Collection Summary
Access
Publication Rights
Preferred Citation
Alternate Forms Available
Related Collections
Materials Cataloged Separately
Indexing Terms
Acquisition Information
Accruals
System of Arrangement
Processing Information
Biographical Chronology
Scope and Content Note
Collection Summary
Collection Title: Philip Whalen papers
Date (inclusive): circa 1923-2002
Date (bulk): 1960-1997
Collection Number: BANC MSS 2000/93 p
Creator: Whalen, Philip
Extent: 2 cartons, 36 boxes, 11 oversize folders, 3 oversize boxes, and 1 tube
circa 30 linear feet
4 digital objects (5 images)
Repository: The Bancroft Library.
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-6000
Phone: (510) 642-6481
Fax: (510) 642-7589
Email: bancref@library.berkeley.edu
URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/
Abstract: The Philip Whalen Papers, circa 1940-2001, consist of the writings (notebooks, poems, prose works), correspondence, professional
papers, artwork and personal papers that detail Whalen’s dual life as poet (coming to prominence during San Francisco’s Beat
era of the 50’s and often associated with his fellow Reed graduates, Gary Snyder and Lew Welch), and later, Buddhist monk.
Languages Represented: Collection materials are in English
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Access
Collection open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by the U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.). In addition, the reproduction
of some materials may be restricted by terms of University of California gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions,
privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond
that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
All requests to reproduce, publish, quote from, or otherwise use collection materials must be submitted in writing to the
Head of Public Services, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley 94720-6000. See:
http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/reference/permissions.html .
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Philip Whalen papers. BANC MSS 2000/93 p, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.,
BANC MSS 2000/93 p, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
Alternate Forms Available
Digital reproductions of selected items are available.
Related Collections
Auerhahn Press.
Title: Auerhahn Press records, 1959-1967.
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 71/85 c
Brautigan, Richard.
Title: Richard Brautigan papers, [195-].
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 93/91 c
Brautigan, Richard.
Title: Richard Brautigan papers, 1958-1984.
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 87/173 c
City Lights Books.
Title: City Lights Books records, 1953-1970.
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 72/107 c
City Lights Books.
Title: City Lights Books records: additions, 1947-[on-going], (bulk 1970-1994).
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 77/89 c
Duncan, Robert Edward.
Title: Robert Edward Duncan papers, 1948-1959 (inclusive), 1952 (bulk)
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 86/29 c
Duncan, Robert Edward.
Title: Robert Edward Duncan papers, 1960-1977.
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 81/33 c
Duncan, Robert Edward.
Title: Robert Edward Duncan papers, [ca. 1944-1966]
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 78/164 c
Ferlinghetti, Lawrence.
Title: Lawrence Ferlinghetti papers, 1919-[on-going].
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 90/30 c
McClure, Michael.
Title: Michael McClure papers, [ca. 1963-1975].
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 76/91 c
Spicer, Jack.
Title: Jack Spicer papers, 1954-1964.
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 71/135 c
Spicer, Jack.
Title: Jack Spicer papers, [1956]-1963.
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 99/94 c
Materials Cataloged Separately
- Printed materials have been transferred to the book collection of The Bancroft Library.
- Videotapes/sound recordings have been transferred to the Microforms Collection of The Bancroft Library.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog
Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997
McClure, Michael
Sagan, Miriam, 1954-
Scalapino, Leslie
Snyder, Gary, 1930-
Whalen, Philip--Archives
Whalen, Philip--Art
Whalen, Velna
San Francisco Zen Center
Beat generation--California
Beat generation--Poetry
Buddhism--United States
Poets, American--20th century--California
Zen Buddhism
Japan--Description and travel
Sierra Nevada (Calif. and Nev.)--Description and travel
Acquisition Information
The Philip Whalen Papers were purchased by The Bancroft Library on February 7, 2000. Additions were received in 2005 and 2008.
Accruals
Additions were received in 2005 and 2008.
System of Arrangement
Arranged to the folder level.
Processing Information
Processed by Dean Smith in 2002. Additions processed by Dean Smith in 2008.
