Call Number:

F1034

Repository:

University of Delaware Library Special Collections

Extent:

3 item

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

MSS 0099, F1034, William Pryor letter to Cid Corman with prospectus for Tangent 4 and poetry manuscript, Special Collections, University of Delaware Library, Newark, Delaware.

Date:

1979 september 8 (inclusive)

Creator:

Pryor, William, 1945-

Form:

Letters (correspondence) and Manuscripts (documents)

Abstract:

This collection consists of a letter from English poet William Pryor to Cid Corman, a prospectus for Pryor's chapbook Away, and a ten-page original typescript by Pryor entitled "The First Nine Pages of UNEARTH."

William Pryor was born on January 29, 1945 in Farnborough, Hampshire, England. He is an author and poet, whose published works include

Away (1979), Unearth (1980), and The Survival of the Coolest (2003).

Sidney "Cid" Corman was an American poet who published over 150 collections of poetry, translations, and essays. Corman was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and attended Tufts University. In 1951, Corman began to publish

Origin, a literary magazine that provided an early platform for the work of Charles Olson, Robert Creeley, and Theodore Enslin. Corman edited the magazine until 1984. He died in Kyoto, Japan, on March 12, 2004.

This collection consists of a letter from English poet William Pryor to Cid Corman, a prospectus for Pryor's chapbook

Away, and a ten-page original typescript by Pryor entitled "The First Nine Pages of UNEARTH."

These materials were laid into a copy of Pryor's book

Away, which he sent to Cid Corman on September 8, 1979. In the letter, Pryor thanked Corman for his support and discussed works in progress, problems with finances, and collaborative efforts with other poets. He told Corman that he sent the nascent manuscript for Unearth "because it felt pertinent to send it, not because I feel at all sure about it." The letter is typewritten and signed in ink by Pryor.

"The First Nine Pages from UNEARTH" is a typewritten manuscript consisting of a title page and nine pages of poems. The poems reflect Pryor's early efforts at stanzas 1 and 3-10 of

Unearth.

This collection also includes a prospectus from Tangent Books describing Pryor's chapbook

Away and forthcoming publications. On the verso there is a typed stanza entitled "1.6."