Wesleyan University Honors College Poetry and Connecticut Poetry Circuit records
Scope and Contents
The collection is made up of 20 Hollinger boxes. The first seven boxes contain material about the poetry at the Honors College each year beginning in 1966. The material in these boxes includes announcements of poets coming to campus to read, as well as Wesleyan student poets reading at the Honors College. Information for the 1975-1976 year is not present. Boxes 8 through 11 contain information on the student poets on the Connecticut Poetry Circuit for every year from 1970 to 1990. (A list of the names of the off-campus poets and student poets for both the Honors College and the Connecticut Poetry Circuit can be found above.) Boxes 12 through 14 contain more detailed information about the poets who read at the Honors College and toured on the circuit (and are listed alphabetically). The final six boxes of the collection contain more administrative information, mostly from the Connecticut Poetry Circuit, including correspondence, requests from poets to be included in the tour, financial information, information about the selection committee, and some history of the circuit.
Dates
- Creation: 1966-1990
Creator
- Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.). Honors College (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
University records - Copyright held by Wesleyan University; all other copyright is retained by the creator - In Copyright – Non-Commercial Use Permitted
Biographical / Historical
This collection of poetry is comprised of information regarding the poetry presented at the Honors College. The Honors College, housed in Russell House, was a program for distinguished students in the Wesleyan community. In addition to informal lectures by young men and women distinguished in the arts, sciences, and professions, the Honors College hosted for its members (and later, the public) a series of music concerts and poetry readings by distinguished, young American poets beginning in either 1964 or 1965. The poetry series at the Honors College also came to include an opportunity for Wesleyan students to share their own work for an audience. In April of 1984, the Honors College hosted an anniversary poetry festival with over 30 poets participating to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Wesleyan Press Poetry Program.
Another large part of this collection is the work with the Connecticut Poetry Circuit. The Connecticut Poetry Circuit is a non-profit organization that provides three poetry reading programs for colleges and some preparatory schools. The Connecticut Poetry Circuit was founded as the New England Poetry Circuit in 1963, but after August, 1968, the New England Poetry Circuit split into the New England Poetry Circuit and the Connecticut Poetry Circuit. The intention of the circuit was to bring established yet unpublished poets to colleges and universities, as well as a competition among students throughout Connecticut to travel the circuit as student poets. The winners of the competition (usually four students, sometimes five) are chosen by a selection committee to tour the state reading their poetry. The first group of student poets to tour around Connecticut was in 1970. While not a major part of the poetry circuit, the Connecticut Commission on the Arts awards grant money to the circuit to allow for the poets to tour. The connection between the Connecticut Poetry Circuit and Wesleyan University is that Jean Maynard, the assistant director of the Honors College, was the director of the Connecticut Poetry Circuit. She organized the committee to select the student poets, as well as find and invite poets to join the circuit.
Extent
10 Linear Feet (20 hollinger boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Honors College, housed in Russell House, was a program for distinguished students in the Wesleyan community. In addition to informal lectures by young men and women, the Honors College hosted a series of music concerts and poetry readings by distinguished, young American poets. The poetry series at the Honors College also came to include an opportunity for Wesleyan students to share their own work for an audience. The Connecticut Poetry Circuit is a non-profit organization that provides three poetry reading programs for colleges and some preparatory schools. The intention of the circuit was to bring established yet unpublished poets to colleges and universities, as well as a competition among students throughout Connecticut to travel the circuit as student poets. The winners of the competition are chosen by a selection committee to tour the state reading their poetry. The connection between the Connecticut Poetry Circuit and Wesleyan University is that Jean Maynard, the assistant director of the Honors College, was the director of the Connecticut Poetry Circuit.
The collection contains material about the poetry at the Honors College; information on the student poets on the Connecticut Poetry Circuit; detailed information about the poets who read at the Honors College and toured on the circuit; and administrative information, mostly from the Connecticut Poetry Circuit, including correspondence, requests from poets to be included in the tour, financial information, information about the selection committee, and some history of the circuit.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Given by Jean Maynard in June 1990.
