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Alan Swallow Papers

An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University


Finding aid created by: -
Date: May 25 1966

Biographical History

Alan Swallow (1915-1966) was an American poet, editor, teacher, and publisher.

Swallow was born February 11, 1915, in Powell, Wyoming. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Wyoming in 1937 and an M.A. degree from Louisiana State University in 1939. At LSU he studied under Robert Penn Warren and Cleanth Brooks. He was an instructor at the University of New Mexico (1940-1942) and associate professor of English at Western State College (1942-1943). He then taught at the University of Denver as assistant professor(1948-1954). He also directed the writing program at U. of Denver and from 1947 to 1953 was director of the University Press. In 1940, Swallow became the founder, owner, and single employee of his publishing firm, Alan Swallow, Publisher. He sought to promote the poetry and fiction of contemporary writers who are often unrecognized by the larger commercial publishers. His list included J.V. Cunningham, Thomas McGrath, Janet Lewis, and the more well known Yvor Winters and Allen Tate. Swallow has also written and published several books of poems and has edited anthologies of poetry and of prose. He lectured at various writers' conferences and was a member of the Western Writers of America, Colorado Authors League, Denver Westerners, and American Civil Liberties Union. He died on November 27, 1966 in Denver, Colorado.

Scope and Contents of the Collection

The Alan Swallow Papers consist of correspondence, subject files, manuscripts and published material.

Correspondence includes authors, editors, publisher, and fellow poets. Notable individuals include Louise Bogan, Jane Grabhorn (Grabhorn Press), Archibald MacLeish, Henry Miller, Marianne Moore, Isaac Bashevis Singer, Wallace Stevens, Allen Tate, Robert Penn Warren, and William Carlos Williams.

Subject files contains conference and writers' workshop programs, legal material relating to the Supreme Court case involving Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer, photographs of Swallow, printing specimens, and various trade lists, mailing pieces and notices from Alan Swallow, Publisher, and his subsidiary presses (e.g. Sage Books).

Manuscripts consists of typescripts of books, essays, poems, and other writings by Swallow and by others.

Published material consists of articles, book reviews, newspaper clippings (Swallow had a regular newspaper column), pamphlets, poems, and short stories by Swallow. In addition, there are articles about Swallow, magazines published by him and by others, books written by others and some published by Swallow, pamphlets published by Swallow, pamphlets written and published by others, and miscellaneous magazines. Some of the articles, books, and pamphlets are inscribed by their authors to Swallow.

Arrangement of the Collection

Correspondence is arranged alphabetically by correspondent. Subject files and manuscripts are arranged alphabetically by subject or title respectively. Published material is subdivided by type and then arranged in alphabetical order by type, except for newspaper clippings and poems by A.S. which are arranged chronologically.

Restrictions

Access Restrictions:

The majority of our archival and manuscript collections are housed offsite and require advanced notice for retrieval. Researchers are encouraged to contact us in advance concerning the collection material they wish to access for their research.

Use Restrictions:

Written permission must be obtained from SCRC and all relevant rights holders before publishing quotations, excerpts or images from any materials in this collection.

Related Material

A large number of books have been removed from the collection and catalogued separately. Please refer to Libraries Search for a complete listing.

See also the William Claire Collection Relating to Alan Swallow.

Subject Headings

Persons

Bogan, Louise, 1897-1970.
Brittin, Norman A.
Brown, Bob.
Coleman, Carroll.
Cunningham, J. V. (James Vincent), 1911-1985.
Davidson, Gustav, 1895-1971.
De Jong, David Cornel, 1901-1967.
Decker, James A.
Elliott, George P., 1918-1980.
Fitzell, Lincoln, 1903-1958.
Frederick, John T. (John Towner), 1893-1975.
Gold, Herbert, 1924-
Goll, Yvan, 1891-1950.
Gordon, Caroline, 1895-1981.
Grabhorn, Jane Bissell.
Kees, Weldon, 1914-1955.
Kunitz, Stanley, 1905-2006.
MacLeish, Archibald, 1892-1982.
Miles, Josephine, 1911-1985.
Miller, Henry, 1891-1980.
Mills, Clark, 1913-
Moon, Bucklin, 1911-1984.
Moore, Marianne, 1887-1972.
Moore, Merrill, 1903-1957.
Singer, Isaac Bashevis, 1904-1991.
Stanford, Ann.
Stevens, Wallace, 1879-1955.
Swallow, Alan, 1915-1966.
Taggard, Genevieve, 1894-1948.
Tate, Allen, 1899-1979.
Van Doren, Mark, 1894-1972.
Warren, Robert Penn, 1905-1989.
Williams, William Carlos, 1883-1963.

Subjects

American literature -- 20th century.
American poetry -- 20th century.
Authors, American.
Poets, American.
Publishers and publishing -- United States.

Genres and Forms

Articles.
Book reviews.
Books.
Clippings (information artifacts)
Correspondence.
Journals (periodicals)
Manuscripts for publication.
Photographs.

Occupations

Authors.
Poets.
Publishers.

Administrative Information

Preferred Citation

Preferred citation for this material is as follows:

Alan Swallow Papers,
Special Collections Research Center,
Syracuse University Libraries

Acquisition Information

Gift of Alan Swallow, 1964-1966.

Table of Contents

Correspondence

Subject files

Manuscripts

Published material

Inventory