Lindsay Hill Papers, ca. 1963 - 2008 (MSS 696)

OFF-SITE STORAGE: COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS
Restrictions: Original media formats are restricted. Viewing/listening copies may be available for researchers.

Extent: 4.8 Linear feet (12 archives boxes, 2 oversize folders)

Papers of Lindsay Hill, American poet and editor. Included is correspondence with friends and colleagues; original typescripts and manuscripts of Hill's poetry and prose; business material related to Hill's production company, Spoken Engine Co.; original submissions, correspondence, and business materials related to the publication of Facture; and photographs of Lindsay Hill. The collection is arranged in seven series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS, 3) EDITORIAL WORK, 4) SPOKEN ENGINE CO., 5) FACTURE, 6) CONFERENCES, and 7) IMAGES AND RECORDINGS.

Lindsay Hill was born in 1952 in San Francisco, California. While attending Bard College his first book of poetry, Avelaval, was published. After graduating from Bard in 1975, Hill continued writing and publishing while working as an investment banker. In 1995 he retired from finance to pursue poetry full-time.

Along with writing, Hill used his knowledge of business to start several new ventures. In 1993 he founded the production company Spoken Engine Co. with the goal of combining poetry and music. From 1995 to 1996, he produced CDs with poets Nathaniel Mackey, Nathaniel Tarn, and Maxine Hong Kingston. Hill was also a founder and co-editor of the poetry journal Facture with fellow poet Paul Naylor, publishing three issues between 1999 and 2002.

Papers of Lindsay Hill, American poet and editor. Included is correspondence with friends and colleagues; original typescripts and manuscripts of Hill's poetry and prose; business material related to Hill's production company, Spoken Engine Co.; original submissions, correspondence, and business materials related to the publication of Facture; and photographs of Lindsay Hill.

Arranged in seven series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS, 3) EDITORIAL WORK, 4) SPOKEN ENGINE CO., 5) FACTURE, 6) CONFERENCES, and 7) IMAGES AND RECORDINGS.

Container List

CORRESPONDENCE

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 1) CORRESPONDENCE: Organized alphabetically and includes letters from Hans ten Berge, Jack Collom, Clayton Eshleman, Gary Snyder, and Nathaniel Tarn. Also included are materials by unidentified correspondents, located at the end of the series.

Box 1 Folder 1
A - Miscellaneous
Box 1 Folder 2
Avec (Cydney Chadwick, ed.), 1991 - 1992
Box 1 Folder 3
B - Miscellaneous
Box 1 Folder 4
Berge, Hans ten, 1993 - 2007
Box 1 Folder 5
Bieler Press (Gerald Lange, publisher), 1993 - 1999
Box 1 Folder 6
C-D - Miscellaneous
Box 1 Folder 7
Campbell, Carolee, 1996 - 2001
Box 1 Folder 8
Central Park (Stephen-Paul Martin, ed.), 1995 - 1996
Box 1 Folder 9
Collom, Jack, 1998 - 2007
Box 1 Folder 10
Curuby, George, 1977
Box 1 Folder 11
Eshleman, Clayton, 1993 - 2006
Box 1 Folder 12
F-H - Miscellaneous
Box 1 Folder 13
Ironwood (Michael Cuddihy, ed.), 1987 - 1988
Box 1 Folder 14
Joron, Andrew, 1994
Box 1 Folder 15
L-P - Miscellaneous
Box 1 Folder 16
Noto, John, 1994 - 2004
Box 1 Folder 17
Palmer, Michael, circa 1988 - 1999
Box 1 Folder 18
Price, Robin, 1991 - 1998
Box 2 Folder 1
R-S - Miscellaneous
Box 2 Folder 2
Reed, John, 1987 - 1992
Box 2 Folder 3
Rodney, Janet, postcards to Nita Hill, 1993 - 1994
Box 2 Folder 4
Smith, Lawrence, 1993 - 2003
Box 2 Folder 5
Snyder, Gary, 1999 - 2000
Box 2 Folder 6
Spicer, David, 1984 - 1986
Box 2 Folder 7
Sulfur (Clayton Eshleman, ed.), 1990 - 1992
Box 2 Folder 8
T-W - Miscellaneous
Box 2 Folder 9-10
Tarn, Nathaniel, 1987 - ca. 2008
Box 2 Folder 11
To (Seth Frechie, ed.), 1995
Box 2 Folder 12
Williwaw (Steven Huff, ed.), 1987
Box 2 Folder 13
Yau, John, 1992 - 1994
Box 2 Folder 14
Unidentified correspondents

