Gerald Burns Manuscripts and Other Documents
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2005
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: Gerald Burns Manuscripts and Other Documents
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0221
Physical Description:
1.4 Linear feet
(1 carton and 1 archives box)
Date (inclusive): 1978-2013 (bulk 1980-1997)
Abstract: Literary papers, correspondence, and artwork of Gerald Burns, "postmodern" poet, critic, artist, and editor. Includes typescripts
of Burns' poetry collections; galleys for Burns' critical books
Toward a Phenomenology of Written Art (1979) and
Prose (1982); and correspondence with poet Barbara Jordan.
Scope and Content of Collection
A small collection of the literary papers, correspondence and artwork of Gerald Burns, "postmodern" poet, critic, artist,
and editor. Includes typescripts and drafts of Burns' poetry; galleys for Burns' critical books
Toward a Phenomenology of Written Art (1979) and
Prose (1982); and correspondence with Barbara Jordan. It also contains page proofs of Robert Trammell's
Epics, for which Burns set the type; some prose writings such as essays; and artwork (principally line drawings, doodles, and sketches).
The second part of the collection consists of papers by and on Gerald Burns from the collection of Barbara Jordan, a friend
of Burns and his wife, Clio Dunn, and a fellow poet. This material primarily consists of their letters and drafts of poems
that Burns shared with Jordan.
Arranged in two series: 1) PAPERS, and 2) MATERIALS FROM BARBARA JORDAN.
Biography
Gerald Burns was born in 1940 in Detroit, Michigan. He was educated at Harvard, Trinity College (Dublin), and taught at Southern
Methodist University and New York University. In 1975 Burns moved to Dallas. In 1985, he was awarded an NEA Creative Writing
Fellowship for poetry. Burns found employment as an English teacher and editor, but his life's work was as a writer, poet,
and artist. He illustrated several of his own books and designed many of their covers (most notably,
Boccherini's Minuet and
Prose).
Burns is considered a leading practitioner of long-lined, thickly-textured verse. His wide reading and close observation of
a panoramic range of subjects allows his poetry to bridge formal and expressive gaps between the 19th-century Romantics, early
20th-century Modernism, and later 20th-century language-oriented writing.
Burns passed away in July 1997.
Preferred Citation
Gerald Burns Manuscripts and Other Documents. MSS 221. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 1992, 2014.
OFF-SITE STORAGE
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
American poetry -- 20th century
Burns, Gerald -- Archives
Jordan, Barbara, 1949- -- Correspondence
PAPERS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 1) PAPERS. Arranged in two subseries: A) Correspondence, and B) Writings.
A) Correspondence: Contains a letter from Scott Bowdan to Leland Hickman along with Bowdan's submission to
Boxcar, "Quest/Questions." Also included are two letters from Burns to Hickman.
B) Writings: Includes works of poetry; prose (literary essays, criticism, and a galley version of his
Toward a Phenomenology of Written Art); art, travel writing, and journals; and one review. The poetry files contain an untitled collection of Burns' poetry in
two successive drafts, and a galley copy of Robert Trammell's
Epics for which Burns did the typesetting "as a Christmas present to Bob." The journals section contains a long travel narrative,
"Painting Statues Books" with the author's sketches of relevant "objets d'art" following the text; and one full-sized sketch
of Ezra Pound's head from the travel sketches. Finally, Burns' "My Leatherette Reminder", something of a critical/scholarly
diary, is included.
Box 1, Folder 1
Bowdan, Scott - Letter to Leland Hickman and submission, "Quest/Question" to
Boxcar
1982
Box 1, Folder 2
Burns, Gerald - 2 letters to Leland Hickman
1982, 1985
General note
Includes photograph used for initial cover of
Prose.
Box 1, Folder 3
Trammel, Robert -
Epics, galleys
1982
General note
Introductory note and type setting by Burns.
Box 1, Folder 4
Untitled collection of Burns' poems
1984-1985
General note
Two drafts exist for most of the poems. Included are "Homer and Image," "Thought and Extension," "Emerged for Immersed," "Fame
in Retrospect," "Written Under German," "Imagining a World," "Concocting the Other," "Named After Days," "Orthodox in Appearance,"
"Waiting as Dispersion," "Good as Questionable," "Even Chisels Gold," and others.
Box 1, Folder 5
Duration is Destination--Verse in the Eighties - Reprint from
Southwest Review
1980
General note
Essay/review of
Selected Poems by Donald Justice,
The Venetian Nespers by Anthony Hecht, and
Greenwich Mean Time by Adrien Stoutenburg.
