Lindsay Hill Papers

Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2009
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
spcoll@ucsd.edu


Descriptive Summary

Languages: English
Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Lindsay Hill Papers
Creator: Hill, Lindsay, 1952-
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0696
Physical Description: 4.8 Linear feet (12 archives boxes, 2 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): ca. 1963 - 2008
Abstract: Papers of Lindsay Hill, American poet and editor. Included is correspondence with friends and colleagues; original typescripts and manuscripts of Hill's poetry and prose; business material related to Hill's production company, Spoken Engine Co.; original submissions, correspondence, and business materials related to the publication of Facture; and photographs of Lindsay Hill. The collection is arranged in seven series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS, 3) EDITORIAL WORK, 4) SPOKEN ENGINE CO., 5) FACTURE, 6) CONFERENCES, and 7) IMAGES AND RECORDINGS.

Biography

Lindsay Hill was born in 1952 in San Francisco, California. While attending Bard College his first book of poetry, Avelaval, was published. After graduating from Bard in 1975, Hill continued writing and publishing while working as an investment banker. In 1995 he retired from finance to pursue poetry full-time.
Along with writing, Hill used his knowledge of business to start several new ventures. In 1993 he founded the production company Spoken Engine Co. with the goal of combining poetry and music. From 1995 to 1996, he produced CDs with poets Nathaniel Mackey, Nathaniel Tarn, and Maxine Hong Kingston. Hill was also a founder and co-editor of the poetry journal Facture with fellow poet Paul Naylor, publishing three issues between 1999 and 2002.

Scope and Content of Collection

Papers of Lindsay Hill, American poet and editor. Included is correspondence with friends and colleagues; original typescripts and manuscripts of Hill's poetry and prose; business material related to Hill's production company, Spoken Engine Co.; original submissions, correspondence, and business materials related to the publication of Facture; and photographs of Lindsay Hill.
Arranged in seven series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS, 3) EDITORIAL WORK, 4) SPOKEN ENGINE CO., 5) FACTURE, 6) CONFERENCES, and 7) IMAGES AND RECORDINGS.

Preferred Citation

Lindsay Hill Papers, MSS 696. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.

OFF-SITE STORAGE

COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS

Restrictions

Master videocassette recordings in Series 7 are restricted. Researchers must request user copies be produced.

Subjects and Indexing Terms

American poetry -- 20th century
Hill, Lindsay, 1952- -- Archives
Tarn, Nathaniel -- Correspondence
Eshleman, Clayton -- Correspondence
Spoken Engine Co.

 

CORRESPONDENCE

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 1) CORRESPONDENCE: Organized alphabetically and includes letters from Hans ten Berge, Jack Collom, Clayton Eshleman, Gary Snyder, and Nathaniel Tarn. Also included are materials by unidentified correspondents, located at the end of the series.
Box 1, Folder 1

A - Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 2

Avec (Cydney Chadwick, ed.) 1991 - 1992

Box 1, Folder 3

B - Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 4

Berge, Hans ten 1993 - 2007

Box 1, Folder 5

Bieler Press (Gerald Lange, publisher) 1993 - 1999

Box 1, Folder 6

C-D - Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 7

Campbell, Carolee 1996 - 2001

Box 1, Folder 8

Central Park (Stephen-Paul Martin, ed.) 1995 - 1996

Box 1, Folder 9

Collom, Jack 1998 - 2007

Box 1, Folder 10

Curuby, George 1977

Box 1, Folder 11

Eshleman, Clayton 1993 - 2006

Box 1, Folder 12

F-H - Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 13

Ironwood (Michael Cuddihy, ed.) 1987 - 1988

Box 1, Folder 14

Joron, Andrew 1994

Box 1, Folder 15

L-P - Miscellaneous

Box 1, Folder 16

Noto, John 1994 - 2004

Box 1, Folder 17

Palmer, Michael circa 1988 - 1999

Box 1, Folder 18

Price, Robin 1991 - 1998

Box 2, Folder 1

R-S - Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 2

Reed, John 1987 - 1992

Box 2, Folder 3

Rodney, Janet, postcards to Nita Hill 1993 - 1994

Box 2, Folder 4

Smith, Lawrence 1993 - 2003

Box 2, Folder 5

Snyder, Gary 1999 - 2000

Box 2, Folder 6

Spicer, David 1984 - 1986

Box 2, Folder 7

Sulfur (Clayton Eshleman, ed.) 1990 - 1992

Box 2, Folder 8

T-W - Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 9-10

Tarn, Nathaniel 1987 - ca. 2008

Box 2, Folder 11

To (Seth Frechie, ed.) 1995

Box 2, Folder 12

Williwaw (Steven Huff, ed.) 1987

Box 2, Folder 13

Yau, John 1992 - 1994

Box 2, Folder 14

Unidentified correspondents

 

WRITINGS

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 2) WRITINGS: Comprises the bulk of the collection. Arranged in six subseries: A) School Papers, B) Poetry, C) Poetry Collections, D) Prose, E) Plays, and F) Notebooks.
A) School Papers: Includes a report Hill wrote in the 6th grade, as well as a number of papers written in college.
B) Poetry: Arranged alphabetically by title and includes typescripts, manuscripts, notes, and jottings. Folders labeled "A-M - Miscellaneous" and "N-T - Miscellaneous" contain titled poems with fewer than three copies.
C) Poetry Collections: Organized alphabetically by collection title and contains work for published books, as well as collected works never published.
D) Prose: Includes drafts of several short stories, a typescript draft of an unpublished novel, and a number of unfinished stories.
E) Plays: The Tragedy of McGee.
F) Notebooks: Fourteen bound volumes containing handwritten drafts of poems, and are arranged chronologically when dates are known.
 

School Papers

Box 2, Folder 15

Papers ca. 1963 - 1975

 

Poetry

Box 2, Folder 16

A-M - Miscellaneous

Box 2, Folder 17

Aeolean Myths

Box 2, Folder 18

Again

Box 2, Folder 19

Another Final Chant Against the Wind

Box 2, Folder 20

Appearances

Box 3, Folder 1-2

The Attic Dream: A Poetic Series of Twenty-Seven Parts

Box 3, Folder 3

Border Fires

Box 3, Folder 4

Businessman's Suicide

Box 3, Folder 5

By the Waters

Box 3, Folder 6

Cemetary

 

Contango (2006)

Box 3, Folder 7

Notes and working drafts

Box 3, Folder 8-9

Miscellaneous drafts

Box 4, Folder 1

Drafts 1 & 2

Box 4, Folder 2

Page layouts

Box 4, Folder 3

The Dark Air of Autumn

Box 4, Folder 4

Hermit Shrub

Box 4, Folder 5

H.L.B. again

Box 4, Folder 6

Island of California

Box 4, Folder 7

The Journey

Box 4, Folder 8

Map One

Box 4, Folder 9

May Night

Box 4, Folder 10

Mendelevium

Box 4, Folder 11

Money

Box 4, Folder 12

Les Moulages

Box 4, Folder 13

Mrs. H. Lampery Brown

Box 4, Folder 14

Mythos

Box 4, Folder 15

N-T - Miscellaneous

Box 4, Folder 16

Night's Morning

Box 4, Folder 17

Ode to a Lover of Horses

Box 4, Folder 18

Of Ankh-es-en-Amen Queen of Egypt XVIII Dynasty

Box 4, Folder 19

Off Shore Drilling

Box 4, Folder 20

Passenger

Box 4, Folder 21

Perhaps from a Silent Movie

Box 4, Folder 22

Pithamphora

Box 4, Folder 23

Poetry

Box 4, Folder 24

Prayer by Ruins

Box 4, Folder 25

Pressure

Box 4, Folder 26

.R.H

Box 4, Folder 27

Ritual of Beginning Again

Box 4, Folder 28

Ritual of Telling

Box 4, Folder 29

Rituals of History

Box 4, Folder 30

Ritual with the Moon

Box 4, Folder 31

Sanctuary

Box 4, Folder 32

The Small Design of Your Death

 

Socket (1993)

