Joe Brainard Letters
Finding aid prepared by Special Collections & Archives
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
858-534-2533
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Copyright 2009
Descriptive Summary
Title: Joe Brainard Letters
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0703
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
Languages:
English
Physical Description:
2.4 Linear feet
(6 archive boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1957-1994
Abstract: Letters to Joe Brainard, author and artist. The collection is comprised of correspondence from various poets and artists,
including John Ashbery, Ted Berrigan, and Kenward Elmslie, and includes letters, postcards, images and ephemera. The materials
date from 1957 through 1994, with the bulk of the collection covering the period from 1964 through 1993.
Creator:
Brainard, Joe, 1942-1994
Biography
Born in Arkansas in 1942 and raised in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Brainard moved to New York City in 1961. There, he quickly developed
friendships with Frank O'Hara, James Schuyler, Bill Berkson, Barbara Guest, and other participants in the New York School.
Brainard's achievement, however, is remarkable aside from his many associations. Brainard harmonized linguistic and visual
materials in extraordinary ways. His graphic work is notably literary, often incorporating words and sentences into non-literary
designs. Such qualities prompted Frank O'Hara to say that Brainard's work had "nothing to do with philosophy, it's all art."
Both the art work and writing are full of information and frequently take erotic and semiotic risks. In one of his more scandalous
serial works, Brainard subjected Ernie Bushmiller's Nancy to every imaginable erotic and high art situation.
A prolific artist, Brainard's work has been exhibited extensively in the New York City area since the early 1960s. The Joe
Brainard Archive, located in the Mandeville Special Collections Library at UCSD, is the largest collection extant of Brainard's
work.
Brainard died on May 25, 1994.
Preferred Citation
Joe Brainard Letters, MSS 703. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 2009.
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Scope and Contents of Collection
The Joe Brainard Letters include correspondence from such American authors and artists as John Ashbery, Bill Berkson, Ted
Berrigan, Robert Creeley, Kenward Elmslie, Joanne Kyger, and Alice Notley. The collection is arranged alphabetically by correspondent.
Materials cover the period from 1957 to 1994 and include copies of manuscript and typescript drafts of poems sent to Brainard
from such writers as Ted Berrigan, Ray Johnson, and Lewis Warsh.
This collection includes 89 postcards, separated into 12 undated packets, from Frank Bidart. These postcards, in which Bidart
wrote for Brainard, contain an overarching narrative in each packet, including such themes as "clothing", "hair", and "the
wonder book."
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Allen, Donald, 1912-2004 -- Correspondence
Ashbery, John, 1927- -- Correspondence
Berkson, Bill -- Correspondence
Berrigan, Ted -- Correspondence
Brainard, Joe, 1942-1994 -- Archives
Creeley, Robert, 1926-2005 -- Correspondence
Elmslie, Kenward -- Correspondence
Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997 -- Correspondence
Johnson, Ray, 1927-1995 -- Correspondence
Kyger, Joanne -- Correspondence
Mayer, Bernadette -- Correspondence
Notley, Alice, 1945- -- Correspondence
Owen, Maureen, 1943- -- Correspondence
Warsh, Lewis -- Correspondence
American poetry -- 20th century
Gay men -- United States -- Poetry
Box 1, Folder 5
Ashbery, John
1967-1993
General note
Includes a three page handwritten manuscript of introduction for
Gegenschein Quarterly 1975, entitled "Joe Brainard."
Box 1, Folder 12
Berkson, Lynn O'Hare
1993
Box 1, Folder 13
Berrigan, Sandy
1964-1978
Box 1, Folder 14
Berrigan, Ted
1964-1982
General note
Includes a fourteen page handmade booklet entitled "Corridors of Blood" and a copy of "Living with Chris," by Joe Brainard
and Ted Berrigan.
Box 1, Folder 15
Bidart, Frank
January-July 1992
Box 1, Folder 16
Bidart, Frank
August-September 1992
Box 2, Folder 1
Bidart, Frank - Postcards
undated
General note
Includes twelve undated packets containing six-twelve numbered and captioned postcards.
