Description
Although the bulk of this collection is divided between Stephen Rodefer's manuscripts and correspondence, there are also several
other series of note within the collection. The "Personal Business" series includes documents pertaining to Rodefer and his
family, while "Printed Matter" contains programs, announcements of readings, and non-manuscript matter. "Manuscripts by Others"
contains drafts of works by others ranging in date from the late 1950s to early 1990s, while the date range of "Fervent Valley
Manuscripts" and Poets Theater Manuscripts" is understandably narrower. The photo collection contains mostly photos of Rodefer
and his family, identified and dated when possible. The audio-visual collection ranges from early home movies shot by Howard
Rodefer, to recent videotapes of readings and performances, to audiotapes of favorite music and readings by Robert Creeley,
Basil Bunting, and Stephen Rodefer himself.
Background
Stephen Rodefer's professional life has proven as eclectic and wide-ranging as the poetic voice emerging from his numerous
books. As educator, he has taught undergraduate seminars at San Francisco State University, the University of California at
San Diego, Jesus College at Cambridge University--and creative arts classes to fourth graders at the Malcolm X School; as
prose writer, his work has been reprinted in publications as diverse as Wet, Downbeat, and Contrast II; and as poet, his narrative
voice ranges from interpretive "translations" of the ancient Greek anthology, Lucretius, and Villon, to the consciously modern
(if not post-modern) voice of Four Lectures or Passing Duration.
Restrictions
Property rights reside with the repository. Literary rights reside with the creators of the documents or their heirs. To obtain
permission to publish or reproduce, please contact the Public Services Librarian of the Dept. of Special Collections.