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Leland Hickman Papers
MSS 0186
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Table of contents
Creator:
Hickman, Leland
Title: Leland Hickman Papers,
Date (inclusive): 1950-1991
Extent:
15.40 linear feet
(34 archives boxes, 14 oversize folders, 3 card file box)
Abstract: The papers of Leland Hickman, actor, American poet, and editor. The bulk of the material dates from 1979 to 1989 and is related
to the publication of the literary magazines Bachy, Boxcar, and Temblor, including extensive correspondence, original submissions,
paste-ups, and edited galleys. Also included are typescripts and manuscripts of Hickman's major verse work Tiresias; an audio
recording of Hickman reading Great Slave Lake Suite; original plays; juvenilia; photographs; and audio and video recordings.
The papers are arranged in eight series: 1)CORRESPONDENCE, 2) PUBLICATIONS, 3) THEATRE MATERIALS, 4) WRITINGS BY HICKMAN,
5) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS, 7) AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDINGS and 8) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES.
The accession processed in 1996 contains recent correspondence (1990-1991), photographs, writings and miscellaneous materials.
The accession is arranged in four series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) PHOTOGRAPHS, 3) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS and 4) WRITINGS.
Repository:
University of California, San Diego. Geisel Library. Mandeville Special Collections Library.
La Jolla, California 92093-0175
Collection number: MSS 0186
Language of Material:
Collection materials in English
Collection is open for research.
Not Available
Leland Hickman Papers, MSS 0186. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Leland Hickman was born on September 15, 1934, in Santa Barbara, California. He moved with his family to Bakersfield, lived
on a farm in Carpinteria, and returned to Santa Barbara where he attended high school. In addition to acting in high school
plays, Hickman performed in local theatre productions of the Children's Theatre of Santa Barbara and the Group L Theatre Workshop.
He graduated from high school in June 1952. Hickman attended the University of California at Santa Barbara and later studied
at Berkeley, where he played with the Berkeley Drama Guild.
After a tour in the Army, he moved to New York City to continue his career in theatre. Hickman toured nationally with the
Bishop's Company in 1957, worked in the Canal-Fulton Summer Theatre in Ohio in the summer of 1958, and performed with the
Equity Library Theatre in New York City. He subsequently studied on scholarship at the New York Academy of the American Shakespeare
Festival. In 1961, Hickman returned to California to play at the Equity Library Theatre West in Los Angeles. He remained
in Los Angeles for three years, then returned to New York. In 1969, Hickman moved again to Los Angeles, then to San Francisco
briefly, and finally settled back in Los Angeles in 1971.
Leland Hickman's literary career began in the middle 1960's. In 1967, The Hudson Review published "Lee Sr Falls to the Floor,"
an introductory poem to Hickman's major work, Tiresias, his "ongoing long-poem" about his feelings for mankind, poetics, and
America. Hickman continued to write poetry through the 1970's. A section of Tiresias entitled The Great Slave Lake Suite
was published in book form by Momentum Press in 1980. Additionally, portions of Tiresias have been published in Manhattan
Review, Trace, Momentum, Bachy, New American Review, Newletters, LA Weekly, Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Rara Avis, Little
Caesar, Invisible City, Box Car, and the anthology The Streets Inside: Ten Los Angeles Poets.
Hickman worked as the poetry editor for the Los Angeles literary magazine Bachy, published by Papa Bach Bookstore, from 1977
to the spring of 1981. He edited issues nine to eighteen. In 1981, he co-founded with Paul Vangelisti the magazine Boxcar:
A Magazine of the Arts. Only two issues were published. In 1985, Hickman began editing and publishing Temblor, which continued
for ten issues. Temblor is noted for the publication of many east and west coast language-related poets. Hickman's editorial
and publishing activities brought the work of many established and emerging poets into the public view.
Leland Hickman died in Los Angeles in 1991.
Scope and Content of Collection
Accession Processed in 1991
The LELAND HICKMAN PAPERS relate mainly to his activities as a poet and poetry editor. They primarily document the West Coast
contemporary poetry scene and his relationship to it; materials documenting Hickman's own work as a poet are less well represented.
The collection is organized into eight series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE; 2) PUBLICATIONS; 3) THEATRE MATERIALS; 4) WRITINGS BY HICKMAN;
5) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS; 6) WRITINGS OF OTHERS; 7) AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDINGS and 8) ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES.
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE
The CORRESPONDENCE series contains letters from numerous poets to Hickman seeking publication of their work in the magazines
Bachy, Boxcar, and Temblor. Included in the series are letters from Gerald Burns, Kate Braverman, David Bromige, Clayton
Eshleman, Susan Howe, Martha Lifson, Dennis Phillips, and Holly Prado. The bulk of the correspondence dates from Hickman's
return to Los Angeles in 1971 onward. Materials are organized alphabetically by correspondent, then chronologically.