Professional Poets at the Honors College
1966-1967
Bink Noll,
A.R. Ammons,
Jon Silken,
Adrienne Rich
1967-1968
Richard Howard,
Donald Petersen,
Edward Weismiller,
F.D. Reeve,
James Scully,
Marge Piercy,
Philip Levine,
Richard Wilbur
1968-1969
Tony Connor,
Michael Benedict,
James Wright,
William Jay Smith,
William Meredith,
Mark Strand,
Gray Burr,
Leonard Nathan,
Barbara Howes,
John Montague,
Vito Hannibal Acconci
1969-1970
Louis Simpson,
Charles Levendosky,
James Seay,
Thomas Kinsella,
Gwendolyn Brooks,
Daryl Hine,
Richard Tillinghast,
Anne Stevenson,
Ken Smith,
Robert Peters
1970-1971
Michael Hamburger,
Stanley Burnshaw,
Michael Goldman,
Dugan Gilman,
John Haines,
Anthony Hecht,
Phyllis Thompson,
Clarence Major,
William Harmon,
Philip Appleman
1971-1972
Tony Connor,
W.S. Merwin,
Irving Feldman,
Derek Walcott,
Richard Wilbur,
The Blue Cat,
Michael Harper,
Andrew Gaus,
Edmund Helminski
1972-1973
Carolyn Kizer,
Robert Huff,
Donald D. Walsh,
Lawrence Lipking,
Richard Howard,
Wilbert Snow,
Peter Klappert,
Thom Gunn
1973-1974
Lucille Clifton,
Josephine Miles,
James Tate,
Rex Warner,
Rosemarie & Keith Waldrop,
Christopher Montgomery,
Maxine Kumin,
William Jay Smith,
Constance Carrier,
Robert Penn Warren
1974-1975
Richard Wilbur,
Robert Fitzgerald,
Muriel Rukeyser,
Thomas Kinsella,
Marge Piercy,
William Heyen,
Robert Siegel,
John Ormand
1975-1976
Denise Levertov,
Brendan Galvin,
Robert Francis,
Michael Hamburger,
Charles Wright,
Calvin Forbes,
John Hollander
1976-1977
Mark Strand,
Charles Simic,
John Ashbery,
Peter Fallon,
F.D. Reeve,
Samuel Hazo,
David Walker,
Partizia Cavalli,
Judith Minty,
Leon Forrest,
Michael Harper
1977-1978
Tony Connor,
Margaret Atwood,
Richard Hugo,
Brendan Kennelly,
Ellen Bryant Voigt,
Ruth Stone,
Thom Gunn,
Robert Hayden,
Michael Harper,
Richard Eberhart
1978-1979
Richard Willar,
Linda Pastan,
Derek Walcott,
Robert Morgan,
F.D. Reeve,
Ricardo Alonso,
Stephen Policoff,
Judith Hemschemeyer,
Frank Bidart,
Galway Kinnell
1979-1980
Mark Strand,
Vernon Yang,
Steve Orlen,
Lucien Stryk,
Robert Pinsky,
William Stafford,
Diana Der Hovanessian,
James Merrill,
Alfred Corn,
Annie Dillard
1980-1981
Edmond Jabès,
Tony Connor,
Rosemarie Waldrop,
Daniel Haberman,
Robert Fitzgerald,
Philip Martin,
John Peck,
Daniel Hoffman,
William Meredith,
Sherley Anne Williams,
Linda Pastan,
Irving Feldman
1981-1982
Richard Wilbur,
Tony Connor,
Wilbert Snow,
Charles Olson,
Constance Carrier,
Elizabeth Spires,
Robert Neal,
Norma Blacke-Bragg,
Dean Holmes,
Donald Justice,
Jane Cooper,
Richard Tillinghast,
Allen Grossman,
Judith Moffett,
John Malcolm Brinnin
1982-1983
Alastair Reid,
Katha Pollitt,
Galway Kinnell,
Gillian Clarke,
John Ormond,
Robert Minhinnick,
William Jay Smith,
F.D. Reeve,
Seamus Heany,
J.D. McClatchy,
Charles Wright
1983-1984
James Merrill,
David Ferry,
Brendan Galvin,
Tony Connor,
Brad Leithauser,
James Tate,
George Starbuck,
Robert Bly,
Yehuda Amichai,
Derek Walcott
April 1984 25th Anniversary Poetry Festival:
James Dickey,
Richard Howard,
Sherman Hawkins,
Susan Mitchell,
Jean Maynard,
Richard Tillinghast,
Robert Brown,
Garrett Hongo,
Bonnie Costello,
Charles Wright,
David Ingatow,
Carl Viggiani,
Mark Schafer,
Tony Connor,
David Lehman,
Margaret Gibson,
Gertrude Hughes,
Annie Dillard,
Louis Simpson,
Grace Shulman,
Richard Stamelman,
Harvey Shapiro,
Richard Wilbur,
Richard Katrovas,
Jonathan Galassi,
Yusef Komunyakaa,
Brendan Galvin,
Colleen McElroy,
Krishna Winston,
Hilary Mullins,
Collin Camobell,
Norman Shapiro,
James Tate
1984-1985
John Tranter,
Amy Clampett,
John Haines,
Norman Shapiro,
Rosanne Coggeshall,
Philip Levine,
Robert Mezey,
Dave Smith,
