to be a means of organizing Bly's thoughts. When
bound volumes contain journal style entries, they are located in this series.
Only when bound volumes contain
The self-analysis component of the journals is a valuable source for aspiring poets and other writers. There is much self-rebuking and doubts particularly in the 1950s. These demonstrate that success is accomplished over the course of time, and comes only with much hard work.
This series is organized into two subseries; numbered and unnumbered.
Some time after 1990, Robert Bly numbered some of his bound journals which appear to be almost a complete run from 1950 to 1990. These journals more closely resemble daily, personal accounts of his experiences, attitudes, and observations. However, the bound volumes in this subseries can also contain poetry, prose, quotes of others' works, and other passages.
The journals in this subseries were not organized by Robert Bly
as the numbered journals were, and some run concurrently with others. The
materials include bound volumes and loose sheets of paper that Robert Bly used
to record his daily, personal accounts of his experiences, attitudes, and
observations; as well as inspirations "on the spot" wherever Bly was, quotes
and passages of others' works, self-analysis, and names and addresses of family
members and friends. Some journals have poetry, prose and play passages; and
some appear to be a means of organizing Bly's thoughts. When bound volumes
contain journal style entries, they are located in this series. Only when bound
volumes contain
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This series contains handwritten, typed, and computer printed poetry manuscripts; galley proofs; and comments and suggestions from friends, editors, and publishers regarding Robert Bly's books of poetry which demonstrate the process of creating the written art form.
Generally, the files are organized as received from Bly. Throughout his career, he often repurposed his works for new publications; therefore, the order was maintained to demonstrate Bly's usage of his manuscripts. Where there was no apparent order, one was imposed by the archivist.
Some of Bly's poetry can also be found in his journals, as he appears to have used his journals for multiple purposes. In addition, some poetry can be found in the Subject Correspondence subseries. Researchers are encouraged to review both the Journals and Correspondence series to thoroughly complete their study of his work on poetry.
To provide more precise access to some of Robert Bly's major poetic publications, this series is organized into ten subseries.
Robert Bly's first major book of poetry was published in 1962 by Wesleyan University Press.
Robert Bly's National Book Award winning work was published in 1967 by Harper & Row.
This book contained Robert Bly's prose and verse poetry and was published in 1973 by Harper & Row.
This book of Robert Bly's prose poetry was published in 1975 by Harper & Row.
This book of Robert Bly's prose poems was published in 1977 by Harper & Row. It includes drawings by Gendron Jensen.
The book,
Robert Bly's book of love poems was published in 1985 by the Dial Press.
This book of Robert Bly's poetry was published in 1997 by HarperCollins Publishers, Inc.
Robert Bly's book of poetic ghazals,
There are manuscripts of both published and unpublished poems in this subseries.
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This series contains handwritten, typed, and computer printed manuscripts and manuscript plans, drafts, and revisions; page proofs; comments and suggestions by others for Robert Bly's 1990 best-selling book,
Some of Robert Bly's prose can also be found in his journals, as he appears to have used his journals for multiple purposes. In addition, some prose can be found in the Subject Correspondence subseries. Researchers are encouraged to review both the Journals and Correspondence series to thoroughly complete their study of his work on prose.
This series is organized into two series, to provide more precise access to his major prose work,
Contained in this subseries are handwritten, typed, and computer printed manuscripts and manuscript plans, drafts, and revisions; page proofs; comments and suggestions by others for Robert Bly's 1990 best-selling prose work.
The groundbreaking article, "What Men Really Want," which appeared in the
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This series contains handwritten, typed, and computer printed manuscripts of plays written by Robert Bly, including
Some of Bly's plays can also be found in his journals, as he appears to have used his journals for multiple purposes. Researchers are encouraged to review the Journals series to thoroughly complete their study of his work on plays.
This series is organized into two subseries, to provide more precise access to Bly's translation of
This subseries contains handwritten, typed, and computer printed manuscripts of Robert Bly's translation of Henrik Ibsen's
This subseries contains handwritten and typed manuscripts of plays written by Robert Bly, correspondence pertaining to the plays' productions, and advertisements.
