Description
Papers of Ron Silliman, American writer and editor. Silliman has lived in the San Francisco Bay Area most of his life and
is associated with the Language school of contemporary writers. He edited the anthology In The American Tree, published in
1986. The papers include extensive correspondence with many prominent contemporary writers, including Rae Armantrout, Charles
Bernstein, Michael Davidson, Lyn Hejinian, Douglas Messerli, John Taggart, and Hanna Weiner. Also included are drafts of
Silliman's published works, notebooks, and materials relating to In the American Tree. The collection is divided into five
series: 1) ORIGINAL FINDING AID, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) WRITINGS, 4) IN THE AMERICAN TREE and 5) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION
PHOTOCOPIES.
Background
Ron Silliman was born in Pasco, Washington, in 1946. Raised north of Berkeley in Albany, California, Silliman has spent most
of his life in the San Francisco Bay Area. He attended Merritt College in Oakland, San Francisco State University, and the
University of California, Berkeley.