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Kenneth Rexroth Papers 0119 http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt2p30310v No online items Finding Aid for the Kenneth Rexroth papers 0119 Mike Garabedian USC Libraries Special Collections 2008 Doheny Memorial Library 206 3550 Trousdale Parkway Los Angeles, California 90089-0189 [email protected] URL: http://libraries.usc.edu/locations/special-collections Finding Aid for the Kenneth 01191241 1 Rexroth papers 0119 Language of Material: English Contributing Institution: USC Libraries Special Collections Title: Kenneth Rexroth papers creator: Rexroth, Kenneth Identifier/Call Number: 0119 Identifier/Call Number: 1241 Physical Description: 18.17 Linear Feet28 boxes Date (inclusive): 1940-1982 Date (bulk): 1969-1981 Abstract: The papers of Kenneth Rexroth, American poet and activist, comprise manuscripts, notes, printed material, publications, correspondence, ephemera, and artwork related to poetry, writing, speaking engagements, and teaching, primarily from the last decade of his life; also included are correspondence, manuscripts, drawings, photographs, and edits compiled by Geoffrey Gardner for a Kenneth Rexroth festschrift published in 1980. Biography American painter, poet, critic, translator, and playwright Kenneth Charles Marion Rexroth was born in 1905 in South Bend, Indiana. After being expelled from a Chicago high school, Rexroth worked as a soda jerk, clerk, wrestler, and reporter to support himself. Although he attended the Art Institute of Chicago, he was largely self-educated in the literary salons, nightclubs, lecture halls, and hobo camps he frequented in the 1920s. In his youth Rexroth traveled extensively in the United States, Mexico, and Europe, and backpacked frequently in the American wilderness. During this time he worked as a forest ranger, harvester, fruit packer, factory hand, and mental institution attendant. He also became something of a political radical, allying himself with various avant garde and leftist organizations, and developing what would become lifelong interests in eroticism, anarchy, mysticism, and Eastern philosophy. In the 1940s New Directions published Rexroth's first poetry collections "In What Hour" and "The Phoenix and the Tortoise." Both works encapsulated Rexroth's pacifistic, anti-establishment ethos, represented his interest in the natural and erotic, and alluded to classical poets from the East and West. In the late 1940s, Rexroth launched the San Francisco Renaissance, promoting the work of poets like William Everson, LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), Lawrence Ferlinghetti, and Denise Levertov on a weekly radio show. His poetry and lifestyle also clearly influenced Allen Ginsberg, Gary Snyder, and other Beat poets, though Rexroth would eventually come to disapprove of the Beat movement, and was displeased when he became known as the father of the Beats. In the 1960s, Rexroth brought national public attention to world literature poetry in translation through his "Classics Revisited" column in the Saturday Review and his anthologies of Chinese and Japanese poetry. Recognized by the National Institute of Arts and Letters in 1964, he went on to publish collections of his shorter poems and longer poems in 1967 and 1968. From 1968 through 1974 he taught at the University of California, Santa Barbara. In 1974, he received a Fulbright scholarship to study in Japan, and in 1975 he received the Copernicus Award from the Academy of American Poets in recognition of a poet's lifetime work and contribution to poetry as a cultural force. Rexroth died June 6, 1982 in Montecito, California. Scope and Content The papers of Kenneth Rexroth, American poet and activist, comprise manuscripts, notes, printed material, publications, correspondence, and ephemera related to Rexroth's poetry, writing, speaking engagements, and teaching, primarily from the last decade of his life. Organization The collection is organized into the following series: Series 1. Correspondence, Series 2. Festschrift, Series 3. Manuscripts by Rexroth, Series 4. Other writers' manuscripts, Series 5. Notes, notebooks, and scrapbooks, Series 6. Ephemera, clippings, miscellaneous records, Series 7. Artwork, Series 8. Financial records Access Advance notice required for access. Financial records are restricted. Conditions Governing Use All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. Preferred Citation [Identification of item], Kenneth Rexroth papers, Collection no. 0119, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern California Acquisition Information Finding Aid for the Kenneth 01191241 2 Rexroth papers 0119 All files acquired from Bradford Morrow, Kenneth Rexroth's literary