Jump to Content

Collection Guide
Collection Title:
Collection Number:
Get Items:
Frym (Gloria) Papers
MSS 0692  
View entire collection guide What's This?
Search this collection
Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • 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The collection contains correspondence with other prominent poets and writers; typescripts and drafts of published and unpublished creative literary works; teaching materials; and notebooks.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