WRITINGS

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 2) WRITINGS: Comprises the bulk of the collection. Arranged in six subseries: A) School Papers, B) Poetry, C) Poetry Collections, D) Prose, E) Plays, and F) Notebooks.

A) School Papers: Includes a report Hill wrote in the 6th grade, as well as a number of papers written in college.

B) Poetry: Arranged alphabetically by title and includes typescripts, manuscripts, notes, and jottings. Folders labeled "A-M - Miscellaneous" and "N-T - Miscellaneous" contain titled poems with fewer than three copies.

C) Poetry Collections: Organized alphabetically by collection title and contains work for published books, as well as collected works never published.

D) Prose: Includes drafts of several short stories, a typescript draft of an unpublished novel, and a number of unfinished stories.

E) Plays: The Tragedy of McGee.

F) Notebooks: Fourteen bound volumes containing handwritten drafts of poems, and are arranged chronologically when dates are known.

School Papers

Box 2 Folder 15
Papers, ca. 1963 - 1975

Poetry

Box 2 Folder 16
A-M - Miscellaneous
Box 2 Folder 17
Aeolean Myths
Box 2 Folder 18
Again
Box 2 Folder 19
Another Final Chant Against the Wind
Box 2 Folder 20
Appearances
Box 3 Folder 1-2
The Attic Dream: A Poetic Series of Twenty-Seven Parts
Box 3 Folder 3
Border Fires
Box 3 Folder 4
Businessman's Suicide
Box 3 Folder 5
By the Waters
Box 3 Folder 6
Cemetary

Contango (2006)

Box 3 Folder 7
Notes and working drafts
Box 3 Folder 8-9
Miscellaneous drafts
Box 4 Folder 1
Drafts 1 & 2
Box 4 Folder 2
Page layouts
Box 4 Folder 3
The Dark Air of Autumn
Box 4 Folder 4
Hermit Shrub
Box 4 Folder 5
H.L.B. again
Box 4 Folder 6
Island of California
Box 4 Folder 7
The Journey
Box 4 Folder 8
Map One
Box 4 Folder 9
May Night
Box 4 Folder 10
Mendelevium
Box 4 Folder 11
Money
Box 4 Folder 12
Les Moulages
Box 4 Folder 13
Mrs. H. Lampery Brown
Box 4 Folder 14
Mythos
Box 4 Folder 15
N-T - Miscellaneous
Box 4 Folder 16
Night's Morning
Box 4 Folder 17
Ode to a Lover of Horses
Box 4 Folder 18
Of Ankh-es-en-Amen Queen of Egypt XVIII Dynasty
Box 4 Folder 19
Off Shore Drilling
Box 4 Folder 20
Passenger
Box 4 Folder 21
Perhaps from a Silent Movie
Box 4 Folder 22
Pithamphora
Box 4 Folder 23
Poetry
Box 4 Folder 24
Prayer by Ruins
Box 4 Folder 25
Pressure
Box 4 Folder 26
.R.H
Box 4 Folder 27
Ritual of Beginning Again
Box 4 Folder 28
Ritual of Telling
Box 4 Folder 29
Rituals of History
Box 4 Folder 30
Ritual with the Moon
Box 4 Folder 31
Sanctuary
Box 4 Folder 32
The Small Design of Your Death

Socket (1993)

Box 5 Folder 1 Oversize FB-482-12
Drafts
Box 5 Folder 2
Published copy
Box 5 Folder 3
The Song Where You Were
Box 5 Folder 4
Spillway
Box 5 Folder 5
Stars
Box 5 Folder 6
The Stones Themselves
Box 5 Folder 7
Taking Inventory
Box 5 Folder 8
Time is Changed as it Passes Over
Box 5 Folder 9
To Begin With
Box 5 Folder 10
To Run Within
Box 5 Folder 11
The Values
Box 5 Folder 12-14 Oversize FB-482-13
Untitled drafts & fragments
Box 5 Folder 15
Untitled notes & jottings

