Description and Finding Aid SHELDON ZITNER FONDS F2300 Prepared by Emily Sommers, 2014 Sheldon Zitner fonds SHELDON ZITNER FONDS Dates of creation 195?-2005 Extent 66 cm of textual records 1.64 MB of electronic records (453 files) 1 audio compact disc (ca. 54 min.) Biographical sketch Sheldon Paul Zitner was a Professor of English at Trinity College and a published poet. He was born on April 20, 1924 in Brooklyn, New York, the eldest son of Dora and Morris Zitner and brother of Robert J. Zitner (b. 1932). He was educated at Townsend Harris High School (Flushing, New York) and subsequently enrolled in Brooklyn College at the age of 16. After three years he enlisted in the army and served in the United States Air Corps in the South Pacific during the Second World War. Upon his return he continued his studies and received his BA (1947), an MA from New York University (1948) and a PhD from Duke University (1955). In 1951 Prof. Zitner became an assistant professor at Hampton Institute (now Hampton University) in Hampton, Virginia. In 1957 he took a position in the English department at Grinnell College (Grinnell, Iowa) where he held several positions, becoming the Carter-Adams Professor of Literature (1963) and Roberts Honour Professor (1964). He also served as the chairman of the Department of English (1960, 1962-63) and the chairman of the Division of Humanities (1964-68). In 1969 Zitner came to Trinity College. His research interests included Shakespeare, Renaissance literature (especially drama), literary criticism, and contemporary poetry. He taught a variety of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels and supervised numerous doctoral theses. He published extensively in academic publications and edited three scholarly editions: Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing (Oxford University Press 1993), Francis Beaumont’s The Knight of the Burning Pestle (Manchester University Press 1984), and Edmund Spenser’s The Mutabilitie Cantos (Thomas Nelson and Sons, 1968). During his career Prof. Zitner took on many administrative and committee positions within the Department of English and was a member of professional organizations including the Shakespeare Association of America, the Toronto Renaissance and Reformation Colloquium, the Association of Canadian University Teachers of English, the Northeastern Modern Language Association, and the Society for Textual Scholarship. Upon his retirement in 1989, Zitner began to write poetry full-time. His first book of poetry, The Asparagus Feast , was published by McGill-Queen’s University Press in 1999, followed by Before We Had Words (MQUP) in 2002, The Hunt on the Lagoon (Goose Lane Editions) in 2005, and a small chapbook, Missing Persons (Junction Books) , in 2003. His poems were published in various literary publications including The Walrus , Fiddlehead , and The Nation . In the years prior to his death, he began working on a translation project with Herbert Batt, “Chinese Vernacular Poetry, 1919-1949”, which remains unpublished. He maintained strong ties with Trinity College after his retirement and was an active member of the Friends of the Library. In 2001 he received an honorary doctorate of sacred letters from the College in recognition of his many years of teaching. Sheldon Zitner married Dona M. Waldhauser of Brooklyn, New York in 1947 or 1948. Their daughterr, Julia was born 15 March 1963. Julia Zitner married Duncan Steel of Wirksworth, Derbyshire, England in and they have one daughter, Rebecca Steel, born 2005. Sheldon Paul Zitner died on April 26, 2005, in Toronto. Scope and content Fonds consists of records created by Sheldon P. Zitner over the course of his career as a scholar, writer, and poet. Files include published and unpublished drafts of poetry, correspondence relating to his career as a poet, drafts of academic essays, and various other records relating to his career. Also included is a copy of an interview of Zitner with Michael Enright from 2000. 2 Sheldon Zitner fonds Contains series 1. The Asparagus Feast . 2. Before We Had Words. 3. Missing Persons. 4. The Hunt on the Lagoon . 5. Unpublished Materials 6. Published Materials 7. Biographical and teaching files 8. Electronic records Notes Acquisition history: Materials accrued in three accessions from Sheldon Zitner’s literary executor Fred Tromly. Arrangement: After Zitner’s death, records were re-arranged at the file level by his literary executor Fred Tromly. Subsequently, materials have been arranged into series by the archivist. Electronic records have been migrated to PDF/A format for long-term preservation and access. Restrictions on access : None Terms governing use and reproduction / publication : Copyright is held by Julia Zitner Steel Accruals: No further accruals are expected. Provenance access points : Zitner, Sheldon Paul, 1924-2005 3 Sheldon Zitner fonds SERIES 1: THE ASPARAGUS FEAST Dates of creation: 1998 - 1999 Extent: 7 cm of textual records Scope and content: Series consists of materials relating to the publication of The Asparagus Feast, (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 