1923 |
Born the only child of Glenn Henry and Phylis Arminta Bush Whalen in Portland, Oregon. Childhood spent in a small town on
the Columbia River southeast of Portland called, The Dalles.
|
1939 |
Writes first poem in high school social science class. Mother dies. |
1941 |
Graduates from high school. Family moves to Portland, Oregon |
1943-1946 |
Drafted in to the U.S. Army Air Corps. Trained to teach radio operation and repair. |
1946 |
Attends Reed College under the GI Bill. |
1948-1949? |
Meets Lew Welch. Meets Gary Snyder soon thereafter. |
1950 |
Moves into rooming house where Lew Welch and Gary Snyder also lived. William Carlos Williams visits Reed on tour of western
states. Whalen, Welch and Snyder give Williams their manuscripts for criticism. Also takes creative writing and calligraphy
courses from Reed professor, Lloyd Reynolds.
|
1951 |
Produces a small book of poems,
Three Satires. Senior thesis project entitled,
The Calendar. Graduates with a degree in Literature and Languages. Moves south to San Francisco, California and then to Venice, California,
then returns to San Francisco.
|
1952 |
Moves into an apartment with Gary Snyder. Spends the following three summers working at a fire station in the Skagit Valley
of Mt. Baker National Forest.
|
1955 |
Participates in the historic Six Gallery reading that included, Gary Snyder, Michael McClure, Philip Lamantia, Kenneth Rexroth,
Allen Ginsberg and Jack Kerouac. Soon after the reading he meets more of the Beat writers: Neal Cassidy, Gregory Corso, and
Peter Orlovsky. Takes peyote for the first time.
|
1955-1956? |
Has first experimental Zen sesshin (meditation practice) with Gary Snyder, Albert Saijo and a few others in a cabin in Mill
Valley, California.
|
1956 |
Lives in Berkeley. Meets Robert Duncan and Jack Spicer. Moves to Newport, Oregon for the following two years. |
1959 |
Returns to San Francisco.
Evergreen Review 2: The San Francisco Scene, which includes Whalen, is published. Meets Richard Baker at Grove Press in New York.
|
1960 |
First full-length book of poems,
Like I Say, published followed by
Memoirs of an Interglacial Age. Included in Donald Allen's
New American Poetry anthology.
|
1962 |
Recipient of the Poets Foundation Award. |
1963 |
Writes first novel,
You Didn't Even Try, which was later published in 1967.
|
1964 |
Receives V.K. Ratliff Award. |
1965 |
NET (The National Educational Television Center) film series,
USA: Poetry films a portrait of Whalen. Receives, with the help of Ginsberg, a grant-in-aid from the National Academy of Arts and Letters
which helps him pay for his move to Kyoto, Japan.
|
1966-1967 |
Lives in Kyoto, Japan where he teaches English, tours and writes. Gary Snyder and family living in Japan at the same time. |
1967 |
Returns to California. |
1969 |
On Bear's Head: Selected Poems published.
|
1970 |
Severance Pay: Poems 1967-1969 published.
|
1969-1971 |
Second trip to Japan. Stays with Richard Baker and family for a brief period. |
1971 |
Returns to Bolinas, California. Zentatsu Richard Baker Roshi invites Whalen to visit the Zen Center in San Francisco which
Whalen accepts. Begins formal Zen training.
|
1972 |
A novel,
Imaginary Speeches for a Brazen Head is published. Whalen requests ordination as an Unsui (Zen monk).
|
1973 |
Ordained as Unsui. |
1975 |
Takes the position of Shuso (acting head monk) at the Zen Mountain Center, in Tassajara Springs, California. |
1976 |
The Kindness of Strangers: Poems, 1969-1974 published.
|
1977 |
Decompressions: Selected Poems published. Attends the Centrum Foundation poetry conference in Port Townsend, Washington.
|
1980 |
The Diamond Noodle, a prose text, is published.
|
1981-1982 |
Resident head monk at South Ridge Zendo in San Francisco. |
1983 |
Heavy Breathing, Poems 1967-1983 published. Attends the International Poetry Conference, Rome.