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The materials in this series includes both manuscripts and published poetry and prose in translation. It contains correspondence and works translated by Robert Bly and others with whom he collaborated, as he published and edited his and others' works throughout his career. Also found in this series are Bly's works translated and published into other languages. Because Bly translated poetry from at least the 12th century forward, the dates detailed in this series are the dates of his record-keeping activity. They are not necessarily the original creation dates of each document found in the series.
Some of Robert Bly's translations can also be found in his journals, as he appears to have used his journals for multiple purposes. In addition, some translations can be found in the Subject Correspondence subseries. Researchers are encouraged to review both the Journals and Correspondence series to thoroughly complete their study of his translations.
To provide more precise access to major specific poets whose work Bly translated, this series is organized into eight subseries.
Gunnar Ekelöf, 1907-1968, was a Swedish poet and writer.
Federico García Lorca, 1898-1936, was a Spanish poet.
Pablo Neruda, 1904-1973, was a Chilean poet and writer, and winner of the 1971 Nobel Prize in Literature.
Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926, was an Austrian author and poet.
Jalal al-Din Rumi, 1207-1273, was a Persian poet.
August Strindberg, 1849-1912, was a Swedish writer.
Tomas Tranströmer, Swedish poet born in 1931, has maintained a warm friendship with Robert Bly.
Contained in this subseries are poetry and translations of writers from around the world, including Russian, Arabic, South American, African, French, and more.
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The materials found in this series include scrapbooks, business details, editors' proofs, correspondence, news clippings, galley proofs, and handwritten notes by Robert Bly regarding the publishing of his literary journal,
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Because of Robert Bly's and poet David Ray's passionate opposition
to the U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War, they formed the
Their work is well-represented in this series which includes news clippings, essay and poetry manuscripts, published research periodicals and books for the poetry read-ins during the 1960s and 1970s, as well as Robert Bly's property bag listing his personal effects issued by the City of New York's Department of Correction when he was arrested for his protests. In addition, there are graphic slides of the results of napalm bombing used in some readings and lectures, as well as correspondence and editorial materials for the book,
To thoroughly study Robert Bly's involvement with the Vietnam war, researchers are encouraged to review the Subject Correspondence subseries, also. In addition, there is a file in the Plays manuscripts series entitled: Vietnam Play.
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This series includes Robert Bly's notes on what to present at the Great Mother and other conferences; address lists of participants; reading materials to present at the conferences; photographs of co-leaders; a photograph album including images of participants and Bly at the conferences; and advertising posters and flyers.
The distinction between the Conferences and Workshops series and the Readings and Performances series is a slight one. Bly's many public appearances could include an instructional component, as one might expect to find at a conference or workshop, as well as a poetry reading. Many times, the advertisement materials do not make such distinctions. Therefore, researchers studying either of these facets are encouraged to review both series.
Some Conference documents can be found in the Subject Correspondence subseries. To hear some of Robert Bly's conference recordings, researchers are directed to the Audiovisual series. Rearchers are encouraged to review all of these series to thoroughly complete their study of this topic.
This series is organized into two series, to provide more precise access to his major conference work, The Great Mother Conferences.
In 1975, Robert Bly organized the first annual Great Mother Conference. Throughout the ten-day event, poetry, music, and dance were utilized to examine human consciousness. These conferences evolved into the Great Mother and New Father Conferences, and were held annually through 2010.
This subseries includes correspondence specific to most of the annual Great Mother conferences, Bly's notes about what was discussed at conferences, and journals kept by Bly recording his thoughts throughout the conferences.
This subseries includes Robert Bly's notes on what to present at the conferences, address lists of participants, reading materials to present at the conferences, photographs of co-leaders, and advertising some posters and flyers.
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This series contains news clippings, articles, poems, and stories
about the
Because of the impact that Bly's best-selling book,
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This series contains materials Robert Bly used in preparation for readings in which he performed. The materials include both his own and others' poems (published and retyped) and translations; notes; images; news clippings; journals; and advertising posters and flyers. To view and hear Bly performing readings, researchers are directed to the Audiovisual series. A thorough study of Bly's involvement with (and audience members' appreciation of) his readings, will include a review of the Correspondence series.