Poetry Collections

Archaeology (1987)

Box 6 Folder 1
Clay Jar
Box 6 Folder 2
Closure
Box 6 Folder 3
Dream from the Lines on Your Hand
Box 6 Folder 4
Elegy
Box 6 Folder 5
Excavation
Box 6 Folder 6
The Fox
Box 6 Folder 7
The Journey Out
Box 6 Folder 8
Lauds
Box 6 Folder 9
Linear A
Box 6 Folder 10
The Lion Maker Recants
Box 6 Folder 11
Matins
Box 6 Folder 12
Minoa
Box 6 Folder 13
Mirage
Box 6 Folder 14
Mojave
Box 6 Folder 15
Museum Pieces
Box 6 Folder 16
Najavo
Box 6 Folder 17
Prayer of the Lion Maker
Box 6 Folder 18
Recorded Histories
Box 6 Folder 19
Running Fence
Box 6 Folder 20
Sext
Box 6 Folder 21
Taking Up Serpents
Box 6 Folder 22
Telling
Box 6 Folder 23
These Stones Severally
Box 6 Folder 24
Typhon
Box 6 Folder 25
Visitation
Box 6 Folder 26
What the Wind Became One Evening
Box 7 Folder 1
Wintering
Box 7 Folder 2
With a Line From Yeats
Box 7 Folder 3
The Words
Box 7 Folder 4
Zakros
Box 7 Folder 5
Drafts
Box 7 Folder 6
Notes and poem lists
Box 7 Folder 7
Rights
Box 7 Folder 8
Ascent to Summer

Avelaval (1974)

Box 7 Folder 9
Chemistry Lesson
Box 7 Folder 10
Dark Ages
Box 7 Folder 11
Eulogy
Box 7 Folder 12
Fugues to Fog
Box 7 Folder 13
Languages
Box 7 Folder 14
Nightblood
Box 7 Folder 15
Notes
Box 7 Folder 16
One Night in May
Box 7 Folder 17
Roots
Box 7 Folder 18
Rumors
Box 7 Folder 19
Solitary Fisherman Painted with Ink on Silk Ma Yuan
Box 7 Folder 20
Voices
Box 7 Folder 21
Chemistry Journal I, 1970
Box 7 Folder 22
The Early Letters, 1968 - 1969
Box 7 Folder 23
Early Poetry I, 1968 - 1969
Box 7 Folder 24
Early Poetry II, 1969 - 1970

Ndjenferno (1998)

Box 8 Folder 1
Asuncion
Box 8 Folder 2
Dream of Bones
Box 8 Folder 3
Terror Pantoum
Box 8 Folder 4
Pictures from a Scattered Season
Box 8 Folder 5
Sun Rain, 1970
Box 8 Folder 6
Telling
Box 8 Folder 7
Theory of Rain

Prose

Box 8 Folder 8
Circus Noctis, 1970
Box 8 Folder 9-10
From Where the Night Wind Rides, 1969 - 1970
Box 8 Folder 11
Inner Language
Box 8 Folder 12
Nightflowers
Box 8 Folder 13
Secrets
Box 8 Folder 14
The Time-Dream, Papers, 1970
Box 8 Folder 15
Unfinished stories & fragments

Plays

Box 8 Folder 16
The Tragedy of McGee, 1970

Notebooks

Box 9 Folder 1
Untitled -Two notebooks, 1985 - 1986
Box 9 Folder 2
The Elizabeth Notebook - Two notebooks, 1986
Box 9 Folder 3
Sometimes in the World, 1986
Box 9 Folder 4
Untitled - Two notebooks, 1986 - circa 1988
Box 9 Folder 5
Four Ladies Fourteen Nights, undated
Box 9 Folder 6
Paraguay for Beginners, undated
Box 10 Folder 1-2
Untitled - Two notebooks, undated

EDITORIAL WORK

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 3) EDITORIAL WORK: A manuscript containing the poems of Frank Stanford, edited by David Spicer and Lindsay Hill in 1985. The majority of these papers are photocopies.

