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Paul Vangelisti Papers
MSS 487
MSS 487
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Title: Paul Vangelisti Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 487
Contributing Institution:
Mandeville Special Collections Library
La Jolla, California 92093-0175
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
21.2 Linear feet
42 archive boxes, 3 record cartons and 10 oversize folders
Date (inclusive): 1970-2009
Abstract: Papers of Paul Vangelisti, poet, editor, translator, publisher, and radio producer. The collection includes correspondence
with colleagues; drafts of single poems, as well as published collected works including
Air (1973),
Portfolio (1978),
Villa (1991), and
Days Shadows Pass (2007); book and art reviews; and notebooks. Also included are materials related to Vangelisti's editorial work for the literary
magazine
Ribot and the anthology
L.A. Exiles: A Guide to Los Angeles Writing, 1932-1998. The materials also include Vangelisti's editorial projects including
Place as Purpose: Poetry from the Western States (2002), and
Nuova Poesia Americana: San Francisco (2006). The papers contain audiorecordings of
Los Angeles Theatre of the Ear (L.A.T.E.) radio broadcasts produced by Vangelisti and writings of others. Also included are materials relating to Vangelisti's
poetry readings and literary conferences, as well as typescript drafts of poetry and essay translations.
Creator:
Vangelisti, Paul
Scope and Content of Collection
ACCESSION PROCESSED IN 1999
The Paul Vangelisti Papers contain a wide assortment of materials documenting his activities as a poet, publisher, editor,
translator, and teacher. The accession features manuscripts of poetry and prose which date from the early seventies through
the late nineties, editorial material related to the magazine
Ribot, book and art reviews, notebooks, and translations of Italian writings. Also included are audiorecordings of
Los Angeles Theatre of the Ear (L.A.T.E.) radio broadcasts. However, there is almost no material that addresses his activities as an editor and publisher
of
Invisible City and Red Hill Press. The materials are arranged in eight series: 1) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, 2) CORRESPONDENCE, 3) WRITINGS,
4) EDITORIAL PROJECTS, 5) READINGS, PERFORMANCES AND COLLABORATIONS, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) AUDIORECORDINGS, and 8) ORIGINALS
OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES.
SERIES 1: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS
The MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS series gathers biographical materials such as curriculum vitae, interviews and reviews of Paul
Vangelisti's writings, as well as a set of questions posed to George Oppen. Also included are a portrait drawing and photographs.
SERIES 2: CORRESPONDENCE
Paul Vangelisti's CORRESPONDENCE includes letters from Bruce Andrews, Todd Baron, Alvaro Cardona-Hine, Michelle Clinton, Bob
Crosson, Ray DiPalma, John McBride, Doug Messerli, Bob Peters, Martha Ronk, Mark Salerno, Standard Schaeffer, Robert Zachary,
Clayton Eshleman, Kathleen Fraser, Suzanne Lummis, Leslie Scalapino, Nathaniel Tarn, and Pasquale Verdicchio. His correspondence
from other countries includes letters from fellow artists and frequent collaborators such as Julien Blain, Michelle Lombardelli,
Giuilla Niccolia, Antonio Porta, Sophie Rachmuhl, and William Xerra. The contents of the letters varies considerably, from
very personal matters to the persistently quotidian struggles and theoretical debates endemic to contemporary artistic life.
SERIES 3: WRITINGS
The WRITINGS series is arranged in four subseries: A) Poetry, B) Prose, C) Notebooks, and D) Translations. In addition to
manuscripts and drafts of published books, the Poetry subseries includes unpublished manuscripts and corrected proofs of poems.
Vangelisti worked on several long poems, including sequences based on alphabets. The Prose subseries includes book and art
reviews as well as his journalism, which ranges from reviews of jazz and rock performances to news coverage of the entertainment
industry. The Notebooks cover intermittent periods of time ranging between 1976 and 1997. The Translation material mainly
concentrates on Italian writers.
SERIES 4: EDITORIAL PROJECTS
The fourth series includes manuscripts and correspondence with writers whose work appeared in magazines which Vangelisti edited
or co-edited after
Invisible City. These writers tended to be experimentally oriented while not necessarily affiliating themselves with an identifiable group
such as the Language-centered movement. The series includes page proofs and corrected galleys for
Ribot magazine, which serves as the literary magazine and annual operations report for the College of Neglected Science, and some
material concerning
Boxcar.
