Descriptive Summary
Restrictions
Acquisition Information
Preferred Citation
Biography
OFF-SITE STORAGE
Scope and Content of Collection
Descriptive Summary
Languages:
English
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: Gloria Frym Papers
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0692
Physical Description:
17.6 Linear feet
(43 archives boxes and 2 card file boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1938-2007
Abstract: Papers of Gloria Frym, Bay Area-based poet, educator, and writer. The collection contains correspondence with other prominent
poets and writers; typescripts and drafts of published and unpublished creative literary works; teaching materials; and notebooks.
The papers also include biographical materials, audio recordings of interviews, and spoken word performances.
Restrictions
The audio and visual recordings in Series 6 are restricted. Users must request a listening copy to be produced. The entire
contents of Box 14, Folder 7 are restricted until further notice.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 2008.
Preferred Citation
Gloria Frym Papers, MSS 692. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Biography
Gloria Frym was born in 1947, in Brooklyn, New York, and grew up in Los Angeles, California. She earned her MA and BA degrees
at the University of New Mexico, studying with Robert Creeley. In the early part of her career, she taught creative writing
to inmates in the San Francisco county jail systems and with the work furlough programs. Her book,
How I Learned (1992), resulted from her work with the prison inmates, and was funded by several grants from the California Arts Council.
Her first poetry book,
Impossible Affection, was published in 1979. During the same time period, she received a grant to write
Second Stories: Women Artists Whose Careers Began After Thirty-Five (1979), a book of interviews which included Helene Aylon, Frances Jaffer, and Cherry Jackson.
Frym eventually moved to Berkeley from Albuquerque and began teaching creative writing at the New College of California in
San Francisco as core faculty in the poetics program from 1987-2002. During this time, she became interested in elements of
"language" poetry and began writing prose poems, developing into the prose narrative.
She received a Fund for Poetry Award, The Walter and Elise Haas Creative Work Fund Grant, and the San Francisco State University
Poetry Book Award. Her collection of poetry
Homeless At Home (2001) won the American Book Award in 2002. She has also published essays, articles, interviews, and reviews in the
San Francisco Chronicle, the
Baltimore Sun, and
Sentence: A Journal of Prose Poetics. Her published poetry collections also include
Solution Simulacra (2006) and
Lost Sappho Poems (2007).
Frym is an associate professor in the MFA and BA writing and literature programs at the California College of the Arts in
the Bay Area, and also visiting faculty at Western Connecticut State University and the Naropa Institute.
OFF-SITE STORAGE
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS.
Scope and Content of Collection
The papers of Gloria Frym document the literary and teaching career of San Francisco based poet, educator, and writer. Materials
include personal and business correspondence; manuscript typescripts; and pre-publication materials for collected published
works, poems, prose, essays, lectures, and other creative works. Also included in the papers contain numerous bound notebooks;
teaching materials; audio and video cassette recordings, and biographical materials.
The collection is arranged in six series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS BY GLORIA FRYM, 3) NOTEBOOKS, 4) TEACHING MATERIALS,
5) BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS, and 6) AUDIO AND VISUAL RECORDINGS.
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE
The CORRESPONDENCE series is arranged in two subseries: A) General and B) Family.
A) The General correspondence, arranged alphabetically, contains letters both to and from colleagues, poets, and friends.
Prominent correspondents include Helene Aylon, Andrei Codrescu, Robert Creeley, Anselm Hollo, Joanne Kyger, Holly Prado, and
Anne Waldman.
B) The Family Correspondence includes letters from Claire (mother), David (brother), and Renay (sister) Frym. Other personal
correspondence includes letters from the Carter and Benedetti families.
SERIES 2: WRITINGS BY GLORIA FRYM
The WRITINGS BY GLORIA FRYM series is arranged in five subseries: A) Collected Works, B) Poems, C) Prose, D) Lectures, and
E) Miscellaneous Creative Works.
A) Arranged by date of publication, the Collected Works subseries represents poetry and prose works, that were published
or unpublished between 1979-2007. The papers include handwritten drafts, typescript drafts, and page proofs.
B) The Poems are manuscripts and drafts of uncollected or unpublished poems. The titles are arranged alphabetically.
C) The Prose materials are manuscripts and drafts of uncollected or unpublished stories and narratives. The titles are arranged
alphabetically.
D) The Lectures subseries, arranged chronologically, contains lecture notes and remarks given by Frym between 1980-2005.
E) Arranged alphabetically, the Miscellaneous Creative Works are experimental or conceptual written works, essays, and a
draft interview narrative with Andrei Codrescu.
SERIES 3: NOTEBOOKS
The NOTEBOOKS series, arranged chronologically, contains bound and unbound notebooks with poem drafts, diaristic entries,
and miscellaneous notes ranging from 1973-2005.
SERIES 4: TEACHING MATERIALS
The TEACHING MATERIALS series contains five subseries: A) Naropa Institute, B) New College of California, C) San Francisco
State University, D) San Bruno Prison Literary Workshops, and E) Miscellaneous. The files are arranged chronologically.
A) Frym taught at Naropa Institute beginning in 1994. The materials include syllabi and class curriculum notes for the summer
writing program prose workshops.
B) The materials in the New College of California subseries reflects courses Frym taught in poetry, Whitman and Dickinson,
and the publication of
Prosodia, a student poetry journal. Materials include syllabi and class notes.
C) The materials document the poetry and prose creative writing courses Frym taught at San Francisco State University creative
writing program from 1983-1988.
D) In the early part of her career, Frym taught creative writing in the San Francisco Prison system and work furlough programs.
The materials include diaristic notebooks, notes, chapbooks produced by the students, and letters from prisoners.
E) Frym worked at several other institutions as visiting faculty, including California College of the Arts, the University
of New Mexico, Saint Mary's College of California, and Western Connecticut State University. The materials include syllabi
and notes.
SERIES 5: BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS
The BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIALS series is arranged in two subseries: A) Miscellaneous Materials and B) Anti-War Photographs.
A) The Miscellaneous Materials subseries, arranged alphabetically, includes articles about Frym; reading announcement flyers,
1976-2007; artist statements; photographs of Frym and others; and subject files.
B) The Anti-War Photographs, arranged chronologically, are various snapshots taken by Frym during protest demonstrations
against war in the San Francisco area, 2002-2007.
SERIES 6: AUDIO AND VISUAL RECORDINGS
The AUDIO AND VISUAL RECORDINGS series contains audiocassette recorded interviews conducted by Gloria Frym for her book,
Second Stories, between 1978-1979. The files also include readings, interviews, and miscellaneous spoken word recordings with Frym. The
series also contains a videocassette of a spoken word performance.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Women poets -- United States
American poetry -- 20th century
Frym, Gloria -- Archives
Young, Geoffrey, 1944- -- Correspondence
Bergé, Carol, 1928-2006 -- Correspondence
Hollo, Anselm -- Correspondence
Collom, Jack, 1931-2017 -- Correspondence
Corman, Cid -- Correspondence
Creeley, Robert, 1926-2005 -- Correspondence
Dahlen, Beverly -- Correspondence
Fraser, Kathleen, 1935- -- Correspondence
Hejinian, Lyn -- Correspondence
Kyger, Joanne -- Correspondence
Prado, Holly -- Correspondence
Silliman, Ronald, 1946- -- Correspondence