Vince Clemente papers This finding aid was produced using ArchivesSpace on September 26, 2021. English. Describing Archives: A Content Standard Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester Rush Rhees Library Second Floor, Room 225 Rochester, NY 14627-0055 [email protected] URL: https://www.library.rochester.edu/spaces/rbscp Vince Clemente papers Table of Contents Summary Information .................................................................................................................................... 3 Biographical/Historical note .......................................................................................................................... 3 Scope and Contents note ............................................................................................................................... 4 Administrative Information .......................................................................................................................... 15 Related Materials ......................................................................................................................................... 15 Controlled Access Headings ........................................................................................................................ 16 Collection Inventory ..................................................................................................................................... 16 Series I: Manuscripts, typescripts, proofs ................................................................................................. 16 Series II: Published articles and selected poems ...................................................................................... 25 Series III: Newspaper articles ................................................................................................................... 31 Series IV: Lectures and readings .............................................................................................................. 32 Series V: Correspondence with American poets ...................................................................................... 35 Series VI: Reviews of Clemente's works .................................................................................................. 56 Series VII: Other authors .......................................................................................................................... 57 Subseries I: Peter Thabit Jones material ................................................................................................ 57 Subseries II: John Ciardi material .......................................................................................................... 62 Subseries III: John Steinbeck material ................................................................................................... 70 Subseries IV: William Heyen material .................................................................................................. 70 Subseries V: Carolyn M. Kleefeld ......................................................................................................... 72 Subseries VI: Additional authors ........................................................................................................... 72 Series VIII: Biography .............................................................................................................................. 76 Subseries I: Biographical material ......................................................................................................... 76 Subseries II: Materials from Clemente's library .................................................................................... 77 - Page 2 - Vince Clemente papers Summary Information Repository: Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester Creator: Clemente, Vince Creator: Ciardi, John, 1916-1986 Creator: Jones, Peter Thabit Title: Vince Clemente papers ID: D.280 Date [inclusive]: 1974-2011 Physical Description: 26 boxes Language of the English Material: Preferred Citation [Item title, item date], Vince Clemente Papers, D.280, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester ^ Return to Table of Contents Biographical/Historical note Vince Clemente, American poet, biographer, critic, editor, and professor of English was born on April 28, 1932. The son of an Italian-American fisherman and seamstress from New York City, Clemente was interested and inspired by local surroundings and artists - a subject matter of much of his poetry and scholarship. He received a BA in English (Honors) from St. Francis College of Brooklyn in 1953 and served in the U.S. Army's 716th Military Police Battalion from 1953 to 1955. Clemente earned his Master's Degree in English (Honors) from Columbia University and continued his graduate studies at Columbia from 1959 to 1960. Clemente has written nine volumes of poetry: Under a Baleful Star, A Garland for Margaret Fuller (2006), Sweeter Than Vivaldi (2002), Watergaw Along the Thames (1999), A Place for Lost Children (1997), This Shining Place (1992), Girl in the Yellow Caboose (1991), Broadbill Off Conscience Bay (1982), Songs from Puccini (1978), and Snow Owl Above Stony Brook Harbor (1977). His poems and other writings have appeared in journals and newspapers including The New York Times, The - Page 3- Vince Clemente papers Boston Book Review, Newsday, The South Carolina Review, Poets and Writers Magazine, Cumberland Poetry Review, Blue Unicorn, VIA, and Italian-Americana, and in a selection of newspapers and other publications in the United Kingdom, including The Seventh Quarry: Swansea [Wales] Poetry Magazine. Also, his poems have been featured in anthologies, including Blood to Remember: American Poets on the Holocaust (1991), Island Light: A Long Island Anthology (1983), Remembering Walt Whitman: Centenary Celebration (1992), and Darwin: A Norton Critical Third Edition (2001). In addition, Clemente has collaborated on a bilingual volume of poetry, Soapte ale sufletului/Whispers of the Soul (2008), with Peter Thabit Jones, translated into Romanian by Olimpia Iacob. In addition to his poetry, Clemente has authored four books: Remembering John Hall Wheelock: North Atlantic Review (1991), John Ciardi: Measure of the Man (1986), Paumanok Rising: Figures in a Landscape (1982), and From This Book of Praise: Conversation with William Heyen (1981). He also wrote a personal responsive essay for the first publication of the bilingual drama, Baiatul si Capul Leului/ The Boy and the Lion's Head (2009), by Peter Thabit Jones, translated into Romanian by Olimpia Iacob. He served as the editor of North Atlantic Review, Long Island Historical Journal, West Hills Review: A Walt Whitman Journal, Long Pond Review, and Lyrismos (the latter three he founded). Clemente took pride in the legacy of Long Island authors and artists, and became a trustee of Whitman's Long Island birthplace, where he also founded the poet-in-residence program. He was also a leader in the movement to erect a memorial statue to author John Steinbeck in Sag Harbor, Long Island. Clemente currently is English Professor Emeritus at SUNY Stony Brook, a lecturer and journalist, as well as author and poet. He is presently Consulting Editor, America, for The Seventh Quarry: Swansea [Wales] Poetry Magazine and a columnist for The Sag Harbor Express. From 1996–1998 he was a lecturer and writer at Richmond-On-Thames, England, and was visiting writer to a number of American institutions including CW Post College, Hofstra University, Dowling College, and several SUNY schools. Clemente has been the recipient of many awards and honors, including grants from the New York State Council of the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. He is recipient of the first North Sea Scene Poetry Recognition Award. ^ Return to Table of Contents Scope and Contents note The Vince Clemente Papers consist of published and unpublished manuscripts, correspondence (including John Ciardi, John Hall Wheelock, and William Heyen) and printed ephemera. Materials date primarily from the 1980s forward, although there is some earlier correspondence. Materials are organized over time as acquired beginning in 2000 and by subsequent updated acquisitions from Vince Clemente. Boxes 21-26 represent later additions to the collection. Index of correspondence within the collection: A - Page 4- Vince Clemente papers Abramson, Martin Ahern, John Allen, Gay Wilson Anjali, Gurani Appleman, Philip Arrowsmith, William Ashbery, John Asimov, Issac Astor, Susan Awsaph, Philip Axinn, Donald E. B Bain, David H. Balducci, Carolyn Barkan, Stanley Bart, Jill Battaglia, Concetta Bell, Marvin Bertolino, James Bishop, Janice Bly, Robert Booth, Philip Bourjaily, Robin Brinnin, John M. Bridsky, Stan - Page 5- Vince Clemente papers Broxton, Bonnie Russell Bruccoli, Matthew J. Brunnemer, Lewis Bryant, William Cullen II Bumas, Jonathan Burnshaw, Stanley Byrnes, Fred C Cardia, Joseph Carruth, Hayden Carter, Jared Castan, Fran Cedering, Siv Chapman, Wayne Chang, Diana Ciardi, Ella Ciardi, John Ciardi, Judith Cifelli, Edward M. Ciolli, Vivian Codrescu, Andrei Coles, Robert Connellan, Leo Conner, Alison Murphy Costa, Judith Ann "Judy" - Page 6- Vince Clemente papers Coulehan, Jack Cousins, Norman Cowley, Lisa Creeley, Robert D Davidson, Peter de Pazzi, Elles Dickey, James Di Piero, W.S. Dodd, Wayne Dolan,