Biographical Files 1916-2000
Series Scope and Content Summary
General 1916-2000
Autobiographical manuscript sketches (6 pp) [2000]
Autobiographical manuscript sketches, (15 photocopied pages) [2000]
Typescript excerpt from taped interview with Edith Shiffert by Margaret Chula (5pp) 1991
"My Ancestors"; 10th grade school paper, manuscript (2 pp) Dec 2,1930
Chronologies, biographical sketches (8 pp) undated
Bibliographies (11 pp) undated
Curriculum Vitae and attached correspondence inquiring teaching position 1962-1965
Job descriptions, drafts and documents (7 pp) 1948-1964
Applications; carbon drafts (5 pp) undated
Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) employment documents (12 pp and 1 card) 1955
National Endowment For the Arts applications & attached material 1976-1978
Contemporary Authors, International Biographical Center and Charles E. Tuttle Co. author questionnaires and drafts 1974-1988
Ephemera; School report cards (10), and certificates (5) 1922-[1928]
Ephemera; Library cards (1936-1944; 4 cards); Baby clinic weight card (1916); Confirmation certificate (Apr 2, 1930); Certificate of proficiency in typing (Jan 10, 1957) 1916-1957
Receipts, royalty statements (5 pp) 1966-1993
Address slips and business cards undated
Address books (3); "1963 & before, Seattle", "1964-", and "Late 1970's Takanogawa house, Ikeda Mansion" 1963-1970
Clippings and articles about Edith Shiffert 1938-1994
Minoru Sawano's personal history; typescript page and notes by Edith Shiffert, and photocopied manuscript (in Japanese) 1980
Activity 1956-1989
The 26th Annual Kyushu Seminar in American Literature; Invitation letter, schedule, notes, background material, and typescript and photocopies (annotated and unannotated drafts) to a lecture on "Several Women Poets Who Influenced Theodore Roethke" by Edith Shiffert 1980
Workshop on "Chinese and Japanese Poetry in Translation" by Edith Shiffert; handouts Apr 23, 1976
Speech on "Pacific Northwest poets" given at Literary Group meeting, Tallmadge Hamilton House; annotated typescript (4 pp) and clippings (3) Mar 2, 1959
Speech on creative writing, San Diego Sorority; annotated typescript (6 pp) Apr 26, 1956
Edith's lecture and poetry reading flyers and programs 1961-1986
Misc. programs, handouts and notes from attended events [includes information on Buddhism and Japanese culture] 1956-1989
Teaching 1966-1976
American Literature; teaching material on "Love Lyrics", Robert Frost, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, William C. Williams, "Stories for classes" 1966-[1976]
"Northern Studies"; student papers undated
Anthropology 210; term paper "Some Impressions of Hopi Culture from Reading Sun Chief", typescript (15 pp) Fall 1957
Anthropology 390; term papers (7) and notes 1957-1958
English 410-411; term papers (carbons) and handouts 1956-1957
English 415; term paper "An Introduction to Contemporary Japanese Poetry"; annotated carbon copy (26 pp) May 1950
English 458; term paper "Concerning a Possible Novel", annotated typescript (57 pp) and carbon copies (3 versions; 83 pp) 1958
Far East 240; notebook, test booklets (2), handouts 1957
Far East 453J; term paper "Tokugawa Poetry and Some of Its Social Implications", annotated carbon copy (22 pp) 1958
Far East 452J; term paper "The Poetry in Relation to the History of the Heian Period", typescript and carbon copy (40 pp) 1957
Far East 499 A, B; Undergraduate research paper "A Study of Chinese Poetry As It Has Been Translated into English", carbon copy (226 pp) 1957
