Vassar College Digital Library
Guide to the Elizabeth Spires Papers, 1971-2013

Table of Contents

Collection Summary

Repository: Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries
Creator: Spires, Elizabeth
Title: Elizabeth Sprires Papers
Dates: 1971-2013
Quantity: 11 boxes
Abstract: Audio visual materials, correspondence, manuscripts, and printed materials documenting the career of poet Elizabeth Spires.
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Biographical Note

Elizabeth Spires graduated from Vassar College in 1974. A noted poet, Spires has published eight collections of poems, including Globe (1981), Swan's Island (1997), and A Memory of the Future (2018). In addition, she has written two children's books, The Mouse of Amherst (2001) and I Heard God Talking to Me: William Edmonton and His Stone Carvings (2009), and edited The Instant of Knowing: Lectures, Criticism and Occasional Prose, by Josephine Jacobson (1997). Spires is professor of English and co-director of Kratz Center for Creative Writing at Goucher College, where she holds a Chair for Distinguished Achievement.

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Scope and Content Note

This collection consists of correspondence, audiovisual materials, manuscripts, and printed materials documenting the career of poet Elizabeth Spires. Of particular note are the audio cassettes on which are recorded Spires's 1978 interview with poet Elizabeth Bishop (Vassar Class of 1934), a transcription of which later appeared in The Paris Review (no. 80 [1981]).

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Access

This collection is open for research according to the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library without any additional restrictions.

Restrictions on Use

Permission to quote (publish) from unpublished or previously published material must be obtained as described in the regulations of the Vassar College Archives and Special Collections Library.

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  • Letters from Elizabeth Spires to William Gifford, with poems written by Spires at Vassar and annotated by Gifford, in the William Gifford Papers.
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Subject Headings

Names:

  • Bishop, Elizabeth, 1911-1979

Organizations:

  • Vassar College--Alumni and alumnae

Subjects:

  • American poetry--20th century
  • American poetry--21st century.
  • Poets, American--20th century
  • Poets, American--21st century
  • Women poets--United States--20th century
  • Women poets--United States--21st century

VCL Categories

  • Literature and Writing
  • Vassar College
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Encoding Information

Encoded by Mark Seidl, May 2020; updated March 2022

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Preferred Citation

Elizabeth Spires Papers, Archives and Special Collections Library, Vassar College Libraries.

Acquisition Information

Gift of Elizabeth Spires (M2012-008, M2013-008, M2021-008, M2021-009).

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Series List

Series I. Writings (Box 1-4)

This series includes undergraduate papers, published and unpublished poems, drafts of poems, lectures, informal talks, and introductions. Also included is Spires's M.A. thesis, "Globe," submitted to Johns Hopkins University in 1979. Drafts include multiple iterations of poems, may with mss. annotations, arranged by title by Spires.

Series II.Correspondence (Box 5-8, 10)

This series contains letters to and from Spires, the bulk of which encompasses her long correspondence with Vassar College English professor William Gifford. Other correspondents include David Barber, Jill Bialosky, Elizabeth Bishop, Anthony Hecht, Josephine Jacobsen, Judith Kroll, Philip Levine, Howard Moss, John Frederick Nims, Ann Patchett, Melissa Range, Ken Rosen, Megan Sexton, and Richard Wilbur.

Series III. Clippings (Box 9-10)

This series includes clippings of reviews of Spires's publications, as well as book reviews written by Spires.

Series IV.Photographic prints (Box 9)

The folder in this series contains professional and personal photographs of Spires.

Series V. Printed Material (Box 9-10)

This series contains promotional materials from symposia, readings, and other events in which Spires participated. Also included are uncorrected galleys and offprints of Spires's publications.

Series VI.Audiovisual Material (Box 11)

This series includes VHS, DVD, and audio cassette recordings of conferences, readings, and interviews.

