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Gioia (Dana) Papers
mssGioia
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Table of contents
Contributing Institution:
The Huntington Library
Title: Dana Gioia papers
Creator:
Gioia, Dana
Identifier/Call Number: mssGioia
Physical Description:
48.42 Linear Feet
(81 boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1975-2019
Date (bulk): 1980-2015
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.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for use by qualified researchers and by appointment. Please contact Reader Services at the Huntington Library for more
information.
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.
[Identification of item]. Dana Gioia papers, The Huntington Library, San Marino, California.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Dana and Mary Gioia, December 2019 and February 2020.
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.
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.
Processed by Maggie Hughes and Kelly Kress in 2021-2022. Most original folder titles were retained.
26 fine press books were transferred to The Huntington Library's Rare Book Collection. The volumes are individually cataloged
and can be found by searching the Huntington Library Catalog.
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
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Arts -- Study and teaching -- United States
Authors, American -- 20th century
Authors, American -- 21st century
Poetry and the arts
Poetry -- History and criticism
Poets, American – 20th century
Poets, American -- 21st century
California -- In literature
Broadsides
Letters (correspondence) -- United States
Personal papers
Poems
Gioia, Dana
National Endowment for the Arts
Clayton, Norman
Peich, Michael