executor. Related Archival Materials Kenneth Rexroth papers, Collection 175, Department of Special Collections, UCLA Processing History Partially processed by Mike Garabedian, Fall 2004. In October 2011, Sue Luftschein completed the remaining rehousing and description. Separated Materials Rexroth's papers came with 8 cartons of books and journals from his personal library. These have been cataloged separately into USC's online public access catalog, Homer. Subjects and Indexing Terms American poetry -- 20th century -- Archival resources Authors, American -- California -- 20th century -- Archival resources Authors, American -- 20th century -- Archival resources Poetry -- Archival resources Poets -- Archival resources Correspondence Ephemera Financial records Manuscripts Notebooks Notes Scrapbooks Axelrod, Joseph -- Correspondence Atsumi, Ikuko -- Correspondence Berry, Wendell -- Correspondence Benedict, Nannette -- Correspondence Cooney, Rian -- Correspondence Ciani Forza, Daniela M. -- Correspondence Copperhead (Press) -- Correspondence Copper Canyon Press -- Correspondence Acker, Kathy -- Correspondence Anderson, Marta -- Correspondence Adam, Helen -- Correspondence Atchity, Kenneth John -- Correspondence Argüelles, Ivan -- Correspondence Raine, Kathleen -- Correspondence Tinker, Carol -- Correspondence Solt, John -- Correspondence Szerlip, Barbara -- Correspondence Tarn, Nathaniel -- Correspondence Thomas, Janet -- Correspondence Roditi, Edouard -- Correspondence Sakurai, Emiko -- Correspondence Sanchez, Thomas -- Correspondence Shiffert, Edith Marcombe -- Correspondence Rexroth, Katharine -- Correspondence Rexroth, Mary -- Correspondence Rexroth, Kenneth -- Archives Finding Aid for the Kenneth 01191241 3 Rexroth papers 0119 Rainer, Dachine -- Correspondence Racionero, Luis -- Correspondence Piercy, Marge -- Correspondence Oden, Gloria -- Correspondence Norse, Harold -- Correspondence Morrow, Bradford -- Correspondence Milosz, Czeslaw -- Correspondence Matsui, Keiko -- Correspondence Levertov, Denise -- Correspondence Lawless, Gary -- Correspondence Lawler, Justus George -- Correspondence Laughlin, James -- Correspondence Lattimore, Richmond Alexander -- Correspondence Kuzma, Greg -- Correspondence Kray, Elizabeth -- Correspondence Kertesz, Louise -- Correspondence Huerta, Albert -- Correspondence Kodama, Sanehide -- Correspondence Hamill, Sam -- Correspondence Handler, Esther -- Correspondence Hagedorn, Jessica Tarahata -- Correspondence Hamalian, Leo -- Correspondence Gidlow, Elsa -- Correspondence Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997 -- Correspondence Gardner, Geoffrey -- Archives Gibson, Morgan -- Correspondence Ferlinghetti, Lawrence -- Correspondence Forché, Carolyn -- Correspondence Douskey, Franz -- Correspondence Everson, William -- Correspondence Corman, Cid -- Correspondence Dana, Robert -- Correspondence Correspondence 191630 1954-1981 Scope and Contents note Series 1 consists of correspondence addressed primarily to Kenneth Rexroth from collaborators, personal friends, and professional acquaintances. Correspondence to and from Geoffrey Gardner regarding his edition of a Rexroth festschrift is described in Series 2. Personal correspondence 191693 1954-1981 Scope and Contents note Subseries 1 includes correspondence of a personal nature and unrelated to Rexroth's professional endeavors. Included here are letters, postcards, and greeting cards from personal friends and acquaintances, but also from unknown well-wishers, aspiring poets, and what Rexroth himself called "autograph hounds." Many of the items are annotated by Rexroth regarding how to respond, e.g. "No answer." Finding Aid for the Kenneth 01191241 4 Rexroth papers 0119 Correspondence 1916301954-1981 Personal correspondence 1916931954-1981 Box 1, Folder 1 Ackroyd, G. - Anderson, K. 191761 1973-1980 Scope and Contents note Ackroyd, Graham (1 item); Adam, Lucien (2 items); Adler, Tom (2 items); Allen, Jo Harvey (2 items); Alegria, Fernando (2 items); Allina, Anthony (1 item); Amanhouf, Josephine (1 item); Anderson, Kenneth (2 items) Box 1, Folder 2 Anderson, Marta 191760 undated Scope and Contents note 5 items Box 1, Folder 3 Andreae, Christina 191759 undated, 1979 Scope and Contents note 15 items Box 1, Folder 4 Appleman, Esther 191758 1975 Scope and Contents note 1 item Box 1, Folder 5 Armstrong, Amber 191757 1974-1975 Scope and Contents note 54 items. Contains correspondence and materials related to Amber Armstrong's housesitting duties during Kenneth Rexroth's tenure as a Fulbright Fellow in Japan and a 3 May 1975 aerogramme from Kenneth Rexroth to Amber Armstrong. Box 1, Folder 6 Axelrod, A. - Barbosa, P. 191756 1975-1978 Scope and
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