Box 2, Folder 3
Brainard, Marie
1971-1973
Box 2, Folder 5
Brinkman, Rolf Dieter
1968
Box 2, Folder 9
Brownstein, Michael
1969-1973
General note
Includes a five page typescript entitled "More Short Poems for Joe."
Box 2, Folder 10
Burckhardt, Rudy and Yvonne Jacquette
1967-1982
Box 2, Folder 15
Chernoff, Maxine
1984-1993
Box 2, Folder 17
Clinton, William Jefferson and Hillary Clinton
1993
General note
Contains a holiday greeting card with a stamped signature from the Clintons in December 1993.
Box 2, Folder 21
Creeley, Robert
1971-1974
General note
Includes a seven page poem typescript entitled "The Class of '47."
Box 2, Folder 22
Dalrymple-Hollo, Jane
1993
Box 2, Folder 28
Elmslie, Kenward
1966-1970
Box 3, Folder 2
Elmslie, Kenward
1972-1973
Box 3, Folder 3
Elmslie, Kenward
1974-1975
Box 3, Folder 4
Elmslie, Kenward
1976-1979
Box 3, Folder 5
Elmslie, Kenward
1980-1991
Box 3, Folder 6
Elmslie, Kenward
1992-1993
Box 3, Folder 9
Equi, Elaine
1981-1993
General note
Includes three page poem typescript entitled "Molecules."
Box 3, Folder 14
Ford, Charles Henri
1969-1970
Box 3, Folder 15
Ford, Ruth
1970-1993
General note
Includes a two page poem typescript.
Box 3, Folder 17
Freilicher, Jane Hazen
1969-1973
Box 3, Folder 18
Fulmer, Frederick
1975-1976
Box 3, Folder 21
Ginsberg, Allen
1971-1988
Box 4, Folder 6
Greenwald, Ted and Joan Simon
1969-1979
Box 4, Folder 7
Groffsky, Maxine
1965-1975
Box 4, Folder 8
Grossinger, Richard
1972-1973
Box 4, Folder 12
Hawkins, Bobbie Creeley
1971-1982
General note
Includes a seven page typescript entitled "The Valley Dark-And-Drear and The Girl who Couldn't Laugh."
Box 4, Folder 15
Holland, Joyce
1972
General note
Contains 5 issues of
Matchbook poetry magazine.
Box 4, Folder 17
Isherwood, Christopher
1972
Box 4, Folder 18
Jess [Collins, Jess]
1971-1974
Box 4, Folder 21
Katz, Alex, Ada and Vincent
1966-1978
Box 4, Folder 23
Kikel, Rudy
1980-1992
General note
Includes a two page poem typescript entitled "Boston."
Box 4, Folder 26
Lally, Michael
1973-1993
General note
Includes one envelope enclosure containing six cards of a Lally/Worthington poem entitled "Joe Brainard."
Box 5, Folder 1
Lauterbach, Ann
1974-1993
Box 5, Folder 8
Mayer, Bernadette
1978-1993
Box 5, Folder 9
McConnell, David
1984-1993
Box 5, Folder 12
Mikolowski, Ken and Ann
1974
Box 5, Folder 13
Mitchell, John J.
1969-1979
General note
Includes a six page typescript of "The Hairping Drop Heard Around the World."
Box 5, Folder 16
The Museum of Modern Art
1973
Box 5, Folder 29
Rosenblum, Robert
undated
Box 5, Folder 31
San Francisco Community Press
1973
Box 5, Folder 33
Schjeldahl, Peter and Brooke Alderson
1968-1971
Box 5, Folder 35
Shapiro, David
1970-1972
General note
Includes a two page poem typescript draft.
Box 5, Folder 37
Sondheim, Stephen
1972-1973
Box 5, Folder 38
Stanton, Johnny
1971-1972
Box 6, Folder 3
Thomas, Ronald and Serge Cao
1993
Box 6, Folder 5
Trinidad, David
1983-1993
Box 6, Folder 14
Winkfield, Trevor
1968-1979
Box 6, Folder 15
Williams, Jonathan
1972-1982
Box 6, Folder 19
Unidentified correspondents
Box 6, Folder 20
Unidentified correspondent [Juan Antonio?]
1973-1975
Box 6, Folder 21
Unidentified correspondent [Doug?]
1981-1993