Far East 499; term papers on "Kojiki", typescripts 1958
Far Eastern and Japanese Studies; notes 1958-1959
Japanese 320; term papers "Basho, the Haiku, and Zen" (23 pp), and "Japanese Prose Literature Before the 19th Century" (7 pp), carbon copies 1957
Japanese 420; term papers on "Kojiki" and handouts 1959
Japanese 499; term papers "Modern Japanese Poetry in Translation", and "Relationship Between Modern Japanese Poetry and That of Europe and America", annotated typescripts May 1961
Mongolian 320; term paper "Mongolian Poetic Techniques and a Comparison with Those of Some Other Literatures", typescript and carbon copy (25 pp each) and notes May 1960
Philosophy 428 (Chinese Philosophy); term papers "A Comparison of Some Translations into English of the Tao Te Ching" typescript (27 pp), and "Taoist Aspects of Some of My Verses" typescript and carbon (28 pp each), tests and notes 1957
Sociology 1c & 362c; written tests 1949 1952
Dr. H. N. Von Koerber lecture material on Taoism and Chinese spirits 1955-1956
Diaries 1938-2000
A Line A Day 1932-1937
Diary [written in short hand] 1938
"Desk Private" [book cover dates 1937 content written in 1938] 1938
"Diary 1938"; loose pages (18) 1938
"Hawaii camping etc." 1938-1945
"September 6, 1946"
"California Trip, Kyoto, September 6, 1946" (26 pp and covers)
Five Year Diary 1956-1960
Five Year Diary 1961-1965
January 1, 1966 - December 31, 1970
Hakubunkan's Diary 1971-1976
"Kyoto January 1972 - May 1975" [content includes "Prose: Buddhism notes"]
Hakubunkan's Diary 1977-1982
Hakubunkan's Diary 1983-1988
Hakubunkan's Diary 1989-1991
3 Year Diary 1995-1997
Three-Year Diary 1998-2000 [only entries in 1998]
"Haiku Diary", loose pages (4 pp) 1985
Unidentified loose pages (18 pp) 1930-1976
Correspondence 1938-1992
Series Scope and Content Summary
Outgoing 1938-1992
Family 1934-1978
ALS & TL from San Francisco and Grand Rapids, Michigan (49 pp) 1934-1938
ALS & TL from Hawaii (288 pp) 1938-1941 1944-1946
ALS & TL from Hawaii, Washington and Alaska (154 pp) 1947-1949 1956
TL from Kyoto (206 pp and envelopes) 1961-1968 1970-1978
A-Z - mainly carbons and photocopies [includes letters to Carolyn Kiezer, Shiro Murano, Kazuo Sato from Mainichi Daily News, Jonathan Williams] (59 pp) 1958-1992
Charles E. Tuttle Company Inc.; photocopies (13 pp) 1986-1987
Susie Maud; AL and TL (22 pp) 1938-1941
Theodore Roethke; TL and carbon (3 pp) 1956, 1958
Steven Shiffert; ALS, TLS and carbons (132 pp) 1961-1967
Alan Swallow; carbons (13 pp) 1963-1966
Makoto Ueda; carbon (18 pp) 1962-1966
Unidentified (9 pp) 1966-1980
Incoming 1944-1992
A [includes letters from Ichiro Ando, Asphodel Book Shop, Atsuhiro, Associated Writing Program](6 pp) 1971-1986
B [includes Bruce Boaz (nephew) and David Burleigh](28 pp and 2 clippings) 1966-1992
C [includes Jonathan Chaves, Bonnie R. Crown from Asian Literature Program NY](17 pp) 1957-1993
Charles E. Tuttle Co. Inc. and Kyoto Dwelling Contract; (65 pp) 1971-1990
D [includes Patricia Donegan](5 pp) 1987
E [includes Richard Eberhart, Heike Eggers](9 pp) 1960s-1984
F-G [includes Morgan Gibson](7 pp) 1984-1989
H [includes Harukiyo Hasegawa, Heian International Publishing Comp., William J Higginson from Haiku Magazine] (29 pp) 1975-1992
I-J [includes Thomas Johnson] (5 pp) 1972-1986
K [includes Kansai Time Out, Carolyn Kizer](18 pp) 1962-1988
L [includes only Dorothy Liedquist](8 pp) 1982-1984
Libraries [includes Huntington Library, Library of Congress, National Library of Canada] (22 pp) 1962-1988