Box 10 Folder 3
Frank Stanford manuscript, edited by David Spicer and Lindsay Hill, 1985

SPOKEN ENGINE CO.

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 4) SPOKEN ENGINE CO.: Legal papers regarding the formation of Hill's production company.

Box 10 Folder 4
Business materials, 1993 - 1994

FACTURE

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 5) FACTURE: Correspondence, subscription information, submissions and material related to the founding and publication of the poetry journal Facture.Arranged in four subseries: A) Correspondence and Submissions, B) General Correspondence, C) Unpublished Submissions, and D) Business Materials.

A) Correspondence and Submissions: Material related to the publication of each Facture issue, including an unrealized fourth issue. These materials were grouped by Hill and remain in their original order.

B) General Correspondence: Letters and postcards of thanks and several letters from poet Takuroh Ikeda.

C) Unpublished Submissions: Arranged alphabetically by author and contains unpublished submissions to Facture.

D) Business Materials: Organized by subject and include financial records, contracts, mailing lists, and subscription information.

Correspondence and Submissions

Box 10 Folder 5
Issue #1, 1998 - 2001
Box 10 Folder 6
Issue #2, 2000 - 2001
Box 11 Folder 1
Issue #3, 1999 - 2001
Box 11 Folder 2
Issue #4, 2001 - 2004

General Correspondence

Box 11 Folder 3
Miscellaneous, 2000 - 2001
Box 11 Folder 4
Ikeda, Takuroh, 2000 - 2001

Unpublished Submissions

Box 11 Folder 5
A - Miscellaneous
Box 11 Folder 6
B - Miscellaneous
Box 11 Folder 7
C - Miscellaneous
Box 11 Folder 8
D-E - Miscellaneous
Box 11 Folder 9
F-H - Miscellaneous
Box 11 Folder 10
J - Miscellaneous
Box 11 Folder 11
K-L - Miscellaneous
Box 11 Folder 12
M-O - Miscellaneous
Box 11 Folder 13
R - Miscellaneous
Box 12 Folder 1
S - Miscellaneous
Box 12 Folder 2
T - Miscellaneous
Box 12 Folder 3
W-Y - Miscellaneous

Business Materials

Box 12 Folder 4
Business materials - Miscellaneous, 1999 - 2001
Box 12 Folder 5
Financial records, 1999 - 2001
Box 12 Folder 6
Mailing lists
Box 12 Folder 7
Subscriptions

CONFERENCES

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 6) CONFERENCES: Material related to the 1997 forum "An Explosion of Violence," which met to discuss the causes of and solutions to violence in society.

Box 12 Folder 8
"An Explosion of Violence", 1997

IMAGES AND RECORDINGS

Scope and Content of Series

SERIES 7) IMAGES AND RECORDINGS: Artwork by Lindsay Hill, photographs and two VHS tapes of a reading that included Hill. Arranged in three subseries: A) Artwork, B) Photographs, and C) Videorecordings.

A) Artwork: Drawings, paintings, and collages by Lindsay Hill.

B) Photographs: Photographs of Lindsay Hill, often with wife Nita Hill. Also included are slides and prints used for the cover and liner notes of the Nathaniel Tarn CD, I Think This May Be Eden, produced by Spoken Engine Co.

C) Videorecordings: Two VHS tapes of a 1996 poetry reading at the New College Theater in San Francisco, California. Along with Lindsay Hill, poets include Stephen-Paul Martin, Andrew Joron, Adam Cornford, and John Noto.

Box 12 Folder 9
Artwork
Box 12 Folder 10
Photographs - Miscellaneous
Box 12 Folder 11
Photographs - Images used for Nathaniel Tarn's CD, I Think This May Be Eden, produced by Spoken Engine Co
Box 12 Folder 12
VHS videorecordings - [Vatic Hum/Orpheus Grid reading] tapes 1 & 2, 1972 November 21