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Armand Schwerner Papers http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt0t1n97k3 No online items Armand Schwerner Papers Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Copyright 2005 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla 92093-0175 [email protected] URL: http://libraries.ucsd.edu/collections/sca/index.html Armand Schwerner Papers MSS 0485 1 Descriptive Summary Languages: English Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego 9500 Gilman Drive La Jolla 92093-0175 Title: Armand Schwerner Papers Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0485 Physical Description: 35 Linear feet (74 archives boxes, 12 card file boxes, 2 flat boxes, and 6 oversize folders) Date (inclusive): 1945 - 1999 Abstract: Papers of Armand Schwerner, poet, performance artist, musician, translator, editor and professor of literature. The papers contain correspondence, drafts of published and unpublished poetry and prose, journals, notes, translations, reviews and editorial work. Schwerner's readings and performances are represented by flyers, text, photographs, and audio and videorecordings. Also included are drafts of writings of others and subject files related his interest in Buddhism, and various biographical documents. Scope and Content of Collection The Armand Schwerner Papers document all stages of his life and intermingled activities as a poet, playwright, translator, performer and teacher. The papers contain manuscript and typescript drafts of Schwerner's prose and poetry, including his long serial poem The Tablets, published collected poetry and unpublished poems. Many of his activities as a performance artist, both in reading his own works and in collaboration with others, are represented by texts, instructions, photographs, film, audio and videorecordings. Also included are interviews with Schwerner; articles by others about his work; correspondence with family, editors, artists and other poets including Stephen Berg, Michael Heller, Toby Olson, and George Oppen; drafts of translations; editorial work; teaching materials; conference and meeting materials; prepublication writings of other poets; and research files related to Schwerner's interest in Buddhism and Akkadian and Sumerian texts. High school and college notebooks, papers and other materials document Schwerner's educational development and academic training. The papers date from the late 1940s through material that was published posthumously in 1999. The papers are arranged in thirteen series: 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) WRITINGS BY SCHWERNER, 4) PERFORMANCES AND READINGS, 5) INTERVIEWS / CRITICISM, 6) TEACHING MATERIALS, 7) CONFERENCES AND MEETINGS, 8) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 9) SUBJECT FILES, 10) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, 11) PHOTOGRAPHS AND FILMS, 12) RECORDINGS, and 13) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES. Biography Armand Schwerner was born on May 11, 1927, in Antwerp, Belgium. His family immigrated to the United States in the mid-1930s, and settled in New York City. He attended Cornell University, where he published his first poems in the Cornell Review. Schwerner then attended Columbia University, earning a B.A. in 1950 and a M.A. in 1964. In 1964 he began teaching English at Staten Island Community College. In the late 1950s, Schwerner published poems in small magazines. His first book of poetry, The Lightfall, appeared in 1963 from Jerome Rothenberg's Hawk's Well Press. During this period he also co-authored with Donald Kaplan a satiric prose book, The Doomsday Dictionary, published by Simon and Schuster in 1963. In the mid-1960s, Schwerner began writing a long serial poem, "The Tablets," which was framed as translations of erratic texts on clay tablets from an extinct culture in the Near East. The first publications of "The Tablets" announced that these poems were "transmitted through Armand Schwerner," who, in turn, represented himself in a fictional form in the poem as the "scholar/translator." Numbered serially, the first eight "Tablets" were published by the Cummington Press in 1968 as The Tablets I-VIII, and a subsequent volume, The Tablets I-XV, was published by Grossman in 1971. Three subsequent collections of poems gathered expanded versions of "The Tablets," which finally culminated with a posthumous edition of 27 complete tablets, accompanied with journal notes and divigations, from the National Poetry Foundation at the University of Maine in 1999. The Tablets were also used in two theatrical productions, one eponymous staging by the Living Theater in their 1989-1990 repertory and another entitled Dragon Bond Rite, in 1995. Schwerner's works of collected poetry also include If Personal (1968); Seaweed (1969); The Bacche Sonnets (1974); This Practice (1976); The Work, the Joy and the Triumph of the Will (1977); Sounds of the River Naranjana (1983); and Selected Shorter Poems (1999). Schwerner was adept as a translator, concentrating on work from Native American texts, but he also produced a translation of Philoctetes by Sophocles, as well as an incomplete version of Dante's Inferno, which he was working on at the time of his death. Schwerner read his poetry at dozens of venues throughout his career, often collaborating with other artists or Armand Schwerner Papers MSS 0485 2 providing his own musical improvisations. Schwerner died in February 1999. Publication Rights Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection. Preferred Citation Armand Schwerner Papers, MSS 485. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego. Acquisition Information Acquired 1999-2016. Restrictions Original films and recordings are restricted. Researchers must request user copies be produced. Extremely brittle documents have been photocopied for preservation. The original documents are restricted due to fragility; researchers may use the photocopies located in the collection. Subjects and Indexing Terms American poetry -- 20th century Andrews, Bruce, 1948- -- Correspondence Weiss, Mark -- Correspondence Blackburn, Paul, 1926-1971 -- Correspondence Bernstein, Charles, 1950- -- Correspondence Economou, George -- Correspondence DuPlessis, Rachel Blau -- Correspondence Joris, Pierre -- Correspondence Heller, Michael, 1937- -- Correspondence Mac Low, Jackson -- Correspondence Kelly, Robert, 1935- -- Correspondence Paul, Sherman -- Correspondence Olson, Toby -- Correspondence Wakoski, Diane -- Correspondence Rothenberg, Jerome, 1931- -- Correspondence Schwerner, Armand -- Archives Tarn, Nathaniel -- Correspondence Zweig, Ellen, 1947- -- Correspondence Fraser, Kathleen, 1935- -- Correspondence Armand Schwerner Papers MSS 0485 3 BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS General BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS Scope and Content of Series SERIES 1) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS: Arranged in six subseries: A) General Materials, B) Address Books, C) Appointment Calendars, D) Educational Materials, E) Family Materials, and F) Tax Returns. A) General Materials: Documents relating to Schwerner's life, including his birth certificate, identity cards, passports, curriculum vitae, as well as immigration, marriage and military service documents. Also included are clippings about Schwerner. Arranged alphabetically. B) Address Books C) Appointment Calendars: Includes bound calendars and loose leaves of monthly calendars with annotated entries, often with several versions for each month. Arranged chronologically. D) Educational Materials: Class notebooks, loose notes, transcripts, and examination books from Schwerner's high school and college education. His school essays are located in SERIES 2: WRITINGS. Arranged alphabetically by institution. E) Family Materials: Genealogical content in the form of photocopies of letters. F) Tax Returns: Documentation of Schwerner's income-generating activities and non-teaching sources of income. Arranged chronologically. General Box 1, Folder 1 65th Birthday celebration May 17, 1992 Box 1, Folder 2 70th Birthday celebration. Guest list, announcement and birthday cards 1997 Box 1, Folder 3 Birth certificate. Duplicate 1984 Box 1, Folder 4 Certificate of U.S. citizenship June 27, 1951 Box 1, Folder 5 Clippings about Schwerner 1972 - 1987 Box 1, Folder 6 Columbia University. Diplomas 1950 and 1964 Box 1, Folder 7-8 Curriculum vitae 1972 - 1995 Box 1, Folder 9 Divorce materials 1975 - 1980 Box 1, Folder 10 Drawings of Schwerner Box 1, Folder 11 Driver's test 1945 Box 1, Folder 12 Employment materials 1951 - 1955 Box 1, Folder 13 Hawaii trip 1973 Box 1, Folder 14 Illness and funeral materials 1997 - 1999 Box 1, Folder 15 International Biographical Centre. International Authors and Writers Who's Who, 14th Edition 1995 Box 1, Folder 16 Marriage materials 1961 Box 1, Folder 17 Medical appeal letter 1998 Box 1, Folder 18 Military service 1945 - 1951 Box 1, Folder 19 Miscellaneous Box 1, Folder 20 Obituaries for Armand Schwerner 1999 Box 1, Folder 21 Passports and identity cards 1950 - 1994 Box 1, Folder 22 Performance banquet to honor Armand Schwerner April 11, 1999 Box 1, Folder 23 Publication flyers that mention Schwerner Box 1, Folder 24 Reviews that mention Schwerner 1971 - 1972 Address Books Box 2, Folder 1 Loose notes Box 2, Folder 2 Addresses and phone directory February 3, 1991 Box 2, Folder 3 Telnet Box 3, Folder 1 Miscellaneous books Appointment Calendars Armand Schwerner Papers MSS 0485 4 BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS Appointment Calendars Box 3, Folder 2 1980 - 1987, July Box 4, Folder 1 1987, August - 1991 Box 5, Folder 1 1991, March - 1996, January Box 6, Folder 1 1997, October - 1998, February Box 6, Folder 2 1998 Educational Materials Box 6, Folder 3 List of graduate courses
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