SERIES 5: READINGS, PERFORMANCES AND COLLABORATIONS
This series gathers materials from various conferences, arts festivals, and readings focusing on single writers such as H.D.
The festivals occurred in France, Italy, and the United States. In the U.S., almost all of the events took place in Los Angeles.
This section also includes his collaborative activities with the dance group RIME.
SERIES 6: WRITINGS OF OTHERS
The WRITINGS OF OTHERS series contains manuscripts that were sent to Vangelisti by significant poets who are also friends.
These figures include Robert Crosson, who shared a very large portion of his works-in-progress with Vangelisti, as well as
Ray DiPalma, Martha Ronk, and Dennis Phillips.
SERIES 7: AUDIORECORDINGS
The AUDIORECORDINGS series is arranged in three subseries: A) Los Angeles Theater of the Ear (L.A.T.E.), B) Vangelisti and
C) Miscellaneous. The first subseries includes a set of tape recordings Vangelisti made at KPFK-FM Radio Station in Los Angeles.
He produced these shows under the rubric, L.A.T.E. (Los Angeles Theater of the Ear). These recordings include radio dramas
by Amiri Baraka, Jean Genet, Harold Pinter, Samuel Beckett, and Luigi Pirandello. Also included are radio scripts for adaptations
of theatrical material which Vangelisti wrote and produced while working at the station. The second subseries contains audiorecordings
by Vangelisti of his own work.
SERIES 8: ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES
The ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES series contains the originals of brittle or high acid content documents that have
been photocopied.
ACCESSION PROCESSED IN 2009
The accession processed in 2009 contains materials documenting Vangelisti's work as a poet, editor, publisher, and translator.
The materials include correspondence, poetry and prose written by Vangelisti, editorial projects, as well as flyers from poetry
readings and performances. The bulk of the accession dates from 1999 to 2007 and includes typescript drafts, page proofs of
editorial projects, and translations. The accession also contains a small amount of miscellaneous materials including daily
planners, program information for the Otis College of Art and Design's Masters in Creative Writing, and photographs of Vangelisti.
The papers are arranged in seven series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) READINGS, PERFORMANCES, AND CONFERENCES, 3) WRITINGS BY VANGELISTI,
4) EDITORIAL PROJECTS, 5) CRITICISM AND REVIEWS, 6) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, and 7) IMAGES AND RECORDINGS.
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE
The CORRESPONDENCE series, arranged alphabetically, contains letters and emails from Ray Dipalma, Harry Northup, Mohammed
Dib, Martha Ronk, and other poets and literary editors.
SERIES 2: READINGS, PERFORMANCES, AND CONFERENCES
The READINGS, PERFORMANCES, AND CONFERENCES series includes flyers from Vangelisti's multiple poetry readings and performances,
as well as typescript drafts of talks written by Vangelisti for poetry and literary conferences. Materials in this series
are arranged alphabetically.
SERIES 3: WRITINGS BY VANGELISTI
The WRITINGS BY VANGELISTI series is arranged in five subseries: A) Prose, B) Notebooks, C) Poetry Collections, D) Poetry,
and E) Translations.
A) The first subseries, Prose, contains various essays written by Vangelisti, including literary reviews of other authors
and poets, papers about the literary scene in Los Angeles, and excerpts from Vangelisti's journal from his trip to Italy.
This subseries also contains multiple typescript drafts from the manuscript "How to Succeed with Women," a story written by
Vangelisti and Standard Schaefer. Also included in this subseries are photocopies of articles written by Vangelisti and Schaeffer,
under the penname Lou Zangani, for the Italian newspaper
Il Giornale.
B) The second subseries, Notebooks, includes two of Vangelisti's personal notebooks. C) The Poetry Collections subseries contains
collected poetry, both published and unpublished, and includes typescript drafts, page and galley proofs of published work,
and reviews of various published poetry anthologies.
D) The Poetry subseries, arranged alphabetically, includes published and unpublished typescript drafts of individual poems.
E) The Translations subseries contains typescript drafts of translations from various poets including Adriano Spatola, Luigi
Ballerini, and Mohammed Dib.
