University of Victoria Special Collections and University Archives

Finding Aid - Denise Levertov collection (SC067)

Generated by Access to Memory (AtoM) 2.5.4 Printed: November 24, 2020 Language of description: English

University of Victoria Special Collections and University Archives Special Collections and University Archives University of Victoria PO Box 1800 STN CSC Victoria BC Canada V8W 3H5 Telephone: 250-721-8257 Fax: 250-721-8215 Email: [email protected] https://www.uvic.ca/library/locations/home/archives/ https://uvic2.coppul.archivematica.org//index.php/denise-levertov-collection Denise Levertov collection

Table of contents

Summary information ...... 3 Administrative history / Biographical sketch ...... 3 Scope and content ...... 3 Notes ...... 3 Access points ...... 4 Collection holdings ...... 4 SC067-1997-123, Correspondence (1940-1951) ...... 4 SC067-1997-124, "A Tree Telling of Orpheus" Illustrations (1967) ...... 4

University of Victoria Special Collections and University Archives Page 2 SC067 Denise Levertov collection

Summary information

Repository: University of Victoria Special Collections and University Archives Title: Denise Levertov collection ID: SC067 Date: 1940 - 1967 (date of creation) Physical description: 1 cm of textual records

Administrative history / Biographical sketch

Note Denise Levertov (originally Levertoff) was born in Ilford, Essex, England of Russian and Welsh ancestry. She began writing poetry at the age of twelve. Early supporters of her poetry included T.S. Eliot, Herbert Read, Charles Wrey Gardiner, and Kenneth Rexroth. Her first volume of poetry "The Double Image" was published in England in 1946. After marrying American writer in 1947 , she moved to New York and began developing the style that has made her an internationally respected American poet. She became a naturalized American citizen in 1955. The , such as , , and , were an early influence on her work. Creeley was among the first to publish her poetry in the U.S.A. Later, she became involved with "The Writers and Artists Protest Against the War in Vietnam". Her works include "The Jacob's Ladder" (1961), "Relearning the Alphabet" (1970), and "Footprints" (1972). In addition, she taught at many universities throughout the U.S.A.

Scope and content

The collection consists of letters and postcards (1940-1951) written by Levertov to Charles Wrey Gardiner (editor of Poetry Quarterly); letters, drafts of poems and a postcard (1946-1947) to John Hayward; and drawings not used for "A Tree Telling of Orpheus", 1967. The letters also mention Dannie Abse, Herbert Read and Kenneth Rexroth.

Notes

Title notes

Other notes • Publication status: Published University of Victoria Special Collections and University Archives Page 3 SC067 Denise Levertov collection • Description identifier: denise-levertov-collection-2

Access points

• Black Mountain school (Group of poets) • Abse, Dannie (subject) • Gardiner, Charles Wrey, 1901-1981 (subject) • Hayward, John, 1905-1965 (subject) • Read, Herbert Edward, Sir, 1893-1968 (subject) • Rexroth, Kenneth, 1905-1982 (subject) • drawings (visual works) (documentary form) • letters (correspondence) (documentary form) • postcards (documentary form) • drafts (documents) (documentary form) • poetry (documentary form) • Poetry quarterly (London) (subject) • Poetry, Modern (subject)

Collection holdings

Series: SC067-1997-123 - Correspondence Title: Correspondence ID: SC067-1997-123 Date: 1940-1951 (date of creation) Scope and content: The collection consists of letters and postcards (1940-1951) written by Levertov to Charles Wrey Gardiner (editor of Poetry Quarterly); letters, drafts of poems and a postcard (1946-1947) to John Hayward. The letters also mention Dannie Abse, Herbert Read and Kenneth Rexroth; plus carbon tss. transcripts of the letters, edited by Theresa Kishkan (1976).

Physical description: 1 file.

Publication status: Published

Series: SC067-1997-124 - "A Tree Telling of Orpheus" Illustrations

University of Victoria Special Collections and University Archives Page 4 SC067 Denise Levertov collection Title: "A Tree Telling of Orpheus" Illustrations ID: SC067-1997-124 Date: 1967 (date of creation) Scope and content: The file consists of 2 drawings not used for "A Tree Telling of Orpheus", 1967.

Physical description: 1 file.

Publication status: Published

University of Victoria Special Collections and University Archives Page 5