M [includes Mainichi Daily News, Modern Haiku](12 pp) 1944-1992
Masaaki Monju [include Manuscript pages in Japanese](28 pp) 1966-1968
N-R (14 pp) 1963-1989
Mary Randlett; TLS, ALS, APCS, (38 pp) 1988-1990
S [includes John Salt, Genjun H. Sasaki, Kazuo Sato (editor of Haiku Column,Mainichi Daily News), Howard Simons, Earl J. Stone](58 pp) 1962-1988
Yuki Sawa [see also Writings: Poetry: Sentient Beings](13 pp) 1976-1979
Alice Sindzinski [Edith's sister] (83 pp) 1983-1990
Ann Stanford (43 pp) 1971-1987
Alan Swallow Publisher (25 pp) 1962-1966
T [includes Leonie A. Troy](24 pp) 1961-1992
U, V, W [includes Makoto Ueda, Burton Watson, Scott Watson, Rob Wilson](26 pp) 1965-1992
White Pine Press [includes original contract authorizing Dennis Maloney as Edith's Literary Executor, dated Dec 10, 1991.](Dennis Maloney; 75 pp) 1982-1992
Y [includes Yuki](17 pp) 1976-1981
Greeting Cards (28 items) 1983-1990
Unidentified pages (13 pp) 1971-1990
Writings 1930-2000
Series Scope and Content Summary
Poetry 1930-2000
Subseries Scope and Content Summary
Published 1938-1999
In Open Woods; book reviews (4 items) 1961
For A Return To Kona; typescript (47 pp), book review & publishers catalog (3 items) 1964 1970
The Kyoto Years; book reviews [some reviews in Japanese] 1971-1972
A Grasshopper; photocopied typescript sample book, book reviews (4 pp) 1976
New & Selected Poems; book reviews and correction list (5 pp) 1979
Kyoto Dwelling; Introduction, manuscript, typescript drafts and sketches (9 pp), corrected typescript (98 pp), contact lists, publisher info & miscellany, book reviews 1987
When On The Edge; book reviews 1989
"The Chrystal Dropping..."; broadside printed by White Pine Press. Signature Edition signed by author. Artwork by Akio Saito [size 9 1/4" x 13"] (2 copies) 1996
The Light Comes Slowly; book reviews [1997]
The Ninth Decade; photocopied typescript (59 pp), incomplete typescript (9 pp), book reviews 1999
Printed poems in serials (torn out pages) 1959-1975
Printed early poems; newspaper clippings 1938-1939
Printed poem in New York Times and Christian Science Monitor ; newspaper clippings 1954-1975
Printed poem in Mainichi Daily News; clippings and a list of published poems (2 pp) 1982-1990
Unpublished 1930-2000
"Juvenilia, 1930-1936"; typescript 1930-1936
"Early Work - 1938"; typescripts and fragments pre-1938
"Seattle Poems: An Episode 1957-1963"; corrected and uncorrected typescripts and carbon copies (93 pp., note) 1957-1963
"Seattle North Bend Before Sept 1963" (unpublished set); typescript, carbons & photocopied pages (133 pp., 2 notes) pre 1963
"Pre 1963 Poems, Unpublished", typescript and carbon copies (67 pp) pre 1963
"Mostly Unpublished Poems, 1963 - "; manuscripts, fragments, typescripts, carbon copies, photocopied pages 1963-1982
"Haiku, Old - 1986"; manuscripts, typescripts, photocopied pages 1986
"72 Poems", photocopied typescript set (80 pp., 2 notes) 1962-1988
"Azaleas", manuscript, typescript and photocopied set of poems (9 pp) undated
"For Beatrice Irwin", photocopied memorial service program with Edith's poem dedicated to Beatrice Irwin (3 pp) undated
"Buddhist Mss"; Set I, photocopies (20 pp and 1 note); Set II, photocopies (30 pp and 1 note); Set III, photocopies (29 pp and 1 note); Extras, manuscript, typescript, photocopied pages (35 pp) [1980s]
"Buddhism etc."; set of manuscript, typescript, photocopied pages 1980
"Poems About Basho, Buson, Tanizaki."; set of manuscript, typescript, photocopied pages (23 pp) 1974-1981