Box 1, Folder 6
Magnificence of His Rebuttals - Reprint from
Southwest Review
1979
General note
Essay/review of
The American Quest for a Supreme Fiction: Whitman's Legacy in the Personal Epic by James Miller, Jr., and
John Ashbery: An Introduction to the Poetry by David Shapiro.
Box 1, Folder 9
Straddling the Brink - Reprint from
Southwest Review with author's handwritten notes
1978
General note
Essay/article on
Words for Dr. Y by Anne Sexton,
Hearts of the Tattooed by Jim Hubert, and
Refractions by Paul Shuttleworth.
Box 1, Folder 10
Toward a Phenomenology of Written Art - Paste-ups
1979
Art, Travel Writings, Journals
Box 1, Folder 11
Bound typescript journal with varied commentary
1982
Box 1, Folder 12
Paintings Statues Books, a travel journal with sketches - Typescript with photocopies of drawings
1985
Box 1, Folder 13
Gaudier Brzeska--Hieratic Head of Ezra Pound - Full size photocopy of drawing contained in Paintings Sculpture Books
1985
Box 1, Folder 14
Review of
A Book of Spells - Julie Siegel, "Tangible Magic From A Poet Who Cares," tear sheet from
Southwest Review
1980
MATERIALS FROM BARBARA JORDAN
Scope and Content of Series
Series 2) MATERIALS FROM BARBARA JORDAN: Papers from the personal collection of Barbara Jordan, a friend of Burns and his
wife, Clio Dunn, and a fellow poet. Arranged in three subseries: A) Correspondence, B) Writings, and C) Miscellaneous.
A) Correspondence: Burns and Jordan carried on a decade-long correspondence, and letters from Burns to Jordan (often mailed
with artwork and voluminous poetry drafts, copies, and typescripts) are included here, arranged chronologically by year. At
the beginning of most folders is an inventory by Jordan of the file's contents, though Jordan wrote these inventories before
the collection came to the Library and there are some discrepancies in her description. Overall, however, these are highly
useful guides to the rich content of each folder of letters and the enclosed writings and drawings. There are also a small
number of letters to and from Burns and Jordan to other correspondents. Arranged alphabetically by the name of the author.
B) Writings: Many drafts and copies of Burns's work were bundled with letters to Jordan and remain with the letters in subseries
2A, however, Jordan also had a pile of Burns's writings that was not explicitly linked to correspondence. This material has
been sorted roughly by genre and year.
C) Miscellaneous: Ephemera, Burns's artwork, teaching materials, and works by others.
Box 2, Folder 1
Burns, Gerald to Jonathan Brannen
1995
Box 2, Folder 2
Burns, Gerald to Ed Foster (
Talisman ed.)
1988-1991, 1995
Box 2, Folder 3
Burns, Gerald to Michael Franco
1988-1989
Box 2, Folder 4-12
Burns, Gerald to Barbara Jordan and Ed Batchelder
1987-1995
Box 2, Folder 13
Burns, Gerald to Barbara Jordan
1996-1997
Box 2, Folder 14
Burns, Gerald to Spencer Selby (with reply)
1994
Box 2, Folder 15
Dunn, Clio to Barbara Jordan and Ed Batchelder
1989-1991
Box 2, Folder 16
Falleder, Arnold to Barbara Jordan
1998
Box 2, Folder 17
Jordan, Barbara to George Minkoff
2013
General note
Jordan describes the context and history of the correspondence between her and Gerald Burns in the collection.
Box 2, Folder 18
Jordan, Barbara to Gerald Burns and Clio Dunn
1989-1996
Box 2, Folder 19
Lehman, David to Gerald Burns
1991
Box 2, Folder 20
Southern Illinois University Press to Gerald Burns
1989
Box 2, Folder 21
Sullivan, Gary to Gerald Burns
1995
Box 2, Folder 22-23
Shorter Poems compilation - Typescript drafts
1989, 1991
Box 2, Folder 34
Prose writings
General note
Includes essays "San Antonio art," "What's left for the liberal arts," and others.
Box 2, Folder 35
Ephemera
undated
General note
Reading notes, business cards, and list of experimental/poetry art magazines.
Box 2, Folder 37
Drawings by Gerald Burns - On envelopes
Box 2, Folder 38
Final exams for English/writing courses taught by Burns
ca. 1991
Box 2, Folder 39
Journalism - Course agendas
1990
Box 2, Folder 40
Works by others - James Haining, Monica Raymond, Kevin Killian
undated
General note
The Raymond poem is a response to Burns's "Reply to a poem by Arnold Falleder called 'Ice cream is for the summer and kugel
is for all year long.'"