|
1984 |
Presides as Tanto (practice leader) at the Dharma Sangha, Santa Fe, New Mexico under the direction of Zentatsu Richard Baker
Roshi.
|
1985 |
Two Novels a reprinting of two earlier books,
You Didn't Even Try and
Imaginary Speeches for a Brazen Head published.
|
1986 |
Receives the Morton Dauwen Zabel Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. |
1987 |
At the end of July Whalen's formal training as Zen monk successfully completed. Receives The Fund For Poetry award. |
1988 |
Returns to San Francisco were he serves as Godo (head of practice) at the Hartford Street Zen Center. In November works as
master in residence in poetry at the Atlantic Center for the Arts, New Smyrna Beach, Florida.
|
1992 |
Becomes abbot of Hartford Street Zen Center, San Francisco. |
1995-1996? |
Retires as abbot of Hartford Street Zen Center, San Francisco. |
1996 |
Canoeing up Cabarga Creek : Buddhist poems, 1955-1986 published.
|
1999 |
Overtime: selected poems and
Some of these days: poems published.
|
2002 |
Philip Whalen dies in San Francisco, California. |
Scope and Content Note
The Philip Whalen Papers, circa 1923-2002, consist of the writings (notebooks, poems, prose works), correspondence, professional
papers, artwork and personal papers that detail Whalen’s dual life as poet (coming to prominence during San Francisco’s Beat
era of the 1950s and often associated with his fellow Reed graduates, Gary Snyder and Lew Welch), and later, Buddhist monk.
The bulk of the collection dates from the late 1970s to 2001, but also includes Whalen's early poetry works when he attended
Reed College in the late 1940s. These papers complement The Bancroft Library's other extensive holdings documenting the San
Francisco Poetry Renaissance.
Of special interest in the collection are Whalen’s notebooks from 1957-1989. The early notebooks record his daily experiences
and observations regarding a variety of topics, e.g. his backpacking trips to the Sierras, various locations he lived in the
Bay Area, ruminations about writing and his interactions with other poets and writers associated with the Beat scene, and
trips abroad, notably his two extensive stays in Japan. As time progresses the notebooks deal increasingly with Whalen’s entrance
into and studies in Zen Buddhism and his long association with the San Francisco Zen Center and its second abbot, Zentatsu
Richard Baker-roshi, founder of Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and Green Gulch Farm.
An extensive array of correspondence, both professional and family, includes letters from professional colleagues in both
the worlds of poetry and Buddhism. Much of the correspondence with fellow poets includes manuscripts sent to Whalen as gifts
or for his professional review. His professional papers range from documents relating to the rights, permissions and royalty
statements of published works to interviews, reviews and articles about Whalen as poet and Buddhist. Of interest are the numerous
poetry reading announcements that show Whalen’s extensive interaction with his literary colleagues. Also included are notes
and papers that Whalen compiled regarding literary and historical sources he used for his writings and on the subject of Zen
Buddhism which he used for various courses he taught on the subject.
Whalen dabbled in art and many of his drawings were used as illustrations in his books of poems. The artworks included in
his papers reflect various themes and are often humorous or whimsical in tone. His personal papers, though brief, include
such items as his astrological charts, his USDA Forest Service employment papers, a family tree and numerous datebooks that
span the time period of the 1980’s - 1990’s. Also included is a folder on Issan Dorsey, founding Abbot of the Hartford Street
Zen Center, San Francisco.
The collection rounds out with materials Whalen gathered on Buddhism, from classic Buddhist texts to contemporary essays.
There are also several folders and oversize folders of maps, brochures, and programs relating to Whalen’s visits to Japanese
temples and shrines in Kyoto and his attending Noh and Kabuki plays as well as Buddhist art reproductions. At the beginning
of the series are a smattering of folders related to the Zen Center and Hartford Street Zen Center, both in San Francisco.
As noted by Paul Christensen in the Dictionary of Literary Biography, “Philip Whalen has managed to espouse the religious
principles of Zen Buddhism without renouncing the world around him, retaining a humorous, whimsical balance in his poems,
and mixing the pleasures of California life with contemplation in such a way as to persuade readers that the flesh and spirit
may be enjoyed together in the fulfillment of one’s life.”