Joseph Brodsy,
Lisel Mueller
1985-1986
Liam Rector,
Harvey Shapiro,
Charles Simic,
Joanne Burns,
Pi O,
Geoff Page,
John A. Scott,
George Garrett,
Rachel Hadas,
Sharon Olds,
Peter Davison,
John Ash,
T. Carmi,
Richard Katartrovis,
Brad Leithauser
1986-1987
Sandra Mcpherson,
Michael Collier,
Marilyn Wanick,
Neely Bruce reads Gertrude Stein,
Gjertrud Schnackenberg,
Edmond Jabès,
Dana Gioia,
David Ingatow,
Richard Wilbur,
Tony Connor
1987-1988
Mark Anderson,
Mark Schafer,
Laurie Duggan,
Helen Garner,
Michael Heyward,
Susan Mitchell,
Rennie McQuilkin,
Michael Standon,
Mary Jo Salter,
Charles Wright,
David Lehman,
Yusef Komunyakaa,
Dick Allen,
1988-1989
James Merrill,
Nancy Willard,
Wendy Larsen,
Tran Thi Nga,
Richard Kenney,
J.D. Reeve,
Judith Baumel,
James Tate,
Katha Pollitt
Wesleyan Student Poets
1967-1968
John Barlow,
Andrew Gaus,
Edmund Helminski,
Lynn T. Kozlowski,
Jeff Wanshel,
Michael Wolfe
1968-1969
John Barlow,
Frank Cobb,
Lynn T. Kozlowski,
Cedric Noble,
Jeff Wanshel
1969-1970
Georgia Sassen,
Andrew Elden,
Allan Gray,
Paul Maynard,
Richard Noble,
Stephen Policoff
1970-1971
Connie Balides,
Frederick Lord,
John Marlone,
Geoffrey Rips,
Kit Royce,
Robert Ulreich
1971-1972
Kate Ballen,
Michael Carlson,
John Cox,
Bonnie Krueger,
Frank Levering,
Steven Pope,
Steven Soria,
Nathaniel White
1972-1973
Tim Bahti,
Kate Ballen,
Michel de Konkoly Thege,
John Martone,
Cedric Noble,
Caroline Sutton
1973-1974
Barbara Bachtell,
Norma Bragg,
Peng Khvan Fong,
Jennifer Gage,
Robert Lake
1974-1975
Bill Aronstein,
Carol Cooper,
John Jackson,
Seth Lerer,
Jill Rips,
Stan Sutton
1975-1976
Stephen Alter,
Bonnie Bernstein,
Dean Holmes,
Jerry McGuire,
Ruth Pachman,
Ellen Marks,
Nina Shengold,
Tracy Winn,
Michael Minard
1976-1977
Elissa Ely,
Judith Harway,
James Skofield,
David Wisdo
1977-1978
Nola Butler,
Michael Dorsey,
Bryna Goodman,
Beverly Hinton,
Elaine Tietjen,
Elizabeth Weiss
1978-1979
Christopher Breyer,
Robert Chance,
Elizabeth Dunn,
Candace Payne,
Edwina Trentham,
Stephen Ward
1979-1980
Christopher Breyer,
Michael Collins,
Kenneth Haltman,
Cynthia Jaffee,
Lisa Kaufman
1980-1981
Cori Adler,
Paul Margolis,
Alan Botsford,
Becky Shuster,
James Marcus,
John Stanizzi
1981-1982
Julia Croston,
David Frankfurter,
Jennifer Montgomery,
Virginia Rye,
Clara Silverstein
1982-1983
Susan Lepseiter,
David Lorey,
Catalina Rios,
Kirsten Wasson
1983-1984
Nancy Daley,
Hilary Mullins,
Jon Sadowsky,
Liz Solar,
Molly Willey
1984-1985
Lisa Cook,
Evelyn Gonzales,
Rachel Kaplin,
Spencer Reece,
Scott Sager,
Mark Shafer
1985-1986
David Aronson,
Marcy North,
Karin Schalm,
Elizabeth Zsuga
1986-1987
Antonio Jocson,
Naomi Mezey,
Amy Schwartz,
Matthew Weiner
1987-1988
Bethany Casarjian,
Nicole Grieco,
Cameron Gearen,
Lisa Nash,
Antonio Jocson
1988-1989
Laura Michelle Cherry,
Daniel Handler,
Arthur Halpern,
Ezra Fred Tawil,
Adina Hoffman
Student Poets on the Connecticut Poetry Circuit
1970
Gayle Jones - Connecticut College,
Raymond A. Biasotti - University of Bridgeport,
Stephen Policoff - Wesleyan University,
Daniel Santhouse - University of Connecticut
1971
D.W. Donzella - University of Bridgeport,
Theodore James Guhl - Central Connecticut State University,
John Maynard - Wesleyan University,
Don Shambroom - Yale University
1972
Katherine Royce - Wesleyan University,
Leonard Marcus - Yale University,
Sarah Meisner - Manchester Community College,
Raja Changez Sultan - Trinity College
February 1973
Rika Lesser - Yale University,
Frank Levering - Wesleyan University,
Shelley Strohm - Manchester Community College,
Chase Twichell - Trinity College
February 1974
Elizabeth Egloff - Trinity College,
Peter Kerr-Jarreti - Yale University,