"Cat Poems"; typescripts, carbons and photocopied pages (33 pp) 1958-1980
"Childhood and Family" (Unpublished); manuscripts, carbons and photocopied pages (38 pp., 1 note) undated
"The Happy Old Man With Waka and Haiku"; typescript and photocopied pages 1983
"Hundred Stanzas for a Return to Kona Hawaii", manuscript (4 pp) undated
"Land" (single poem); corrected typescript and photocopy (14 pp) 1988
Selected poems for a chapbook "AWP Mss"; typescript and photocopied pages (39 pp) 1961-1983
"Sentient Beings"; Unsorted set, manuscripts, carbons, photocopies, and fragments; Set I, manuscripts, carbons, photocopies, and fragments; Set II, manuscript, typescript, carbon and photocopied pages (22 pp); Set III; typescript, carbon and photocopied pages (17 pp) undated
"Waka"; typescript and photocopied pages (33 pp) [1980s]
"Wandering Among Buddhas"; typescript and photocopied pages 1967-1984
"Fragmentary Unsorted"; manuscript, typescript, carbon and photocopied pages 1964-1985
"Extras from Books"; typescripts and carbons (53 pp), photocopied typescripts (48 pp) undated
Autobiographical verse Drama in a style of No; outlines, notes, manuscript drafts, and photocopied version (38 pp) [post 1980]
Untitled manuscripts 1937-2000
Bound carbon copy set (8 pp) 1937
Carbon copy (69 pp) 1937-1938
Typescript and sketches written in Hawaii 1940s
Corrected and uncorrected typescripts and carbons (87 pp) 1949 1953-1957
Typescripts (90 pp) 1949 1953-1957
Typescripts and carbons (42 pp) 1956-1960
Typescripts and carbons (131 pp) 1956-1961
Typescript, carbon, and photocopies 1959-1982
Manuscript, carbon, and photocopies 1961-1979
Manuscripts and photocopies 1998-2000
Photocopies (23 pp) undated
Unidentified manuscript drafts and sketches 1951-1993
Unidentified manuscripts and drafts (9 pp) 1958-1988
Typescript and carbon copies 1953-1990
Unidentified photocopied pages 1957-1982
Novella 1961
"A Swaying Phantom" in Japanese diary & poem-tale form; manuscript (24 pp), corrected typescript (102 pp) 1961
Short Stories 1958-1981
"The Day"; manuscript draft (2 pp) Mar 31, 1961
"A Green Isle in the Sea"; manuscript and typescript (8 pp) Mar 10, 1958
"Monologue for a Penelope", manuscript (5 pp); and "The Moon Flowers", manuscript (6 pp) 1960
"The Story in the Bell"; manuscript and typescript (23 pp) [1968]
"Six Short Stories" 1961
Corrected typescript (79 pp) [1961]
Corrected carbon copy (66 pp) 1961
"A Memory of Celeste"; corrected carbon copy (20 pp) 1961
"The House"; manuscript draft (13 pp) 1961
"Lament for Eurydice"; corrected typescript (6 pp) 1961
"Plum Flowers"; corrected typescript (4 pp) 1961
"Spring Vacation", carbon copy (16 pp) ca. 1968
"The Squirrel and Mrs. Morris"; corrected and uncorrected typescripts (13 pp) 1961
"The Temple of Strong Women"; manuscript and typescript pages (12 pp) 1981
"Making of Afghans: and recollections of my mother"; manuscript drafts, typescript (17 pp) 1970-1983
"An Opal King"; 3 corrected typescript drafts (23 pp) undated
Essays 1940-1999
"Associations with Dylan Thomas"; corrected typescript (2 pp 1956
"Beyond The Age Beyond", photocopied typescript [late 1990s]
"Comments on Translation of Tanka"; photocopy (4 pp) undated
"On Yoichi Nakagawa Work"; manuscript, corrected typescript and carbon pages (67 pp) undated
"The Individual"; photocopied manuscript (2 pp) 1999
"Notes for a Poem"; carbon copy (26 pp) undated
"Notes on Japanese social pattern etc." (32 pp) 1963-1964, 1981
"Pacific Crest Trail Trip"; typescript (7 pp) 1946
