Dana Gioia papers, 1975-2019, bulk 1980-2015

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Summary

Creators:
Gioia, Dana
Abstract:
Materials related to Dana Gioia's work as a poet, essayist, and editor, as well as his roles as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and Poet Laureate of California. Collection includes drafts, published versions, and reprints of poems, essays, and other writings; documentation of NEA and Poet Laureate processes and programs; correspondence; and broadsides.
Extent:
48.42 Linear Feet (81 boxes)
Language:
Materials are in English.
Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Dana Gioia papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Background

Scope and content:

Materials related to Dana Gioia's work as a poet, essayist, and editor as well as his roles as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and Poet Laureate of California. The Writings series is divided into Poetry, Other Writings, and Publications, and includes drafts, galleys, published versions, and reprints of Gioia's poems, essays, librettos, and other writings, as well as notes, correspondence, reviews, and other related documents.

The Professional series includes materials related to Gioia's work with the NEA, including documentation of his NEA nomination and confirmation; his congressional testimony; reports; publicity; and working documents and correspondence related to NEA programs he worked with, such as Poetry Out Loud, NEA Jazz Masters, The Big Read, Shakespeare in American Communities, Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, and others. There is also correspondence, press coverage, a scrapbook, and other documentation of Gioia's tenure as California Poet Laureate; and materials related to his 2007 Stanford University commencement address, including drafts of the speech, responses, and reprints.

The Correspondence series is comprised primarily of Gioia's letter and email correspondence with other poets, publishers, and scholars, and also includes some biographical and other material related to each correspondent. The Broadsides and posters series includes poetry broadsides authored by Dana Gioia and others, and a few posters related to Gioia's poetry.

Biographical / historical:

Dana Gioia is an American poet, essayist, and editor who has served as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts and as Poet Laureate of California.

Gioia was born in Hawthorne, California in 1950. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford University in 1973; a Master of Arts in Comparative Literature from Harvard University in 1975, where he studied with poets Robert Fitzgerald and Elizabeth Bishop; and a Master of Business Administration from Stanford Business School in 1977. Gioia began working at General Foods in 1977, rising to the position of vice president of marketing, and left the company in 1992 to pursue writing.

Gioia has published five full-length collections of poetry, including Daily Horoscope (1986), The Gods of Winter (1991), Interrogations at Noon (2001), Pity the Beautiful (2012), and 99 Poems: New & Selected (2016). 99 Poems: New & Selected won the 2016 Poets' Prize as the best new book of the year. His third collection, Interrogations at Noon, was awarded the American Book Award. Gioia has also published four books of essays including Can Poetry Matter? (1992), which was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle award; and written four opera libretti. He has also edited or co-edited several literary anthologies, including An Introduction to Poetry (with X. J. Kennedy) and Best American Poetry 2018. His essays and memoirs have appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Hudson Review, and on BBC Radio.

From 2003 to 2009 Gioia served as the Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts where he helped create and launch several programs, including Poetry Out Loud, The Big Read, Shakespeare in American Communities, and Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience. Gioia also served as the California State Poet Laureate from 2015 to 2019. During his tenure, he became the first laureate to visit all 58 counties of California, a tour that became the subject of a BBC Radio documentary.

Dana Gioia and Mary Elizabeth Hiecke were married in 1980, and currently divide their time between Los Angeles and Sonoma County, California.

Acquisition information:
Gift of Dana and Mary Gioia, December 2019 and February 2020.
Processing information:

Processed by Maggie Hughes and Kelly Kress in 2021-2022. Most original folder titles were retained.

Arrangement:

Organized in four series:

  • Series 1. Writings, 1984-2019
  • Series 2. Professional, 2002-2018
  • Series 3. Correspondence, 1975-2019
  • Series 4. Broadsides and posters, 1983-2018

Rules or conventions:
Describing Archives: A Content Standard

Access and use

Restrictions:

Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more information.

Terms of access:

The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining necessary permissions rests with the researcher.

Preferred citation:

[Identification of item]. Dana Gioia papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.

Location of this collection:
1151 Oxford Road
San Marino, CA 91108, US
Contact:
(626) 405-2191
reference@huntington.org
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