Jerry McGuire - Manchester Community College,
David Weinstock - Wesleyan University
1975
Michael Collier - Connecticut College,
Dederick Finne - Yale University,
Binnie Klein - University of Bridgeport,
James Stefon - Mohegan Community College
1976
Robin Green - University of Bridgeport,
Dean Holmes - Wesleyan University,
Melinda Kahn - Yale University,
Philip Paradis - Central Connecticut State University
1977
Nina Shengold - Wesleyan University,
Starry Schor - Yale University,
Elizabeth Tyson - Trinity College,
Nina George - Connecticut College
1977-1978
Madelyn Flammia - University of Bridgeport,
Susan Ralph Jackman - University of Connecticut,
Mark Malone - Western Connecticut State University,
John Stanizzi - Manchester Community College
1978-1979
Allan Garry - Mohegan Community College,
Langdon Hammer - Yale University,
Vincent Kay - Central Connecticut State University,
Judith Shaw - Trinity College
1980
Carolyn Abbott - Connecticut College,
Jon Davis - University of Bridgeport,
Martha Hollander - Yale University,
Amy Pattullo - Wesleyan University
1981
Particia Daddona - Connecticut College,
Nancy Kamm - Manchester Community College,
David Leavitt - Yale University,
Michael Lohnes - Southern Connecticut State,
Maddy Sheinberg - University of Bridgeport
1982
Cori Adler - Wesleyan University,
Robert Breen - Fairfield University,
John Carey - University of Connecticut,
Elena Vira - Trinity College
1983
Barbara Browning - Yale University,
Cheryl Bouteneff - Central Connecticut State,
Ted Lord - Trinity College,
Francis Drapeau - Fairfield University,
Doug Swift - University of Bridgeport
1983-1984
Kaci Kinne - Connecticut College,
Dale Mantautas - Trinity College,
Lisa Mierzejewski - Central Connecticut State,
Mark Shafer - Wesleyan University,
Claude Solnik - Southern Connecticut State
1984
James Aquilino - Southern Central Community College,
Thomas Curtis - Connecticut College,
Mara Eilenberg - Trinity College,
Carol Foster - Hartfold College for Women
1985-1986
Meg Bishop - Trinity College,
Jane Mendelsohn - Yale University,
Anne Minicozzi - University of Hartford,
Ralph Savarese - Wesleyan University
1986-1987
John Hamlett Barker - Yale University,
Mary Kane - University of Connecticut,
Joseph Pandolfo - Eastern Connecticut State,
Karin Schalm - Wesleyan University
1987-1988
Nan Cohen - Yale University,
Anne de Kay - Mohegan Community College,
Claudia Grandi - Manchester Community College,
Antonio Jocson - Wesleyan University,
Susan Pfeil - University of Bridgeport
1988-1989
Adina Hoffman - Wesleyan University,
Sung-San Hong - Trinity College,
Monica Prasad - Yale University,
John Stambaugh - University of Bridgeport
1990
Hanneli Ansel - Mohengan Community College,
Lawrence Berger - Yale University,
Robin Delman - Wesleyan University,
Kimberly Peters - Trinity College,
Khan Wong - University of Connecticut
Subject
- Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.). Honors College (Organization)
- Maynard, Jean (Person)
Cultural context
Geographic
Topical
- Poetry -- Competitions
- Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) -- Students
- Wesleyan University (Middletown, Conn.) -- Poetry
Uniform Title
- Title
- Wesleyan University Honors College Poetry and Connecticut Poetry Circuit records, 1966-1990
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Processed by Kate Levy, October 2008 Encoded by Valerie Gillispie, October 2008 Migrated to ArchivesSpace by Jenny Miglus, September 2020
- Date
- September 15, 2020
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
Repository Details
Part of the University Archives Repository