Description
Papers of an important editor who has had a significant impact on the development of post WW II American poetry. Through
both his landmark anthologies and publication of numerous neglected poets, Allen has almost singlehandly enlarged the canon
of contemporary poetry in the United States. The collection consists of four different groups or series of materials: materials
pertaining to the editorial work at Grove Press, Four Seasons Foundation, Grey Fox Press, and to special projects Allen did
for Penguin and St. James presses; materials produced by and regarding the poet Frank O'Hara, especially his COLLECTED POEMS
which Allen edited; papers written by Allen at the universities of Iowa and California, Berkeley; and finally a substantial
correspondence with many of the most important writers and editors in America during the last twenty five years, including
John Ashbery, Robin Blaser, Robert Creeley, Robert Duncan, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Michael McClure, Gary Snyder, Lew
Welch, and Philip Whalen. The addition processed in 1991 contains manuscript and typescript materials related to the Four
Seasons Foundation publication of INTERVIEWS (1980) by Edward Dorn and THE GRACES (1983) by Aaron Shurin; and the Grey Fox
Press publication of ENOUGH SAID (1980) by Philip Whalen and I REMAIN (1980), a collection of Lew Welch's letters.
Background
Donald Allen, one of the most influential editors and publishers of contemporary American literature, was born in Iowa in
1912. During the Second World War he was a Japanese translator, and then became an editor at Grove Press, where he stayed
for sixteen years. Allen has devoted his career to making innovative writing available to the public. He has edited several
important anthologies of contemporary American writing and has published the work of many important poets through his two
presses.
Extent
33.50 linear feet
(71 archives boxes, 1 records carton, 1 card file box, 30 oversize folders)