Box 5, Folder 1, Oversize FB-482-12

Drafts

Box 5, Folder 2

Published copy

Box 5, Folder 3

The Song Where You Were

Box 5, Folder 4

Spillway

Box 5, Folder 5

Stars

Box 5, Folder 6

The Stones Themselves

Box 5, Folder 7

Taking Inventory

Box 5, Folder 8

Time is Changed as it Passes Over

Box 5, Folder 9

To Begin With

Box 5, Folder 10

To Run Within

Box 5, Folder 11

The Values

Box 5, Folder 12-14, Oversize FB-482-13

Untitled drafts & fragments

Box 5, Folder 15

Untitled notes & jottings

 

Poetry Collections

 

Archaeology (1987)

Box 6, Folder 1

Clay Jar

Box 6, Folder 2

Closure

Box 6, Folder 3

Dream from the Lines on Your Hand

Box 6, Folder 4

Elegy

Box 6, Folder 5

Excavation

Box 6, Folder 6

The Fox

Box 6, Folder 7

The Journey Out

Box 6, Folder 8

Lauds

Box 6, Folder 9

Linear A

Box 6, Folder 10

The Lion Maker Recants

Box 6, Folder 11

Matins

Box 6, Folder 12

Minoa

Box 6, Folder 13

Mirage

Box 6, Folder 14

Mojave

Box 6, Folder 15

Museum Pieces

Box 6, Folder 16

Najavo

Box 6, Folder 17

Prayer of the Lion Maker

Box 6, Folder 18

Recorded Histories

Box 6, Folder 19

Running Fence

Box 6, Folder 20

Sext

Box 6, Folder 21

Taking Up Serpents

Box 6, Folder 22

Telling

Box 6, Folder 23

These Stones Severally

Box 6, Folder 24

Typhon

Box 6, Folder 25

Visitation

Box 6, Folder 26

What the Wind Became One Evening

Box 7, Folder 1

Wintering

Box 7, Folder 2

With a Line From Yeats

Box 7, Folder 3

The Words

Box 7, Folder 4

Zakros

Box 7, Folder 5

Drafts

Box 7, Folder 6

Notes and poem lists

Box 7, Folder 7

Rights

Box 7, Folder 8

Ascent to Summer

 

Avelaval (1974)

Box 7, Folder 9

Chemistry Lesson

Box 7, Folder 10

Dark Ages

Box 7, Folder 11

Eulogy

Box 7, Folder 12

Fugues to Fog

Box 7, Folder 13

Languages

Box 7, Folder 14

Nightblood

Box 7, Folder 15

Notes

Box 7, Folder 16

One Night in May

Box 7, Folder 17

Roots

Box 7, Folder 18

Rumors

Box 7, Folder 19

Solitary Fisherman Painted with Ink on Silk Ma Yuan

Box 7, Folder 20

Voices

Box 7, Folder 21

Chemistry Journal I 1970

Box 7, Folder 22

The Early Letters 1968 - 1969

Box 7, Folder 23

Early Poetry I 1968 - 1969

Box 7, Folder 24

Early Poetry II 1969 - 1970

 

Ndjenferno (1998)

Box 8, Folder 1

Asuncion

Box 8, Folder 2

Dream of Bones

Box 8, Folder 3

Terror Pantoum

Box 8, Folder 4

Pictures from a Scattered Season

Box 8, Folder 5

Sun Rain 1970

Box 8, Folder 6

Telling

Box 8, Folder 7

Theory of Rain

 

Prose

Box 8, Folder 8

Circus Noctis 1970

Box 8, Folder 9-10

From Where the Night Wind Rides 1969 - 1970

Box 8, Folder 11

Inner Language

Box 8, Folder 12

Nightflowers

Box 8, Folder 13

Secrets

Box 8, Folder 14

The Time-Dream, Papers 1970

Box 8, Folder 15

Unfinished stories & fragments

 

Plays

Box 8, Folder 16

The Tragedy of McGee 1970

 

Notebooks

Box 9, Folder 1

Untitled -Two notebooks 1985 - 1986

Box 9, Folder 2

The Elizabeth Notebook - Two notebooks 1986

Box 9, Folder 3

Sometimes in the World 1986

Box 9, Folder 4

Untitled - Two notebooks 1986 - circa 1988

Box 9, Folder 5

Four Ladies Fourteen Nights undated

Box 9, Folder 6

Paraguay for Beginners undated

Box 10, Folder 1-2

Untitled - Two notebooks undated

 

EDITORIAL WORK

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 3) EDITORIAL WORK: A manuscript containing the poems of Frank Stanford, edited by David Spicer and Lindsay Hill in 1985. The majority of these papers are photocopies.
Box 10, Folder 3

Frank Stanford manuscript, edited by David Spicer and Lindsay Hill 1985

 

SPOKEN ENGINE CO.