SERIES 2: PUBLICATIONS
The PUBLICATIONS series comprises materials that reflect Hickman's activities as editor for Bachy, Boxcar, and Temblor. The
Bachy materials are mostly paste-ups for the last three issues of the magazine, while the Boxcar materials include submissions
and galley proofs. A more complete representation of Hickman's editorial work is found in the Temblor materials, which contain
submissions and edited galleys that are arranged by author within individual issues.
SERIES 3: THEATRE MATERIALS
The THEATRE MATERIALS series includes newspaper clippings, playbills, photographs, and memorabilia from Hickman's dramatic
endeavors. Of special note is a scrapbook Hickman kept of his high school activites. Materials in this series date from
the early 1950's to the middle 1960's.
SERIES 4: WRITINGS BY HICKMAN
The WRITINGS OF HICKMAN series pertains to his work as a poet and writer. Materials related to his long poem "Tiresias" form
a subseries; of interest is Hickman's personal journal which reflects the development of Tiresias. Also included in the
series are plays and prose that he composed while in written during high school.
SERIES 5: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS
The MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS series consists mainly of photocopies of articles on Hickman and the Los Angeles poetry scene.
Included are publicity materials for Hickman readings in the Original Language Poetry Series in Los Angeles. Of special interest
are portrait photographs of Leland Hickman taken early in his theatrical career in New York.
SERIES 6: WRITINGS OF OTHERS
The WRITINGS OF OTHERS series contains literary materials submitted to Hickman which were not published in Bachy, Boxcar,
or Temblor. These writings are arranged alphabetically by author.
SERIES 7: AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDING
Sound recordings and moving images are located in the AUDIO AND VIDEO RECORDINGS series. Hickman explored the early part
of his life in an extensive retrospective interview with his mother which he recorded on eight cassette tapes. Visual images
of Hickman reading are rare. The Sophie Rachmuhl videotape contains the Lee Hickman segment for her longer Innerscapes: 10
portraits of LA poets. In the short portrait, Hickman reads from "Tiresias" and answers several questions. In Bill Mohr's
videotape for the program "Put Your Ears On," broadcast in May 1990, Hickman reads among other poems "The Hidden." Of particular
interest is his reading of "Lee Sr. Falls to the Floor," his first poem to receive national acclaim. Finally, the series
contains the Dennis Phillips audio recording of Hickman reading Great Slave Lake Suite for a Radio Station KPFK broadcast
in 1980.
SERIES 8: ORIGINALS OF PRESERVATION PHOTOCOPIES
Materials of high acid content have been photocopied and removed to this series.
Accession Processed in 1996
The accession processed in 1996 contains recent correspondence (1990-1991), writings, photographs and miscellaneous materials.
Materials are arranged in four series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) PHOTOGRAPHS, 3) MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS, and 4) WRITINGS.
SERIES 1: CORRESPONDENCE
The CORRESPONDENCE series comprises letters written close to the time of Hickman's death and letters of condolence to Charles
Macaulay. Of particular importance is a substantial file of letters from Hickman to his mother, Mary Perry Haynes.
SERIES 2: PHOTOGRAPHS
The PHOTOGRAPHS series contains an abundance of childhood photographs of Hickman and other family members. Included are two
photograph albums from the turn of the century.
SERIES 3: MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS
The MISCELLANEOUS MATERIALS series contains memorabilia, address books, Hickman's baby book and high school yearbooks.
SERIES 4: WRITINGS
In the WRITINGS series are several poems and journal entries by Hickman. Also included is a critical essay by Clark Allison
on Hickman's GREAT SLAVE LAKE SUITE.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Hickman, Leland -- Archives
American poetry -- 20th century
Photographic prints -- 20th Century.
Andrews, Bruce, 1948- -- correspondent
Ashbery, John, -- correspondent.
Barnett, Anthony, 1941- -- correspondent
Bernstein, Charles, 1950- -- correspondent
Bromige, David, -- correspondent
Butterick, George F., -- correspondent
Clark, Tom, 1941- -- correspondent
Coolidge, Clark, 1939- -- correspondent
Cooper, Dennis, 1953- -- correspondent
Einzig, Barbara, -- correspondent
Equi, Elaine, -- correspondent
Eshleman, Clayton, -- correspondent
Hejinian, Lyn, -- correspondent
Howe, Susan, 1937- -- correspondent
Phillips, Dennis, -- correspondent
Scalapino, Leslie, -- correspondent
Vangelisti, Paul, -- correspondent
Weinberger, Eliot, -- correspondent
Hickman, Leland. -- Tiresias
Hickman, Leland. -- Great Slave Lake suite