Container List

Series I. WRITINGS

Academic papers
Folder 1.1 M.A. Thesis, Globe, Poems submitted to Johns Hopkins University, 1979
Folder 1.2-1.4 Undergraduate papers, Vassar, Princeton, 1970-1974
Folder 1.5 Unpublished MS, Tree of Heaven, Sleepy Head, Red and Green Forever, undated
Published/unpublished poems
Folder 1.6 Miscellaneous poems, published/unpublished, 1990-2013
Folder 1.7 Miscellaneous poems, published, including student submissions to Spires, 1986-1987
Folder 1.8 Miscellaneous poetry by E.S., 1972-1977
Folder 1.9-1.12 Miscellaneous poems with notations, 1977-1992
Folder 1.13 Poetry set to music, Nancy Gunn, Gary Friedman, William Bradbury, 1994-1995
Folder 1.14-1.17 Vassar College submissions, with comments from Judith Kroll, William Gifford, 1972-1974
Poems, drafts
Folder 2.1 A Life,
Folder 2.2 The Amiable Child,
Folder 2.3 Anamnesis (When We Meet Again),
Folder 2.4 Annonciade,
Folder 2.5 Badger Disguised as a Monk,
Folder 2.6 The Beds,
Folder 2.7 The Bells,
Folder 2.8 Black Fairytale,
Folder 2.9 The Celestial,
Folder 2.10 Cemetery Reef,
Folder 2.11 Coelacanth,
Folder 2.12 The Comb in the Mirror,
Folder 2.13 Curling Willow,
Folder 2.14 Elegy for Alex,
Folder 2.15 Essential Snail,
Folder 2.16 Fabergé’s Egg,
Folder 2.17 The First Day,
Folder 2.18 Ghazal,
Folder 2.19 Glass Bottomed Boat,
Folder 2.20 Island Graveyard,
Folder 2.21 Riddle,
Folder 2.22 Josephine,
Folder 2.23 Leaf Memory,
Folder 2.24 Life of I,
Folder 2.25 The Little Boys,
Folder 2.26 Love Presumes,
Folder 2.27 A Memory of the Future,
Folder 2.28 Moment Vanishing, Côte d'Azur
Folder 3.1 Netsuke,
Folder 3.2 Now the Green Blade Rises,
Folder 3.3 Picture of a Soul,
Folder 3.4 Pome,
Folder 3.5 Primos,
Folder 3.6 Profil Perdu,
Folder 3.7 The Red Boomerang,
Folder 3.8 The Rehearsal,
Folder 3.9 Remembering Poughkeepsie,
Folder 3.10 Rosa Tacchini,
Folder 3.11 The Shrine,
Folder 3.12 A Small Voice Asks Some Large Questions,
Folder 3.13 Snow, The Novel,
Folder 3.14 Soliloquy on Clouds,
Folder 3.15 The Sound of the Sea at the Shore; Like Water,
Folder 3.16 Starry Night,
Folder 3.17 Story of a Soul; Brown Bird,
Folder 3.18 Sunday Afternoon at Fulham Palace,
Folder 3.19 Sunday Morning at the Carmelite Monastery; Zazen,
Folder 3.20 Thanksgiving Night,
Folder 3.21 They Drive Through Childhood in Tiny Cars,
Folder 3.22 The Time Traveler,
Folder 3.23 To a Fog Spirit,
Folder 3.24 A Tomb; Half Lit,
Folder 3.25 Translation of My Life,
Folder 3.26 Troubadour at a Fork in the Road,
Folder 3.27 Two Chairs on a Hillside,
Folder 4.1 Unsung Song,
Folder 4.2 Victoriana,
Folder 4.3 The Walk,
Folder 4.4-4.10 Worldling, Now the Green Blade Rises,
Folder 4.11 You have Flown to the Dangerous Country,
Talks
Folder 4.12 Anthony Hecht Felt and Mastered Pain, April 2000
Folder 4.13 On Elizabeth Bishop, Alice Tully Hall, October 1997
Folder 4.14 Emily Dickinson, a Mouse, and Me,
Folder 4.15 Emily Dickinson Birthday, Folger Shakespeare Library,
Folder 4.16 Encounters with Zen and What I've Learned from Japanese Art, Goucher College,
Folder 4.17 George Herbert, Gerard Manley Hopkins, Elizabeth Bishop Poetry, Columbia University, September 2004
Folder 4.18 Josephine Jacobsen, 2017
Folder 4.19 Reading My Way Through Childhood,
Folder 4.20 The Triggering Voice, Gettysburg College, September 2000
Folder 4.21 Visual Emotion, Imaginary Possession, Poetry of Marianne Moore, February 1987
Folder 4.22 The Writer's Changing Voice, Sicily, Washington, D.C.,
Folder 4.23 The Writing Process, Going Back to the Source,

Series II. CORRESPONDENCE

Folder 5.1 Acceptance letters of published work in Mademoiselle, Poetry, Antaeus, Miscellany, VA Quarterly Review,
Folder 5.2 Barber, David, The Atlantic Monthly, following publication of "The Wave Maker,"
Folder 5.3 Bialosky, Jill, Spires's poetry editor, Norton, 2010, 2013
Folder 5.4 Cole, Henri, 1989-1994
Folder 5.5 Comstock, Rolland, March 1991
Folder 5.6 Ford, Harry, Atheneum Publishers, Rejection of The Daughter of Time,
Folder 5.7-5.8 Jacobsen, Josephine, 1990-2002
Folder 5.9 Hecht, Anthony, February 2000
Folder 10.5 Kroll, Judith, 1973-1974
Folder 5.10 Kurtenbach, Elaine, Wesleyan University Press, approval of publication of Globe,
Folder 5.11 Levine, Phil, February 1998
Folder 5.12 Meredith, William, CT College, publication of Crazy Quilt and Storyville Portrait, May 1982
Folder 5.13 Moss, New Yorker, first acceptance of published work, Widow's Walk, 1976
Folder 5.14 Moss, Howard, submission of Waving Goodbye, September 1982
Folder 5.15 Nims, John, February 1992
Folder 5.16 Patchett, Ann, November 2010
Folder 5.17 Pelizzon, Penelope, March 2012
Folder 5.18 Range, Melissa, 2005, 2006
Folder 5.19 Rosen, Kenneth, May 2011
Folder 5.20 Sexton, Megan February 2011
Folder 5.21-5.23 Snodgrass, W.D., 1978-2000
Folder 5.24 Strand, Mark, 1974-1977
Folder 5.25 Teller, Walter, May 1978
Folder 5.26 Warren, Rosanna, 2009-2013
Folder 5.27 White House (Laura Bush) Poetry Symposium invite and subsequent cancellation, email from Russell Banks, January-February 2003
Folder 5.28 Weaver, William, re Witter Bynner Poetry Prize, American Academy of Arts and Letters, March 1998
Folder 5.29 Wilbur, Richard, May 1997
Folder 6.1-6.21, 7.1-7.9 to Gifford, William, 1976-2008
Folder 7.10-7.12 to Gifford, William, 1982-1994
re. Elizabeth Bishop research
Folder 8.1-8.15 from Gifford, William, 1973-2015
Folder 8.16-8.23 from Bishop, Elizabeth, 1966-1979
Letters from Bishop to Vassar administrators, including William Gifford, W.K. Rose, regarding Bishops' invitation to be Vassar's Phi Beta Kappa poet.

