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Hejinian (Lyn) Papers
MSS 0074
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Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Lyn Hejinian Papers
Creator:
Hejinian, Lyn
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0074
Physical Description:
74.8 Linear feet
(186 archives boxes, 2 card file boxes, 1 oversize folder)
Physical Description:
1.73 GB
of digital files
Date (inclusive): 1966-2016
Abstract: Papers of Lyn Hejinian, American poet, publisher and editor of Tuumba Press, co-editor of
Poetics Journal, and co-director of the literary project Atelos. She has been a member of the Poetics Faculty at the New College of California
and is a professor in the English department at the University of California, Berkeley. Hejinian has spent most of her life
in the San Francisco Bay Area and is associated with the Language School of contemporary poetry. Prominent correspondents
in the collection include Charles Bernstein, Jack Collom, Arkadii Dragomoshchenko, Ted Greenwald, Susan Howe, Hank Lazer,
Katy Lederer, Alice Notley, Bob Perelman, Tom Raworth, Kit Robinson, Leslie Scalapino, Ron Silliman and Michael Palmer, as
well as many younger experimental writers and students. The papers contain manuscripts and annotated typescripts of Hejinian's
published and unpublished poetry; drafts for
My Life (1987),
The Hunt (1991),
Oxota: A Short Russian Novel (1991),
The Cell (1992),
The Cold of Poetry (1994),
Happily (2000),
The Language of Inquiry (2000),
Border Comedy (2001), and
The Beginner (2002); notebooks; and critical writings. Other notable material includes translations of Russian poet Arkadii Dragomoshchenko's
Description and
Xenia; collaborations; editorial projects, especially for Atelos and Tuumba Press; lecture and teaching materials; and audio recordings
of Hejinian's poetry readings and talks.
Languages:
English
.
Scope and Content of Collection
Papers of Lyn Hejinian, American poet, publisher and editor of Tuumba Press, co-editor of
Poetics Journal, and co-director of the literary project Atelos. She has been a member of the Poetics Faculty at the New College of California
and is a professor in the English department at the University of California, Berkeley. Hejinian has spent most of her life
in the San Francisco Bay Area and is associated with the Language School of contemporary poetry. Prominent correspondents
in the collection include Charles Bernstein, Jack Collom, Arkadii Dragomoshchenko, Ted Greenwald, Susan Howe, Hank Lazer,
Katy Lederer, Alice Notley, Bob Perelman, Tom Raworth, Kit Robinson, Leslie Scalapino, Ron Silliman and Michael Palmer, as
well as many younger experimental writers and students. The papers contain manuscripts and annotated typescripts of Hejinian's
published and unpublished poetry, translations, collaborations, editorial projects (especially for Atelos and Tuumba Press),
lecture and teaching materials, and audio recordings of Hejinian's poetry readings and talks.
Accession Processed in 1989
Includes correspondence dated 1973-1984 involving many important young writers. At Tuumba Press, Hejinian published a significant
body of avant-garde writing, and the papers include a wealth of material on recent work in the alternative tradition. Among
prominent correspondents in the collection are Charles Bernstein, Susan Howe, Ron Silliman and Michael Palmer. Occasional
copies of Hejinian's own letters enrich the collection. The largest group of letters are those from and to Hejinian's mother,
Mrs. Kenneth Andrews. The correspondence is arranged alphabetically by name of correspondent, and then chronologically. Many
letters are undated or partially dated, so chronology could only be surmised in some cases. Of special interest is a letter
from Hejinian to Stephen Rodefer, dated January 25 1983, in which Hejinian provides a detailed discussion of her intellectual
background. The papers also include annotated typescripts and manuscripts of Hejinian's published work, arranged alphabetically
by title. Materials within each folder remain in their original order.
Arranged in two series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE and 2) WRITINGS.
Accession Processed in 1998
The accession processed in 1998 includes manuscripts and annotated typescripts of Hejinian's writings (both published and
unpublished); manuscripts and annotated typescripts of Hejinian's translations of Russian poetry; manuscripts and annotated
typescripts of collaborations between Hejinian and others; notebooks (1969-1993); audio and visual materials pertaining to
Hejinian and other Language poets; Tuumba Press materials; miscellaneous photographs; and miscellaneous material documenting
Hejinian's poetry readings and conference activities.