SERIES 4: EDITORIAL PROJECTS
The EDITORIAL PROJECTS series contains typescript drafts and page proofs of various works edited by Vangelisti, including
L.A. Exile: A Guide to Los Angeles Writing, 1932-1998 (1999),
The Day Sam Goldwyn Stepped Off the Train (2004),
Ribot #7 (1999), and
Ribot #8 (2002).
SERIES 5: CRITICISM AND REVIEWS
The CRITICISM AND REVIEWS series contains published and unpublished articles that review Vangelisti's work and literary influence,
including his endeavors as a poet, editor, and translator.
SERIES 6: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS
The MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS series contains daily planners, two interviews with Vangelisti, and teaching materials from the
Otis College of Art and Design.
SERIES 7: IMAGES AND RECORDINGS
The IMAGES AND RECORDINGS series contains photographs of Vangelisti, including professional portraits, a contact sheet, and
negatives. This series also contains one audio recording in Italian from October 2000.
Paul Vangelisti was born in San Francisco in 1945 and graduated from the University of San Francisco in 1967 with a B.A. in
English and philosophy. He attended Trinity College (Dublin, Ireland) for a year as a research fellow and moved to Los Angeles
in 1968 to attend the University of Southern California, from which he was awarded a Master of Arts in literature in 1970.
Vangelisti started a poetry magazine,
Invisible City, in 1971 with John McBride, a friend in San Francisco. They also initiated the book publishing company Red Hill Press. After
Invisible City ceased publication with its 26th issue in 1982, Vangelisti sucessively worked on the periodicals
Boxcar, which he co-founded with Leland Hickman;
Forehead, co-published by Beyond Baroque Foundation;
Lowghost; and currently
Ribot. He also co-founded Littoral Books as a co-operative publishing outfit with fellow Los Angeles poets Dennis Phillips, Martha
Ronk, and Jed Rasula. Vangelisti has edited a half-dozen anthologies of poetry, including one each in Italian and Polish.
His anthologies of Los Angeles area poets, such as
Specimin '73, were among the first such collections to begin defining the historical trajectory of post-World War II poetry in Southern
California. His first such volume,
Anthology of L.A. Poets, was co-edited with Charles Bukowski and Neeli Cherkovski. Most recently he edited
L.A. Exiles, an anthology of displaced Los Angeles writers.
Vangelisti is the author of almost twenty collections of poetry, including
Air (1973),
Portfolio (1978),
Another You (1980),
Villa (1991),
Rime (1983), and
Nemo (1995). He was awarded a creative writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1988. Vangelisti is also
well-known as a translator of Italian poetry, particularly experimental poets such as Adriano Spatola and Antonio Porta.
Vangelisti has collaborated with a number of visual artists, such as William Xerra and Don Suggs, as well as dance troupes.
He also produced many broadcasts of poetry readings through a long association with Pacifica radio station KPFK in Los Angeles,
where he worked as a cultural affairs director between 1974 and 1982. While in that position, he initiated and directed L.A.T.E.
(Los Angeles Theater of the Ear), which produced both live and recorded radio theater broadcasts of classic plays by Pirandello
and Brecht, as well as contemporary playwrights. Vangelisti also worked as a print journalist for the
Hollywood Reporter between 1972 and 1974.
Vangelisti is currently the chair of the MFA writing program at Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles.
Paul Vangelisti Papers, MSS 487. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.
Original audiorecordings located in Series 7, from both the 1999 and 2009 accessions, are not available for use. Audiocassette
listening versions must be used instead. In some cases, these copies will need to be produced upon the researcher's request.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Not Available
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ballerini, Luigi, 1940-
Clinton, Michelle T.
Cole, Norma
Crosson, Robert, 1929-
DiPalma, Ray
Fraser, Kathleen, 1935-
KPFK. (Radio station : Los Angeles, Calif.).
McBride, John
Peters, Robert, 1924-
Phillips, Dennis
Ribot (Los Angeles, Calif. : 1993). -- Archives
Ronk, Martha Clare
Scalapino, Leslie
Sun & Moon Press
Vangelisti, Paul -- Archives
Verdicchio, Pasquale, 1954-
Ward, Diane, 1956-
Wellman, Mac
American poetry--20th century
Poetry--Editing
Publishers and publishing--United States