Series III. CLIPPINGS

Folder 9.1 A Memory of the Future, reviews, 2018
Folder 9.2 Annonciade, reviews, 1989-1993
Folder 9.3 I Am Arachne, reviews, 2001
Folder 9.4 I Heard God Talking to Me, reviews, 2001
Folder 9.5 Globe, reviews, 1981-1985
Folder 9.6 Kate's Light, reviews, 2021
Folder 9.7 The Mouse of Amherst, reviews, 1999
Folder 9.8 Now the Green Blade Rises, reviews 2002
Folder 9.10 With One White; Ridge Road, reviews, 1995-1999
Folder 9.11 Worldling, reviews, 1995-1996
Folder 9.12, 10.1, 10.2 Book reviews written by E. Spires, American Poetry Review, New Criterion, Chicago Tribune, New York Times, 1987-2012
Folder 10.3 W.D. Snodgrass interview by E. Spires, American Poetry Review, 1990

Series IV. PHOTOGRAPHIC PRINTS

Folder 9.13 Personal and professional photographs of Elizabeth Spires, 1979-1985

Series V. PRINTED MATERIAL

Folder 9.14 Award, Ohioana Book Award, 1999
Folder 10.6 Bishop, Elizabeth, reprints, interviews, articles, news clippings-collected by William Gifford, 1966-2001
Folder 9.15 Ghazal,Poetry for Students, Gale Group Study Guide offprint copy, 2014
Folder 9.16 Hollins Critic, In the Everlasting Present: the Poetry of Elizabeth Spires, April 2002
Folder 9.17 Events, readings, symposia promotion, 1979-1999
Folder 9.18 Uncorrected galleys, Annonciade, 1989
Folder 9.19 Uncorrected galleys, I am Arachne, 2001
Folder 9.20 Uncorrected galleys, The Mouse of Amherst, 1999
Folder 9.21 Uncorrected galleys, Swan's Island, 1985

Series V. AUDIOVISUAL MATERIALS

Box 11 Bread Loaf Writers' Conference, Middlebury, VT, 1 August 1997 (VHS tape)
Box 11 Easter Sunday 1955 poems read by Elizabeth Spires, 1 April 1996 (audio cassette)
Box 11 Gunn and Spires, songs, 1994 (3 audio cassettes)
Box 11 Howard County Poetry and Literature Society, Interviews by E.S.-Donald Hall, 1 October 2009 (DVD)
Box 11 Howard County Poetry and Literature Society, Interviews by E.S.-Philip Levine, 1 March 1998 (DVD)
Box 11 Howard County Poetry and Literature Society, Josephine Jacobsen Tribute with poets Lucille Clifton, Michael Collier, Elizabeth Spires, 2003 (VHS tape)
Box 11 Howard County Poetry and Literature Society, Michael Collier hosts Elizabeth Spires, 1 October 2002 (VHS tape)
Box 11 Intimations of Genius, Key West Literary Seminar, Alice Methfessel, 1993 (2 audio cassettes)
Box 11 Irregular resolutions, 5th Annual New Music Concert, 1 October 2009 (CD)
Box 11 NPR, All Things Considered, "On the Island," ready by Elizabeth Spires, 1 August 1995 (audio cassette)
Box 11 Omni Author to Author discussion, series host George Garrett, 1990 (VHS tape)
Box 11 The Great Sea, by Gary Friedman, based on a poem by Elizabeth Spires, 1 November 2000 (audio cassette)
Box 11 The Influence of Elizabeth Bishop, Key West Literary Seminar, 1993 (4 audio cassettes)
Box 11 Vassar poetry reading by Elizabeth Spires, 1 February 1996 (audio cassette)

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Details
Abstract

Audio visual materials, correspondence, manuscripts, and printed materials documenting the career of poet Elizabeth Spires.

Finding Aid Date
Dates: 1971-2013
Collection Title
Elizabeth Sprires Papers