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 4) SPOKEN ENGINE CO.: Legal papers regarding the formation of Hill's production company.
Box 10, Folder 4

Business materials 1993 - 1994

 

FACTURE

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 5) FACTURE: Correspondence, subscription information, submissions and material related to the founding and publication of the poetry journal Facture.Arranged in four subseries: A) Correspondence and Submissions, B) General Correspondence, C) Unpublished Submissions, and D) Business Materials.
A) Correspondence and Submissions: Material related to the publication of each Facture issue, including an unrealized fourth issue. These materials were grouped by Hill and remain in their original order.
B) General Correspondence: Letters and postcards of thanks and several letters from poet Takuroh Ikeda.
C) Unpublished Submissions: Arranged alphabetically by author and contains unpublished submissions to Facture.
D) Business Materials: Organized by subject and include financial records, contracts, mailing lists, and subscription information.
 

Correspondence and Submissions

Box 10, Folder 5

Issue #1 1998 - 2001

Box 10, Folder 6

Issue #2 2000 - 2001

Box 11, Folder 1

Issue #3 1999 - 2001

Box 11, Folder 2

Issue #4 2001 - 2004

 

General Correspondence

Box 11, Folder 3

Miscellaneous 2000 - 2001

Box 11, Folder 4

Ikeda, Takuroh 2000 - 2001

 

Unpublished Submissions

Box 11, Folder 5

A - Miscellaneous

Box 11, Folder 6

B - Miscellaneous

Box 11, Folder 7

C - Miscellaneous

Box 11, Folder 8

D-E - Miscellaneous

Box 11, Folder 9

F-H - Miscellaneous

Box 11, Folder 10

J - Miscellaneous

Box 11, Folder 11

K-L - Miscellaneous

Box 11, Folder 12

M-O - Miscellaneous

Box 11, Folder 13

R - Miscellaneous

Box 12, Folder 1

S - Miscellaneous

Box 12, Folder 2

T - Miscellaneous

Box 12, Folder 3

W-Y - Miscellaneous

 

Business Materials

Box 12, Folder 4

Business materials - Miscellaneous 1999 - 2001

Box 12, Folder 5

Financial records 1999 - 2001

Box 12, Folder 6

Mailing lists

Box 12, Folder 7

Subscriptions

 

CONFERENCES

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 6) CONFERENCES: Material related to the 1997 forum "An Explosion of Violence," which met to discuss the causes of and solutions to violence in society.
Box 12, Folder 8

"An Explosion of Violence" 1997

 

IMAGES AND RECORDINGS

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 7) IMAGES AND RECORDINGS: Artwork by Lindsay Hill, photographs and two VHS tapes of a reading that included Hill. Arranged in three subseries: A) Artwork, B) Photographs, and C) Videorecordings.
A) Artwork: Drawings, paintings, and collages by Lindsay Hill.
B) Photographs: Photographs of Lindsay Hill, often with wife Nita Hill. Also included are slides and prints used for the cover and liner notes of the Nathaniel Tarn CD, I Think This May Be Eden, produced by Spoken Engine Co.
C) Videorecordings: Two VHS tapes of a 1996 poetry reading at the New College Theater in San Francisco, California. Along with Lindsay Hill, poets include Stephen-Paul Martin, Andrew Joron, Adam Cornford, and John Noto.
Box 12, Folder 9

Artwork

Box 12, Folder 10

Photographs - Miscellaneous

Box 12, Folder 11

Photographs - Images used for Nathaniel Tarn's CD, I Think This May Be Eden, produced by Spoken Engine Co

Box 12, Folder 12

Videorecordings - [Vatic Hum/Orpheus Grid reading], Tapes 1 & 2. VHS. (Restrictions apply) 1972, November 21