1999), including correspondence, annotated manuscripts, and early versions of poems included in the final edition. Location / File Listing FOLDER/UNIT TITLE START END CONTENTS BOX/ DATE DATE FILE # Bound copy and correspondence 1998 Early draft of The Asparagus Feast 1-1 with annotations and related correspondence regarding revisions. Also included is the contract between Zitner and McGill-Queen’s University Press. Bound copy with inserted material [199-] Bound draft with handwritten table 1-2 of contents and additional poems inserted into manuscript. Proof 1999 Final proof with minor edits of The 1-3 Asparagus Feast from June 1999. SERIES 2: BEFORE WE HAD WORDS Dates of creation: [199-]-[200-] Extent: 7 cm of textual records Scope and content: Series consists of materials relating to the publication of Before We Had Words . (Montreal and Kingston: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002), including annotated manuscripts and early versions of poems included in the final edition. Also included are poems written around the same time, but which were omitted from the final publication. Location / File Listing FOLDER/UNIT TITLE START END CONTENTS BOX/ DATE DATE FILE # Bound early draft [200-] Early bound draft of Before We 1-4 Had Words with annotations by Zitner and others. Proof 2002 Uncorrected proof from March 1-5 2002 Early draft [200-] Unknown version of Before We 1-6 Had Words with annotations 4 Sheldon Zitner fonds “A Kind Life” [200-] Unpublished poetry collection 1-7 including early drafts of poems included in Before We Had Words . Miscellaneous poems [199-?] [200-] Early drafts of poems related to 1-8 Before We Had Words. SERIES 3: MISSING PERSONS Dates of creation: 2003 Extent: 7 cm of textual records Scope and content: Series consists of materials relating to the publication of Missing Persons (Toronto: Junction Books, 2003), including early drafts, manuscripts, and final published version of the chapbook. Location / File Listing: FOLDER/UNIT TITLE START END CONT ENTS BOX/ DATE DATE FILE # Published version 2003 Published version of Missing 1-9 Persons, a chapbook collection of verse; copy 24 of 75. Drafts 2003 Early drafts of Missing Persons 1-10 with annotations by Zitner Drafts 2003 Two early drafts of Missing 1-11 Persons containing annotated poems later removed from final chapbook. SERIES 4: THE HUNT ON THE LAGOON Dates of creation: [199-]-[200-] Extent: 13 cm of textual records Scope and content: Series consists of materials relating to the publication of The Hunt on the Lagoon (Fredericton, N.B.: Goose Lane, 2005), including correspondence, manuscripts annotated by Zitner and his friends Fred and Annette Tromly, and early versions of poems included in the final edition. Also included are poems submitted to Canadian poetry journals. Location / File Listing FOLDER/UNIT TITLE START END CONTENTS BOX/ DATE DATE FILE # 5 Sheldon Zitner fonds Stage 1 [200-?] [200-?] Earliest complete version 2-1 Stage 2 [200-?] [200-?] 2-2 Stage 2 extra [200-?] [200-?] Second copy of above 2-3 Stage 4 [200-?] [200-?] 2-4 Stage 4+ [200-?] [200-?] Final revisions 2-5 1st proof 2005 2005 2-6 2nd corrected proof 2005 2005 2-7 Fred Tromly’s proofreading copy [200-?] [200-?] 2-8 Copy with changes [200-?] [200-?] 2 changes not included in 2-9 published version Copy with early handwritten changes [200-?] [200-?] 2-10 Copy with edits [200-?] [200-?] 2-11 Version with Fred Tromly’s [200-?] [200-?-] 2-12 corrections Original submission to Goose Lane [200-?] [200-?] 2-13 First set-up version with annotations [2005?] [2005?] 2-14 by the Tromly’s Table of contents [2005?] [2005?] 2-15 Selected poems from The Hunt on 2004 2004 Poems selected by Zitner for 2-16 the Lagoon submission to Canadian literary journals, with correspondence Poems rejected for The Hunt on the [199-?] [200-?] 2-17 Lagoon Discards [199-?] 200-?] 4 poems not included in The 2-18 Hunt on the Lagoon 6 Sheldon Zitner fonds SERIES 5: Unpublished Materials Dates of creation: 1960-2005 Extent: 13 cm of textual records Scope and content: Series consists of unpublished materials created by Zitner over the course of his life as an academic and poet. Includes notebooks, poem drafts, essay drafts on Shakespeare, and lyrics for a cabaret musical which was never produced. Also includes files related to a translation project of Chinese poetry with friend Herbert Batt. Location / File Listing: FOLDER/UNIT TITLE START END CONTENTS BOX/ DATE DATE FILE # Chinese translations [199-] Various typed manuscripts of 3-1 translated poems, photocopies of poetry books, as well as re-typed & annotated translated poems by Zitner Chinese translations – current [200-] 2004 Includes: draft table of contents, 3-2 correspondence, and proposal summary for publication Chinese translations – draft [199-] [200-] Translated drafts of Chinese 3-3 poems Poetry drafts Multiple versions of some poems, 3-4 including “The Hunt on the Lagoon” Poetry readings Various poems marked up for 3-5 poetry readings at the Victory Café Russian translations Russian poems with English 3-6 translations, annotated by Zitner “No Direction in Henry V” [ca.