Dave Smith Collection

The Dave Smith Collection spans from 1960 to 1990 and documents his literary career. The collection includes writings, correspondence, publications, reviews, and works about Smith.

Series 1, Works by the Author, consists of work by Smith. It is divided into sub series according to the type of literary genre. Most of this series is put in a chronological order within each sub series. The miscellaneous folder at the end of some sub series contains material for which we lack full information.

Sub series 1.1 (Unpublished Works) contains more than one thousand pages of Smith's poetry, about thirty essays, and some papers (including a copy his M.A. thesis) from high school, college, and graduate school.

Sub series 1.2 (Poetry) includes typescripts of Smith's poetry which was published in books, newspapers, and magazines, such as The New Yorker and Paris Review.

Sub series 1.3 (Collected Poetry) covers Smith's ten collections of poetry, from Cumberland Station (1976) to Cuba Night (1990). This part has typescripts, galleys, page proofs, blue lines, and layouts.

Sub series 1.4 (Essays) contains Smith's important collection of essays, Local Assays (1985), and other important essays, e.g., 'The Year in Poetry: 1984', and 'The Year in Poetry: 1985.' Various typescript drafts, galleys, and page proofs of Smith's novel, Onliness (1981), his only one to date, are put in Sub series 1.5 (Novels). Through those materials, the researcher can easily and clearly discover the creative process used in writing this novel.

Sub series 1.6 (Reviews) contains Smith's important poetry reviews, especially on his favorite poets, Robert Penn Warren whom Smith thinks is 'America's greatest contemporary poet' (Voyager, Christopher Newport College, VA, August/September 1990), James Dickey, and Richard Hugo.

Sub series 1.7 (Anthologies) includes Smith's two anthologies to date, The Pure Clear Word - Essays on the Poetry of James Wright (1982) and the Morrow Anthology of Younger American Poets (1985). The latter has gained wide popularity.

The only two items in Sub series 1.8 (Interviews) are an interviews with James Wright and with Hollis Summers.

The last sub series, Sub series 1.9 (Short Stories), has the typescripts of Smith's five published short stories.

Series 2, Correspondence, includes incoming and outgoing correspondence between Smith and editors, publishers, contributors, colleagues, students, and friends. This series has been divided into five parts.

The first sub series contains letters regarding specific publishers, such as the William Morrow & Company, Inc., the Louisiana State University Press, and the University of Illinois Press, and then the specific book published. This may provide insight into what is involved in publishing a book, whether it is a volume of collected poetry, a novel, a collection of essays, or an anthology.

This correspondence is divided into two parts: outgoing correspondence (from Smith to the publisher) and incoming correspondence (from the publisher to Smith), and most is arranged chronologically.

The second sub series is entitled legal correspondence. These materials are contracts, agreements, and copyright releases. This sub series includes important legal documents with his main publishers.

The third sub series is travel correspondence and contains letters between Smith (the travel lecturer) and the organizers in respective colleges and universities nationwide. The correspondence is arranged chronologically according to the date of the lecture or reading to be given.

The fourth sub series has letters of recommendation Smith has written for students and colleagues; these are arranged alphabetically by applicant or candidate's names. Series 3, Personal Materials, contains personal materials, including some private documents, such as his financial journals, which supply the information of Smith's income and expenses. This part also contains materials (bulletins, catalogs, flyers, and posters) pertaining to conferences and workshops in which Smith participated as a major speaker. These will give the researcher a fuller perspective on Smith's literary career.

Series 4, Works about the Author, contains material by others about Smith, Smith's works, and interviews with Smith. The series also contains two interviews with Smith. All of these are arranged chronologically.

Series 5, Publications, contains a limited amount of published materials, such as poetry, reviews, and short stories. This series consists of whole issues, tear sheets, and photocopies.

Series 6, Robert DeMott Book, includes a draft of Dave Smith: A Literary Archive and the originals of the exhibits included in the book. The exhibits have been removed from the binders DeMott used, but kept in the same order. The exhibits include correspondence, brochures, flyers, printed programs and photographs.