Guide to the Robert Huff Papers, 1948-1989

Collection number: MC 87
Size: 1 box (0.33 cu.ft.)

About Robert Huff (1924-1993)

Born in 1924, Robert Huff was educated at Wayne State University, Michigan. He taught English at several universities in the West before taking a position at Western Washington University in Bellingham, from where he retired in 1989. Huff’s first book of poetry, Colonel Johnson’s Ride, was published in 1959. Three others followed: The Course (1966); The Ventriloquist (1977), and Shore Guide to Flocking Names(1985). He was a Bread Loaf Writers Conference Fellow in 1961, and a MacDowell Colony [Peterborough, N.H.] Fellow in 1963. He died in a fire at his home in 1993.

About the Robert Huff Papers (1948-1989)

The Robert Huff Collection primarily contains correspondence from various American poets to Huff. The greatest number of letters are from e.e.cummings, who frequently wrote Huff from 1948 until his death in 1962, and Karl Shapiro. Other correspondents include Allen Ginsberg, William Carlos Williams, Bernard Malamud, and James Wright. The collection also contains over twenty-five typescripts of poems and a number of reviews and newspaper articles written about Huff.

Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

This collection is open.

Copyright Notice

Contents of this collection are governed by U.S. copyright law. For questions about publication or reproduction rights, contact Special Collections staff.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], [Folder], [Box], Robert Huff Papers, 1948-1989, MC 87, Milne Special Collections and Archives, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, NH, USA.

Acquisitions Information

Purchased: Charles Seluzicki, June 2, 1986

Collection Arrangement

Arrangement is alphabetical by surname of correspondent (Series 1) or name of poem (Series 2).

Series I: Correspondence

Box 1
Box 1, Folder 1	Surnames A-C Anania, Michael-Ciardi, John, 1961-1977 Michael Anania, Poetry Editor, The Swallow Press, 1971 Philip Booth, 1961-1967 John C. Broderick, Library of Congress, 1977 Mrs. Hugh Bullock, Academy of American Poets, 1964 Constance Carrier, undated John Ciardi, 1967
Box 1, Folder 2	Surname C e.e. cummings, 1948-1952 (8 letters)
Box 1, Folder 3	Surname C e.e. cummings, 1953-1960 (11 letters)
Box 1, Folder 4	Surname C e.e. cummings and Marion Morehouse, 1961-1962 (16 letters)
Box 1, Folder 5	Surnames D-E Dickey, James - Engel, Paul John, 1962-1984 James Dickey, 1972-1973 Annie Dillard, undated Alan Dugan, 1966 Richard Eberhart, 1967-1984 Richard Eberhart, 1967-1984 Galen Eberl, The Poetry Center, 1962 Paul Engel, 1956-1960
Box 1, Folder 6	Garrett, George Palmer-Golstein, Lawrence, 1968-1977 George Palmer Garrett, 1977 Louis Ginsberg, 1968 Allen Goldbarth, undated Lawrence Goldstein, 1977
Box 1, Folder 7	Surnames H Hague, Albert-Hugo, Richard - Engel, 1958-1981 Albert Hague, 1965 Donald Hall, 1958-1976 W. Harris, 1961 Robert Hayden, 1970 Seamus Heaney, 1989 Tony Hecht, 1989 Robert Hillyer, 1960-1961 Dr. Ernest B. Hookand Huff’s reply, 1967 Richard Hugo, 1976-1981
Box 1, Folder 8	Surnames K Kennedy, X. J. (Joe) - Kumin, Maxine, 1960-1989 X. J. (“Joe”) Kennedy, 1971-1985 Milton Kenley, undated Margaret King, 1962 Galway Kinnell, 1975 Thomas Kinsella, 1989 Elizabeth Kray, 1960-1961 Maxine Kumin, 1980
Box 1, Folder 9	Surnames L-M Lieberman, Larry-Poage, Mam, 1960-1976 Larry Lieberman, 1962 John Logan, 1967-1976 Mám Poage, 1960
Box 1, Folder 10	Surnames M- ?, Mike-Moss, Stanley, 1964-1985 Mike ?, undated K. McClanahan, undated Sandy McPherson, 1973-1985 Bernard Malamud, 1960-1976 Ann Malamud, 1974 Marcia ?, Chicago Tribune, 1968 Howard Moss, The New Yorker, 1964 Stanley Moss, New American Review, 1968
Box 1, Folder 11	Surnames N-R Nims, John Frederick - Roethke, Theodore, 1957-1976 John Frederick Nims, 1961 K. McClanahan, 1976 Frank P?, undated Don Petersen, 1972 George Plimpton, 1970 Dudley Randall, 1968 Dave Ray, undated Wallace and Anne Andrews Robson, 1957 Theodore Roethke, 1961
Box 1, Folder 12	Surnames S Salvatore, Domininc - Sexton, Anne, 1960-1972 Dominic Salvatore 1960 Anne Sexton, 1967-1972
Box 1, Folder 13	Surnames S Karl Shapiro, 1960-1982 (29 letters)
Box 1, Folder 14	Surnames S The Swanee Review - Swenson, May, 1955-1984 The Sewanee Review, 1955 William Stafford, 1960-1976 Peter Steel, 1984 Hamilton Stillwell, 1961 Mark Strand, 1970 May Swenson, 1963-1964
Box 1, Folder 15	Surnames T-W T?, Peter - Wright, Anne, 1960-1981 Peter T?, undated John Wain, 1966 Diane Wakoski, 1969-1970 Chad Walsh, undated Richard Wilbur, 1968 Miller Williams, 1964-1985 William Carlos Williams, 1960 John Woods, 1956 James Wright, 1958-1962 Anne Wright, 1981

Series 2: Manuscripts

Box 1
Box 1, Folder 16	Handwritten drafts of poems, n.d.
Box 1, Folder 17	Typewritten: “Accident,” “Affinity,” “Adonis Walks…,” “Apology,” “Aunt Getrude and Apollo”
Box 1, Folder 18	“Caitlin’s Because,” “Dilly’s,” “The Fat Man…,” “Father Waking,” “For Gene Lundahl”
Box 1, Folder 19	“For Philip Booth,” “For Ursula,…,” “High,” “I Dream…,” “I Hear…”
Box 1, Folder 20	“In Memory…,” “Inmate,” “1964,” “The Postman’s Dream,” “Revelation at Hand”
Box 1, Folder 21	“A Riddle…,” “A Sketch…,” “Their Suicide,” “Wife Waking”
Box 1, Folder 22	Shore Guide to Flocking Names [paste up].
Box 1, Folder 23	Taking Her Sides on Immortality [typescript]

Series 3: Publications

Box 1
Box 1, Folder 24	Venture, Robert Hillyer Memorial Issue, May 1962
Box 1, Folder 25	e.e. Cummings: Sketches and Watercolors of the Twenties and Thirties, Gotham Book Mart, New York City, 9 March-6 April, 1968

Series IV: Miscellaneous

Box 1
Box 1, Folder 26	Reviews, 1960-1962
Box 1, Folder 27	Memorabilia and Newsclippings, 1962-1972
Box 1, Folder 28	Photographs: e.1: B and W, 3×5 of Ed McClanahan, n.d. e.2: Photomat strip of four images of Karl Shapiro, n.d.