"Article for Magazine Haiku"; manuscript, typescript and carbon copy pages (11 pp) undated
"N. W. Poetry's Flavor Distinct, Says Poet"; clipping from University of Washington Daily (1 pg), Apr 7, 1960
Background material on social issues and eastern religion, 1965-1990
"J. Lit. for ", 1963-1980
Hand written drafts (20 pp), 1971-1980
Includes "For spacious Skies"; hand written draft (5 pp), Jun 20, 1969
Includes "A Kimono", "Bon Voyage", "Evening Talks", "Japanese Court Poetry"; hand written draft (10 pp), 1963-1964
Includes "Women in J. Fiction"; hand written draft (5 pp)
Includes "A Net of Fireflies"; corrected typescript and carbon (8 pp)
Includes "Japanese and Death" & "Manners, Morals and Compassion"; typescripts (7 pp)
Includes "Lullabies of Nippon" & Untitled ("Here are a few brief..."); carbon copies (7 pp)
Misc. hand written outlines and sketches (16 pp)
Untitled set; typescript [contains stories on Japanese people & culture in Hawaii] (73 pp) ca. 1940's
Notes on Morality in Japanese society; manuscript fragments (23 pp) 1979-1980
Misc. manuscript sketches and drafts (28 pp) 1961-1962, 1984
Typescripts [Includes "Mauna Loa Remembered", "History of a poem's meaning", "Comments on observances made while I lived in the Kona District of Hawaii, 1940-1942", "Poor old pop", "Dorothy", "I'd like to tell about our honeymoon trip..."] (25 pp) 1945, 1962
Notes and fragments (20 pp)
Misc. pages 1941, undated
Manuscripts and typescripts (6 pp) undated
Notes
Set of loose pages (13 pp) [ca. 1941]
Translations by Edith Shiffert 1971-1988
Anthology of Modern Japanese Poetry "Comments on Translation of Tanka"; paste-up pages and photocopies (5 pp), and book reviews 1971-1972
Haiku Master Buson; book reviews 1978-1980
Clean Water; haiku/sumie manuscript (35 pp), extra sumie drawings (28 pp), photocopied set (36 pp) 1983
"Translations from Japanese Poetry"; manuscript, typescript and carbon copies [consists mainly of poems by Sakutaro Hagiwara](30 pp) undated
"Translations from Japanese"; photocopies of printed versions from Kansai Time Out & The Southern Review 1984-1988
Translations of Edith Shiffert's poems 1980s
"A Woman's Career", translated by Taguchi; manuscript (5 pp), and printed versions 1982-1984
Translation of Edith Shiffert's poems into Japanese; manuscripts and corrected drafts (24 pp), photocopies, printed versions
"Translations, Edith Shiffert's poetry reading"; paste-up and photocopied pages undated
Hakuseki, Arai; "Autobiography of Arai Hakuseki", photocopy (39 pp)
Noguchi, Kenji; "The Ambiguity of Pierre", off-print 1980
Tenzin, Kunzang; "The Chod Rite", photocopied manuscript [1978]
Ueda, Makoto; carbon copies of translated prose(47 pp) and, carbon copies of translated poems (124 pp), printed versions 1960-1965
Misc. translations of Japanese poetry; carbons (10 pp)
"1938-1947 (Hawaii & Alaska), 1953 Verses" 1938-1947, 1953
"1948 (Jade), 1953-1954 (Kona play, Verses)" 1948, 1953-1954
"August 1954 - November 1955, Verses" 1954-1955
"November 1955, Verses" 1955
"September 1956 - February 1957, Verses" 1956-1957
"February - June 1957, Verses" 1957
"October 1957 - December 1958, Verse Writing" 1957-1958
"January 1959 - January 1960, Verse Writing" 1959-1960
"January 1960 - March 1961" 1960-1961
"March 1961 - August 1962, Verses" 1961-1962
"August 1962 (Seattle)-January 1, 1964 (Yoshidayama, Kyoto)" 1962-1964
"January 2,1964 (Yoshidarama, Kyoto) - March 21,1965 (Kobai-in)" 1964-1965
"March 21,1965 - December 24,1965 (Kyoto), Verses" 1965
