Collection Summary
Karl Jay Shapiro Papers
1947-1964
1947-1964
MSS15099
Shapiro, Karl Jay,
1913-2000
100 items
4 containers
1.6 linear feet
English
Collection material in
English
Manuscript Division, Library of
Congress
Washington, D.C.
Poet, editor, and
teacher. Drafts, typescripts, proofs, and printed copies of Shapiro's published
and unpublished articles, essays, lectures, and writings relating to drafts of
his books
The Bourgeois Poet and
To Abolish Children.
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Shapiro, Karl, 1913-2000.
Shapiro, Karl, 1913-2000. Bourgeois poet. 1964.
Shapiro, Karl, 1913-2000. To abolish children and other essays. 1968.
Subjects
American literature.
American poetry.
Literature and society--United States.
Poetry.
Occupations
Editors.
Educators.
Poets.
Provenance
The papers of Karl Jay Shapiro, poet, editor, and teacher, were given
to the Library of Congress by Shapiro in 1968. A subsequent deposit made by
Shapiro in 1969 was withdrawn by him in 1992.
Processing History
The papers of Karl Jay Shapiro were arranged and described in 1972.
The collection was reprocessed in 2002 following the withdrawal of material
deposited in 1992.
Other Repositories
Other collections of Shapiro's papers are located at the
Archives and Manuscripts Department, McKeldin Library,
University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.
Related Material
The typescript of
The Bourgeois Poet
, as well as other related material, is
contained in the
Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Karl Jay Shapiro
Papers located in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress.
Copyright Status
The status of copyright in the unpublished writings of Karl Jay
Shapiro is governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17,
U.S.C.).
Access and Restrictions
The papers of Karl Jay Shapiro are open to research. Researchers are
advised to contact the Manuscript Reading Room prior to visiting. Many
collections are stored off-site and advance notice is needed to retrieve these
items for research use.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the
following information: Container number, Karl Jay Shapiro Papers, Manuscript
Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Biographical Note
Date
Event
1913, Nov. 10
Born, Baltimore, Md.
1937
1939
Attended Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md.
1941
1945
Served in the United States Army
1942
Published
Person, Place and Thing
. [New York]: Reynal &
Hitchcock
Published
The Place of Love
. [Malvern, Australia: Bradley
Printers]
Awarded Jeanette S. Davis Prize
1943
Awarded Levinson Prize
Awarded Contemporary Poetry Prize
1944
Published
V-Letter and Other Poems
. New York: Reynal &
Hitchcock
1945
Awarded Pulitzer Prize in poetry
Awarded Shelley Memorial Prize
Married Evalyn Katz (divorced 1967)
1945
1946
Awarded Guggenheim fellowship
1946
1947
Consultant in poetry, Library of Congress, Washington,
D.C.
1947
1950
Associate professor of writing, Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, Md.
1950
1956
Editor,
Poetry Magazine
1953
Published
Poems, 1940-1953
. New York: Random House
Published
Beyond Criticism
. [Lincoln]: University of
Nebraska Press
1953
1954
Awarded Guggenheim fellowship
1956
1966
Professor of English, University of Nebraska, Lincoln,
Nebr.
1958
Published
Poems of a Jew
. New York: Random House
1960
Published
In Defense of Ignorance
. New York: Random
House
1964
Published
The Bourgeois Poet
. New York: Random House
1965
Published
A Prosody Handbook
, with Robert Beum. New York:
Harper & Row
1966
1968
Professor of English, University of Illinois, Chicago,
Ill.
1967
Married Teri Kovach (died 1982)
1968
Published
To Abolish Children
. Chicago: Quadrangle
Books
1968
1985
Professor of English, University of California, Davis,
Calif.
1969
Awarded Bollingen Prize for poetry
1975
Published
The Poetry Wreck, Selected Essays, 1950-1970
. New
York: Random House
1978
Published
Collected Poems, 1940-1978
. New York: Random
House
1985
Married Sophie Wilkins
1987
Published
New and Selected Poems, 1940-1986
. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press
1989
Robert Kirsch award,
Los Angeles Times
2000, May 14
Died, New York, N.Y.
Scope and Content Note
The papers of Karl Jay Shapiro (1913-2000) span the years 1947-1964
and consist of drafts, typescripts, proofs, and printed copies of Shapiro's
published and unpublished articles, essays, lectures, and writings, as well as
material relating to his books
The Bourgeois Poet
and
To Abolish Children
. Shapiro was also the author or editor
of a large body of critical writing concerning the nature of poetry and its
place in American society. Shapiro's articles, arranged alphabetically by
title, include photocopies, ribbon and carbon typescripts, and mounted cut
pages containing occasional notations by him or others. In addition to these
articles, a selection of essays and lectures, many of which had been published
separately, were assembled and published as
To Abolish Children
, a volume of nine essays on society
and literature. The papers also include a printer's typescript copy of this
book with changes and corrections. The articles, essays, and lectures in the
collection are interrelated and some duplication of portions of text is
apparent.
The collection further contains sets of galley proofs for Shapiro's
volume of poetry
The Bourgeois Poet
. There are four sets of proofs for the
first part of the book and one set for the second part, each containing
annotations.
Arrangement of the Papers
This collection is arranged alphabetically by type of material.
Container List
Container
Contents
1
Articles
1
"An American Jewish Writer Looks
Around,"
undated
undated
1
"American Poet?"
1964
1964
1
"The Decolonization of American
Literature,"
undated
undated
1
"A Defense of Bad Poetry,"
undated
undated
1
"The Desert Island Game,"
1963
1963
1
"From the Black Lace Laboratory,"
undated
undated
1
"Graduate Training in the
Humanities,"
1964
1964
1
"Hatchet-Burying on Olympus,"
1963
1963
1
"Image of the Poet in America,"
undated
undated
1
"Is Poetry an American Art?"
undated
undated
1
"Meeting at Wingspread,"
1962
1962
1
"The Poet as Teacher,"
1962
1962
1
"Poet-on-Campus,"
1963
1963
1
"The Present State of Literary
Publishing,"
undated
undated
1
"Prose Keys to Modern Poetry,"
undated
undated
1
"Retort to Criticism of ‘The
Bourgeois Poet' in
Poet as Artist and Critic
by Anthony Ostroff,"
1964
1964
1
"Rimbaud's Silence,"
1962
1962
1
"The Three Hockey Games of T. S.
Eliot,"
1962
1962
1
"The ‘Uses' of Literature,"
undated
undated
1
"Washed Out of Europe,"
1961
1961
1
"What Is Creative Writing?"
1964
1964
1
"What Is a Public?"
1964
1964
1
"Whitman Today,"
1960
1960
1
"The Writer and the University,"
1961
1961
1
Untitled article for
Writers' Digest
,
1963
1963
2
Books
2
The Bourgeois Poet
, galley proofs,
1963, undated
1963, undated
(5
folders)
3
To Abolish Children
3
Draft,
undated
undated
(13
folders)
4
Essays and lectures collected
for publication,
1947-1949, 1959-1964, undated
1947-1949, 1959-1964, undated
(36
folders)