The Gilbert Sorrentino Papers feature the materials of literary production of Sorrentino's creative career into 1999, including manuscripts, personal notebooks, and correspondence. Also present is a comprehensive collection of his papers and teaching materials from classes taught at Stanford.

Gilbert Sorrentino was born in Brooklyn, New York on April 27, 1929. His education at Brooklyn College was interrupted in 1951 by his service in the U. S. Army Medical Corps. In 1955 he returned to Brooklyn college, where he founded the magazine Neon with college friends, notably Hubert Selby Jr., Fielding Dawson, and Leroi Jones. He also served as editor for Kulchur magazine and worked at Grove Press from 1965 - 70. He published his first book of poems, The Darkness Surrounds Us in 1960, which was followed by Black and White (1964) In 1965, he released his first novel, The Sky Changes (1966), and began his teaching career with a course at Columbia University. Although highly regarded by critics, Sorrentino's work has always been experimental and avant-garde and gained popular attention late, with the publication of Mulligan Stew (1979). In 1982 he joined the faculty of Stanford University, teaching creative writing until his retirement in 1999. He is the recipient of numerous awards including Guggenheim Fellow in Fiction (1973, 1987), John Dos Passos Prize for Literature (1981), Mildred and Harold Strauss Livings of the American Academy of Arts and Letters (1982), American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature (1985), and the Lannan Literary Award for Fiction (1992).

66 Linear Feet

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