"Utility, Sociology, Notes, Bibliography, 1949" 1949
"Bibliography, Verses, Sociology, 1950" 1950
"Anthropology, Hawaii writing, October 1957 - April 1958" 1957-1958
"Japanese, October 1957 - February 1958" 1957-1958
"Japanese, Anthro, February 3, 1958" 1958
"Far East October 1959" 1959
"Mongolian & Poetry, March 1960 - June 1960" 1960
"1965 - 1967" - verses 1965-1967
"Kyoto July 1967 - November 1970, Edith Shiffert" - verses 1967-1970
"Kyoto from September 13, 1963" 1963-1965
"July 1972 - April 1974, etc. Takanogawa house, Kyoto, Kashikoyima & other trips" 1972-1974
"June 1975 - January 1977, Takanogawa house" 1975-1977
"March 23,1977 - January 2,1979, Kyoto, Takanogawa house, Ikeda mansion" 1977-1979
Untitled; January 1,1979 - July 16,1980 - verses 1979-1980
"Prose, April 28,1981- " 1981-1983
"July 9,1992 - January 1994, Baptist hospital, Grostal Hof Apt. 101, Haiku" 1992-1994
"Haiku January 1994 - September 1994, Ending in Kyoto" 1994
"Journal III, April 1994 - September 1994" 1994
"Journal IV, November 9,1997" 1997-2000
"January 1, 2000" 2000-2001
"Tarpei trip, poems, Buvako, Aso", 1969 - 1973 - pocket calendar 1969-1973
"U.S. trip diary, Alaska with Alice, July 1973 - 1974, Hiking, Diaries, Poems" - pocket calendar 1973-1974
"1974 - 1977" pocket calendar 1974-1977
"1979 July - to U.S."; pocket calendar 1979
1976 pocket calendar [contains account of poetry readings] 1976
"May 1975 - September 1976, Kyoto - Takanogawa house"; calendar 1975-1976
"January 1,1984 - May 1987, November 17,1994 -"; diary, verses etc. 1984-1998
"1991" - verses 1991
"Records of publishings etc."
"January 1979 - December 21,1979" - pocket notebook 1979
"December 24,1979 - August 1,1980" - pocket notebook 1979-1980
"March 5,1981 - August 29,1981" - pocket notebook 1981
"July 28,1980 - March 28,1981" - pocket notebook 1980-1981
"Haiku 1988 - 1990" - pocket notebook 1988-1990
"September 2000 - December 2001, Kyoto" - pocket notebook 2000-2001
October 1981 - December 1984 - pocket calendar 1981-1984
1981 pocket calendar 1981
1983 pocket calendar [contains verses] 1983-1989
1986 pocket calendar 1986
1991 pocket calendar 1991
Address book 1990
Schedule 1990
"Prose 1964" - spiral notebook pages 1964
"Kyoto, June 10,1978 - 1980" [notes on Buddhism, Tibetan, Tenrikyo] 1978-1980
3 Untitled sets; (44 pp, no covers)[1957], (19 pp and covers) 1973 - 1974, 1990 - 1991 1957-1991
Printed Material 1923-2001
Series Scope and Content Summary
Serials (85 issues) 1953-1980
Other Printed Material; contains postcards, off-prints, pamphlets, and clippings 1963-1992
Photographs 1919-1998
Series Scope and Content Summary
Portraits (16 photos) 1930-1994
Family (4 photos) 1919-1990
People (10 photos) 1940-1960
Pets (10 photos) undated
Documentary (36 photos; includes snapshots from Alaska 1947-1948, Seattle 1949, Hawaii 1962, Asilomar Haiku Conference 1985) 1940-1985
Landscape (6 photos; includes snapshots from Mt. Si and Teneriffe, WA 1949) 1949
Architecture (6 photos; unidentified buildings) [1940s-1950s]
Computer printouts (6 pp; Edith and Minoru Sawano at Poetry Reading) 1989-1998
Sumie and watercolor drawings (13 sheets) undated
Pencil drawings (5 pp) undated
Pastel and charcoal drawing (2 sheets) undated
Unprocessed 2011 addition to Shiffert papers
Correspondence circa 1968-2000
Serials
Poems, manuscripts circa 1980s-2002
VHS tapes of poetry reading performances 1994-2004
Accession 2017.043 unprocessed addition to Shiffert papers circa 1950-2010
Immediate Source of Acquisition