Arranged in seven series: 3) CORRESPONDENCE, 4) WRITINGS, 5) COLLABORATIONS, 6) TRANSLATIONS, 7) TUUMBA PRESS, 8) MISCELLANEOUS
MATERIAL, and 9) AUDIOVISUAL MATERIAL.
Accession Processed in 2005
The accession processed in 2005 contains manuscripts and annotated typescripts of Hejinian's published collected writings;
manuscripts and annotated typescripts of collaborations between Hejinian and other poets and artists; manuscripts and annotated
typescripts for Hejinian's editorial projects; notebooks and journals (1974-2002); and miscellaneous material documenting
Hejinian's courses, poetry readings and publication activities.
Arranged in seven series: 10) CORRESPONDENCE, 11) WRITINGS, 12) COLLABORATIONS, 13) EDITORIAL PROJECTS, 14) TEACHING MATERIALS,
15) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIAL, and 16) AUDIOVISUAL MATERIAL.
Accession Processed in 2016
Arranged in seven series: 17) BIOGRAPHICAL, 18) CORRESPONDENCE, 19) WRITINGS, 20) COLLABORATIONS, 21) TRANSLATIONS, 22) MISCELLANEOUS,
and 23) PHOTOGRAPHS.
Lyn Hejinian was born in 1941 in San Francisco. After spending high school and college years in New England, Hejinian returned
to California in 1968. In the late 1970s Hejinian began publishing Tuumba chapbooks, which was to become one of the most important
series of chapbooks of contemporary poetry in the United States. Her own published work began with
The gRReat Adventure (1972), following which appeared
A Thought is the Bride of What Thinking (Tuumba, 1976),
Writing is an Aid to Memory (The Figures, 1978),
Gesualdo (Tuumba, 1978),
A Mask of Motion (Burning Deck, 1980),
My Life (Burning Deck, 1980; and Sun and Moon, 1987),
The Guard (Tuumba, 1984) and
Redo (Salt-Works Press, 1984). From 1981 to 1999, Hejinian was the co-editor, with Barrett Wratten, of
Poetics Journal and is co-director, with Travis Ortiz, of the literary project Atelos. She has been a member of the Poetics Faculty at the
New College of California and is a professor in the department of English at the University of California, Berkeley. Hejinian
lives in Berkeley with her husband, composer-musician Larry Ochs.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Lyn Hejinian Papers, MSS 74. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library.
Acquired 1988, 1998, 2004, 2016.
Letters of recommendation located in Box 84, Folder 9 are restricted until 2050. Original media formats are restricted. Viewing/listening
copies may be available for researchers.
Audiovisual recordings from this collection are available online.
This collection has additional unprocessed materials not described in this finding aid. See the UC San Diego Library
catalog record to view the acquisition dates and extent of unprocessed additions.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Women poets -- United States
American poetry -- 20th century
Publishers and publishing -- United States -- Archives
Poetics Journal
Grenier, Robert -- Correspondence
Hejinian, Carolyn, 1916-2002 -- Correspondence
Benson, Steve, 1949- -- Correspondence
Coolidge, Clark, 1939- -- Correspondence
McCaffery, Steve -- Correspondence
Lacy, Steve -- Correspondence
Notley, Alice, 1945- -- Correspondence
Raworth, Tom -- Correspondence
Howe, Fanny -- Correspondence
Taggart, John, 1942- -- Correspondence
Rodefer, Stephen -- Correspondence
Silliman, Ronald, 1946- -- Correspondence
Perelman, Bob -- Correspondence
Bernstein, Charles, 1950- -- Correspondence
Palmer, Michael, 1943- -- Correspondence
Retallack, Joan -- Correspondence
Eshleman, Clayton -- Correspondence
Bromige, David -- Correspondence
Mac Low, Jackson -- Correspondence
Howe, Susan, 1937- -- Correspondence
Hejinian, Lyn -- Archives
Tuumba Press -- Archives
Collom, Jack, 1931-2017 -- Correspondence
Greenwald, Ted -- Correspondence
Lazer, Hank -- Correspondence
Lederer, Katy -- Correspondence
Robinson, Kit, 1949- -- Correspondence
Scalapino, Leslie -- Correspondence
Dragomoshchenko, A. (Arkadiĭ) -- Correspondence