The distinction between the Readings and Performances series and the Conferences and Workshops series is a slight one. Robert Bly's many public appearances could include poetry readings, as well as an instructional component, as one might expect to find at a conference or workshop. Many times, the advertisement materials do not make such distinctions. Therefore, researchers studying either of these facets are encouraged to review both series. In addition, some of his Journals have notations regarding the poetry he chose to read and perform.
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From the baby book in 1926 to the high school notes and assignment papers; to the U.S. Naval documents and assignments; and the St. Olaf College and Harvard notes and assignments, there is a wealth of materials that provide detailed biographical information on poet, translator, publisher, and social critic, Robert Bly. These materials include completed assignments, handwritten and typed compositions, livestock programs, a run of Harvard Advocate publications with Bly's college entries, as well as other personal documents. The high school and U.S. Naval materials demonstrate Bly's ability to succeed in mathematics, physics, and trigonometry. His high school materials also display his beginning work as a poet. In addition, biographical essays on Bly, contracts for work on books and audiovisual materials, both published and unpublished interviews, as well as advertisements for Robert Bly appearances are included in this series.
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This series includes both loose positive and negative photographs and slides in black and white and color. In addition, photograph albums beginning with Robert Bly's parents, Jacob and Alice (Aws) Blys' collections from the 1900s through Robert Bly's childhood to adult photographs of Bly in 2007 are found in this series. Many family photographs, including the Bly family trip to the Black Hills of South Dakota and Mount Rushmore (under construction) in 1937, as well as the wedding photograph of Robert and Carol Bly in 1955 are contained in the series.
The series is arranged in two subseries to reflect the manner in which the photographs were received in the Archives. Loose photographs were discovered throughout the collection, and separate photograph albums were also received. The photographs in the albums were removed for separate storage, and the albums were retained in the Personal series.
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Included in this series are scrapbooks, news clippings, and correspondence on Robert Bly's individual books of poetry, his poetry in general, translations, and
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This series contains royalty statements, check registers, invoices, receipts, bank statements, and handwritten estimates of income for Robert Bly's professional career including his published books, readings, conferences and workshops, as well as for the
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This series contains manuscript materials of some of Robert Bly's colleagues, materials that pertain to people close to Bly, as well as materials that do not fit in the categories of the other series in this collection.
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This series is composed of a portion of Robert Bly's library of published materials. They contain works written by and about Bly, including books and chapters of books, articles in periodicals, poems included in others' publications, introductions and forwards of books, chapbooks, and Bly's published work as editor and publisher. Also included are other writers' works of poetry and prose.
The materials are housed in containers that appropriately protect each format in this series (e.g. flat boxes for periodicals, trays for entire books, and boxes for materials requiring the protection of folders). They are arranged alphabetically in the finding aid to assist researchers in accessing specific titles.
The series is organized in two subseries; Robert Bly's works and Other writers' works.
This subseries includes books and chapters of books written by Robert Bly, articles in periodicals, forwards and introductions of books that he wrote, poems included in others' publications, chapbooks, and his published work as editor and publisher.
This subseries includes books, chapters, and articles in periodicals written by others. Some are inscribed to Robert Bly by the author.
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This series contains videotapes, audio cassette tapes, reel to reel audio recordings, compact discs, a wire recording, a vinyl recording, and DVDs which visually and audibly document the reading and performing work of Robert Bly. They are an invaluable source in understanding his poetry and others' works through Bly's interpretation. His performance techniques enhanced the development of his talent throughout his career, and the recordings are an excellent resource for aspiring poetic performers.
In addition, there are many materials that allow reasearchers access to workshops and conferences in which Bly was involved. They provide a unique entrance into these events, and introduce researchers to the experiences contained in some of them.
The materials are housed in containers that appropriately protect each format in this series (e.g. flat boxes for audio cassette tapes, microfilm box for the wire recording, oversize square box for the vinyl recording, shoe boxes for the video recordings, and boxes for materials requiring the protection of folders and oversize materials). They are arranged in chronological order in the finding aid to assist researchers in following the development of Robert Bly's reading and performance career.
The series is organized into two series to reflect audio and visual items.
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