Ralph Gustafson Literary Papers at the University of Saskatchewan
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Ralph Gustafson A Finding Aid for the Ralph Gustafson Literary Papers at the University of Saskatchewan, Prepared by Joel Salt Special Collections Supervisor University of Saskatchewan February 2010 Collection Summary: Title: Ralph Gustafson Literary Papers. Dates: 1930s-late1960s. ID No.: MSS 6– . Creator: Gustafson, Ralph, 1909-1995. Extent: 8 boxes; 1m. Language: Collection material in English. Repository: Special Collections, University of Saskatchewan. Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Abstract: The Gustafson collection includes five boxes of correspondence, including many with some of Canada's leading literary figures from the 1930s to the 1960s. The collection also houses manuscripts, proofs, and published first editions of some of Gustafson's well-known publications. There are also newspaper clippings and reviews. Provenance: The papers were acquired in the 1960s at a similar time to the acquisitions of the Layton and the Purdy collections. Custodial Note: Copyright info Biography: Ralph Gustafson (1909-1995) was born in Lime Ridge, Quebec, but grew up in Sherbrook. He attended Bishop's University, earning a double honours B.A. in English and History in 1929, winning the Governor General's Medal and placing top in his class. He received an M.A. in 1930, successfully defending his thesis "The Sensuous Imagery of Shelley and Keats." He also completed a B.A. at Keble College, Oxford in 1933, an M.A. in 1963, and was awarded a D. Litt. from Mount Allison in 1973, a D.C.L. from Bishop's University in 1977, and a D. Litt from York University in 1991. After his B.A. from Oxford, Gustafson moved to New York, where he stayed for many years and become friends with many of the members of the literary scene there, including Auden, Cummings and W.C. Williams. Gustafson's anthologies kept in clued into the Canadian literary scene and also kept him in contact with most major poets post WWII (there are several letters between Gustafson and many major Canadian writers in our collection). 2 Over the years, Dr. Gustafson held a number of posts. He was music master, Bishop's College School, 1920-30; teacher of English St. Alban's School for Boys, Brockville, Ontario, 1933-34; tutor and journalist, London, England, 1935-38; British Information Services, New York, N.Y., 1942-46; Professor and Poet-In-Residence, Bishop's University, 1963-79 and music critic, C.B.C., since 1960. Winner of numerous awards, including the Order of Canada in 1992 and the Governor General's Award for Poetry (for Fire on Stone, 1974), Dr. Gustafson wrote over twenty volumes of poetry and prose and edited several anthologies of verse. He died in 1995. His views on poetry are documented in essays collected in Plummets and Other Partialities (1986), and in letters to W.W.E. Ross published as A Literary Friendship in 1984. He also was in contact with many other literary and culturally significant people. - Adapted from Ralph Gustafson and His Works by Dermot McCarthy. Gustafson Bibliography: • The Golden Chalice (London: Ivor Nicholson & Watson, 1935) • Alfred the Great (London: Michael Joseph, 1937) • Epithalamium in Time of War (New York: L. F. White, 1941) • Lyrics Unromantic (New York: Privately printed, 1942) • Flight into Darkness: Poems (New York: Pantheon, 1944) • Quebec, Late Autumn (Offprint from Queen's Quarterly, 1950) • Quebec Winter Scene (Offprint from Dalhousie Review, 1952) • Hard Litany (Offprint from the Dalhousie Review, 1953) • Rivers Among Rocks (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1960) • Rocky Mountain Poems (Vancouver: Klanak, 1960) • Sift in an Hourglass (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1966) • Ixion's Wheel: Poems (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1969) • Selected Poems (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1972) • Theme and Variations for Sounding Brass (Sherbrooke, P.Q.: Progressive Publications, 1972) • Fire on Stone (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1974) • Corners in the Glass (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1977) • Soviet Poems: Sept. 13 to Oct. 5, 1976 (Winnipeg: Turnstone, 1978) • Gradations of Grandeur: a Poem (Victoria: Sono Nis, 1979) • Sequences: Poems (Windsor, Ont.: Black Moss, 1979) • Landscape with Rain (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1980) • Nine Poems (Toronto: League of Canadian Poets, 1980) • The Remarkable Heavens (Lantzville, B.C.: Oolichan Books, 1980) • Conflicts of Spring (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1981) • Dentelle / Indented: Poems (Trans. Roland Sutherland, et al. Colorado Springs, Colorado: Colorado College Press, 1982) • The Moment is All: Selected Poems, 1944-83 (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1983) • Solidarnosc: Prelude (Sherbrooke, Que.: Progressive Publications, 