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Inventory of the Cid Corman Letters to Graham Ackroyd,
MC151
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Table of contents
Creator:
Corman, Cid
Title: Cid Corman Letters to Graham Ackroyd,
Date (inclusive): 1973-1977
Extent:
17 letters; 0.2 linear feet
Abstract: Cid Corman (1924-2004) poet, editor, and translator, was the founder of the poetry
magazine
Origin and the Origin Press. This collection contains 17 typescript letters to the poet
and artist Graham Ackroyd, written by Corman, from 1973-1977, while Corman was in Japan. The letters discuss
Corman's writing and publishing, references to other poets, and explanations of his life in Japan, among other
subjects.
Physical location: Researchers should contact Special Collections to request collections, as many
are stored offsite.
Repository:
University of California, Davis. General Library. Dept. of Special
Collections.
Davis, California 95616-5292
Collection number: MC151
Language of Material: Collection materials in English.
Cid Corman was born on June 29, 1924 in Boston, Massachusetts and graduated from Tufts University in 1945. He
did graduate work at the University of Michigan, where he won the Hopwood Prize for poetry in 1947, and also at
the University of North Carolina. In 1948, Corman returned to Boston where he started a radio program on WMEX.
During this program the works of writers were read without commercial interruption.
He founded the poetry magazine
Origin and Origin Press in 1951, featuring the works of Robert
Duncan and Denise Levertov, among others. Corman was known for helping other poets get their works published
through Origin Press and was an influential figure among the Beat and Black Mountain poets. In 1958, Corman
moved to Kyoto, Japan where he continued his work with Origin Press. The following year, Gary Snyder's first
book,
Riprap, was published, printed in Kyoto by Corman and distributed through City Lights
Books.
Corman was a prolific poet himself and his works include:
The Precious (1955)
Sun Rock
Man
(1970),
So Far (1973),
For the Asking (1976),
Identities
(1981),
And the Word (1987),
How Now: Poems (1995), and
For Crying Out Loud (2002). He also translated the
works of the Japanese poets Matsuo Basho and Shimpei Kusano.
Corman passed away on March 12, 2004, in Kyoto, Japan.
His correspondent, Graham Ackroyd, was a poet and artist who resided in the United Kingdom. His works include
Love feast: poems (1993),
Poems (1994), and
Everything passes:
poem
(1996).
Source:
"Sidney Corman Obituary Notice," in
Contemporary Authors, v. 225. Detroit: Thomson Gale,
2004.
The collection contains 17 typescript letters to Graham Ackroyd written by Cid Corman, from 1973-1977, while
Corman was in Japan. The letters discuss Corman's writing and publishing, references to other poets, and
explanations of his life in Japan, among other subjects.
The letters are arranged chronologically.
MC013 Cid Corman Letters to Frank Samperi
D-050 Gary Snyder Papers
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public
access catalog.
Corman, Cid--Correspondence
Ackroyd, Graham
Poets, American--20th century
Collection is open for research.
Acquired in 1985.
Sara Gunasekara processed these papers and created and encoded this finding aid.
[Identification of item], Cid Corman Letters to Graham Ackroyd, MC151, Department of Special Collections,
General Library, University of California, Davis.
Copyright is protected by the copyright law, chapter 17, of the U.S. Code. All requests for permission to
publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections. Permission
for publication is given on behalf of the Department of Special Collections, General Library, University of
California, Davis as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the
copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.