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Poet, writer, literary critic, and academic, Reginald Gibbons enjoyed a long-standing
personal and professional relationship with William Goyen and Thomas McGrath.
This
collection reflects Gibbons' advocacy for the publication of both writers' works,
especially during his years as editor of Northwestern University's TriQuarterly literary magazine and TriQuarterly Books.
The material, primarily typescripts of works, interviews, reviews, and
correspondence, is organized in three Series: I. William Goyen; II. Gibbons
Correspondence re Goyen, 1981-2004; and III. Thomas McGrath. |
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The William Goyen Series is subdivided into three Subseries: A. Works; B. Goyen
Correspondence, 1945-1983; and C. About Goyen. |
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The Works in Subseries A. contain short stories and novels already present in the
Ransom Center's Goyen Papers. Titles include Arcadio
(1983), Had I a Hundred Mouths: New and Selected Stories,
1947-1983 (1985), Half a Look of Cain: A
Fantastical Narrative (1994), House of
Breath (1999), New Work and Work in Progress
(1983) preface by Joyce Carol Oates, Precious Door
(1982), and Wonderful Plant (1980). Also
present are individual short stories and Study Master notes by Goyen for works
by
Willa Cather and Ralph Ellison. |
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Subseries B. Goyen Correspondence, 1945-1983, includes original and photocopied
letters to and from writers Eve Caram and Katherine Anne Porter, theater
director-producer Margo Jones, editor and publisher Carol Southern, and Reginald
Gibbons. |
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Material about Goyen in Subseries C. includes articles, obits, reviews, biographical
entries, a 1982 interview for Masques, inventories of
Goyen's literary papers, and a 1992 issue of Mid-American
Review on Goyen. |
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The Gibbons correspondence regarding Goyen in Series II. has much to do with his
active role as Goyen's literary executor and the publication of Goyen's works.
Correspondents include Eve Caram; Clark Davis; Gary Haber; Robert Phillips; Patrice
Repusseau, Goyen's wife, actress Doris Roberts; Stephen Spender; Eudora Welty;
and
others. |
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The Thomas McGrath papers in Series III. are arranged in two Subseries: A. "Thomas McGrath: Life and the Poem," in TriQuarterly 70, 1987, and B. Correspondence re TriQuarterly issue and McGrath-Related Material. |
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Subseries A. contains drafts, corrections, and proofs of an interview conducted
between January 30 and February 1, 1987 by Gibbons and Terrence Des Pres. The
interview titled "Thomas McGrath: Life and the
Poem" was subsequently published as a special issue of TriQuarterly and in an expanded version by the University of Illinois
Press in 1992. |
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Much of Subseries B. regarding the TriQuarterly
interview includes Gibbons' correspondence with Philip Levine, Frederick Stern,
British historian E. P. Thompson, and Josh Weiner. Of special interest are numerous
letters from McGrath to Gibbons from 1987-1988. Also present is a typescript of
an
oral interview of Alice McGrath conducted by Michael Balter in 1987. |