1983) • At the Ocean's Verge: Selected Poems (Ed. John Walsh. Literary Series. Redding Ridge, Conn.: Black Swan, 1984) 3 • Directives of Autumn (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1984) • Impromptus (Lantzville, B.C.: Oolichan Books, 1984) • Twelve Landscapes (Toronto: Shaw Street, 1985) • Manipulations on Greek Themes: Poems (Toronto: Ascham, 1986) • Collected Poems (Victoria, B.C.: Sono Nis, 1987) • Winter Prophecies (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1987) • The Celestial Corkscrew and Other Strategies (Oakville, Ont.: Mosaic, 1989) • Shadows in the Grass: Poems (Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1991) • Configurations at Midnight (Toronto: ECW, 1992) • Collected Poems Vol. 3 (Victoria, B.C.: Sono Nis, 1994) • Tracks in the Snow (Lantzville, B.C.: Oolichan, 1994) • Visions Fugitive (Montreal: Vehicule, 1996) Sub Series: I. Correspondence. II. Manuscripts. III. Proofs. IV. Published Material by R. Gustafson. V. Newspaper Clippings. Detailed Description: MSS 6/1 Box 1 Correspondence. A. 1 – 49. 1. Acorn, Milton. 1961. Acorn critiquing some poems Gustafson sent for inclusion in Acorn’s magazine Moment and a reply by Gustafson. 2. Adeney, Marcus. 1942-45. Correspondence concerning Gustafson’s anthology and Canadian poetry in general including specifically the magazines First Statement, The Review, Voices and Mazzolini and the poets Earle Birney and E.J. Pratt. Art print included. 3. Anderson, Patrick. 1943-59. Correspondence about using Anderson’s poetry in a guest edition of Voices edited by Gustafson and his Anthology of Canadian Literature and Anthology of Canadian Verse. Cheques for payment. 4. Arendt, F.J. 1947-48. Arendt’s request for Canadian Accent for study as well as inquiry into German translations of Gustafson’s “Scrubwoman” and “Foreward to Canadian Accent.” Some correspondence concerning some of Canada’s leading poets. Letter from Margaret Avison about her inclusion in Arendt’s planned anthology. 5. Aviles, Alonso. 1947-1953. Letter asking about a Spanish translation of “biography” by Aviles, the translation being included, and translation publications. Poems included: “paradox” (in translation), “paradoja,” “the revolution of the stomachs,” “the mirror,” “simbolos y ritmo,” “rendezvous” (translation), “rendezvous…,” “a feathery silence … ,” (translation), “un silencio …,” “resurrection in death” (translation), “resurreccion,” “symbols and rhythm” (translation). 4 6. Avison, Margaret. 1947-61. Letter concerning publication of Avison’s material for Voices and Penguin Anthology of Canadian Poetry, edited by Gustafson. Cheque for payment included. Avison poems included: “Meeting Together of Poles & Latitudes: In Prospect,” “Butterfly Bones; or Sonnet against Sonnets,” “Snow,” “Tennis.” 7. Bailey, Alfred G. 1942-1957. Letter saying Bailey sent Gustafson poems unsolicited, with a couple being used by Gustafson in his guest edited edition of Voices and Anthology of Canadian Poetry. Biographical notes on Bailey. 8. Balogh, Erno. 1953. One letter thanking Gustafson for sending Balogh two books. 9. Behrman, Sam N. 1942-49. Letters from Behrman thanking Gustafson for his poetry and Gustafson’s reciprocation. Letter requesting Gustafson’s help re: publishing American work in post-war Germany. 10. Benet, William Rose. 1949. Correspondence concerning Gustafson’s inclusion in Saturday Review of Literature. 11. Benson, Nathaniel. 1941-44. Correspondence concerning inclusion in “Best Poem of 1939” in Canadian Poetry magazine and about the Canadian Author’s Association meeting in 1944. 12. Berlin, Isiah. ?. One short letter. 13. Birney, Earle. 1939-63. Letters concerning the accepting some of Gustafson’s poems for a magazine edited by Birney, as well as some of Birney’s poems for a collection edited by Gustafson and The Forum, among other publications. Letters concerning a short story anthology and concerning the state of poetry and literature and their writers in Canada (during the 1940s). Letter from Frank Flemington, from the Ryerson Press. Cheque for payment. Personal letters about the war, health, the CBC, professional life, family etc. Correspondence with J.B. Marshall, on the awards committee for The Royal Society of Canada, concerning Birney’s application. Birney poem included: “Man is a Snow.” 14. Bourinot, A.S. 1941-1958. Correspondence concerning Bourinot’s possible inclusion in Gustafson’s anthology. Cheque for payment of “The Letters of Thomson to Lampman” edited by Bourinot. 15. Bowen, Minnie H. 1941. Correspondence concerning Canadian poetry. Poem included: “Onward.” 16. Bowen, Louise Morey. 1941. Correspondence concerning Bowen’s inclusion in the Penguin Anthology of Canadian Poetry and Voices. Poem included: “Divine Hostler.” 17. Brinnin, John M. 1940-41. Letters concerning Mr. Brinnin’s nationality and omission from the anthology. 18. Brott, Alexander. 1955. Two letters concerning adding music to Gustafson’s six preludes. 19. Brown,