Series 1: Journals and daily writing, 1976 - 2021
Scope and Contents
Series 1 is arranged into four sub-series: Sub-Series 1 (Early Writing); Sub-Series 2 (Daily Writing); Sub-Series 3 (Pocket Notebooks and Bound Journals); and Sub-Series 4: (In-Class Writing). Materials are arranged chronologically within each sub-series. In Sub-Series 1, Stafford's Early Writing, includes writings from childhood through college. In Sub-Series 2, the daily writing pages are sporadic until January 1, 2014, and consistent daily thereafter. The Pocket Notebooks in Sub-Series 3 are hundreds of 3" x 4.5" self-sewn pamphlet booklets that he would carry with him for recording thoughts, gleanings from eavesdropping, dreams, quotations from reading, and other grist for later rumination and writing. This sub-series also includes many bound journals filled with notes to self, poem drafts, travel accounts, and other texts. The In-Class Writings in Sub-Series 4 include hand-written pages in poetry and prose that Stafford would draft in class, after giving his students a writing prompt, as teacher and students wrote together. Some of these in-class drafts Stafford later typed and revised for publication. The heart of this series consists of Stafford's hand-written daily writings (in Sub-Series 1:2): several thousand pages resulting from writing every morning that Stafford's father, William Stafford, practiced from 1950-1993. Kim Stafford's daily writings are described in detail in his essay “Writing as Ritual” (found in Sub-Series 2:2), and beginning in 2014 consistently include the four elements he found appearing often in William Stafford's daily writing: the date, some exploratory prose, a free-standing idea (or “aphorism”), and then a poem, or beginning of a poem. (Kim Stafford then revised these daily poems on the computer, and many of these revision sequences are available in Sub-Series 2:3).
Dates
- Creation: 1976 - 2021
Conditions Governing Access
This Collection is open for research. A small selection of correspondence is restricted and requires permission from Kim Stafford or his estate before research use can be granted.
Extent
21 boxes
Language of Materials
English
Repository Details
Part of the Lewis & Clark College, Special Collections and Archives Repository