"New England Review"., 08/26/1980-08/26/1980

The Kenneth Atchity Collection is a set of personal papers of Kenneth J. Atchity comprised of correspondence, manuscripts, lecture notes, scrapbooks, video tapes, printed ephemera and related material, comprising 42 linear feet of material arranged in 29 boxes. The collection is arranged in eight series: the Individuals Correspondence Series, the Scripts and Manuscripts Series, the Academic Series, the Business Files Series, the Printed Materials Series, the Video Series, the Scrapbook Series, and the Oversize Series.

The Individuals Correspondence Series primarily consists of personal and professional correspondence between Kenneth Atchity and hundreds of individuals and organizations and comprises nearly half the material of the collection (12 boxes). Included is correspondence relating to Atchity's editorships of Moneysworth, California State Poetry Quarterly, Contemporary Quarterly, Follies and Dreamworks, with correspondence from individuals such as Maya Angelou, Robert Bly, Paul Bowles, Malcolm Boyd, Wanda Coleman, Norman Cousins, Umberto Eco, Laurence Ferlinghetti, Ralph Ginzburg, Robin Hardy, Ursula K. LeGuin, Howard Nemerov, Joyce Carol Oates, Ricardo Pau-Llosa, John Rechy and Art Seidenbaum. There are also a number of noteworthy correspondents from the academic world with whom Atchity discussed Comparative and Italian Literature, including Camille Paglia, Thomas Bergin, Lowry Nelson, John Gardner and Giose Rimanelli. The Series also contains much business correspondence relating to L/A House and Shades of Love, as well as personal correspondence between Atchity and his friends and family.

The Scripts and Manuscripts Series primarily consists of material collected by L/A House for the production of Shades of Love and other projects, many of which were written by Atchity himself. Other items include a group of manuscripts collected by Contemporary Quarterly, including poems by Wanda Coleman and Marcus Grapes. The Series also contains a brief carbon typescript ascribed to John Steinbeck, 'The Common Man at War.'

The Academic Series primarily consists of lecture notes and subject files kept by Kenneth Atchity during his academic career. The Series contains Atchity's files on the Iliad, which include correspondence from Cedric Whitman, Robert Fitzgerald and other notable Classicists.

The Business Files Series mainly consists of contracts, business correspondence and other materials relating to Kenneth Atchity's career with L/A House and Shades of Love. The correspondence of many individuals and organizations overlap between this Series and the Individuals Correspondence Series.

The Printed Materials Series mainly consists of magazine issues and promotional materials for Shades of Love. Included are copies of Contemporary Quarterly, Moneysworth, Door to Door, and clippings by and about Kenneth Atchity. (Lauinger Library has a complete run of Dreamworks in the Serials Division.)

The Video Series primarily consists of videos produced or authored by Kenneth Atchity, including clips and promos for Shades of Love and Homer, a three-part television program authored by Kenneth Atchity for KNXT-TV.

The Scrapbook Series contains miscellaneous correspondence, notes and photos related to various L/A House projects and Dreamworks put together by Kenneth Atchity in scrapbooks.

The Oversize Series contains three oversize items: one scrapbook relating to Breakthrough!, 1 soundtrack record album for Shades of Love, and the music and libretto from In Praise of Love. Note: Kenneth Atchity holds the right of first refusal to publish correspondence contained in the collection but which is not created by him.

Extent: 42 linear feet Number of boxes: 29 boxes Bulk dates: 1970 - 1990 Span dates: 1962 - 1991