Wild Dog Collection

Collection

Identifier: THR/01/2012.s006

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The Wild Dog Collection contains hundreds of letters documenting the lives and writing careers of authors from the early 1960s (the Beat period). It also documents the small press publishing industry as demonstrated by the “Wild Dog” publishing company and its works, as well as correspondence between “Wild Dog” and other small presses. Finally, it documents the background business workings that sustained the press during its short existence.

Dates

Creation: 1961 - 2011

Biographical / Historical

Wild Dog, a publication of magazines established by Ed Dorn and placed within the 'mimeo era' of publishing, featured literary works from diverse sources including writers with 'The Black Mountain Review', the SanFrancisco Renaissance, the Beat generation, the New York School, and several Eruopean and South American publication and poets. From Verdant Press: "Wild Dog was the brainchild of Ed Dorn, who was teaching at Idaho State University in the early sixties. The magazine included students as editors and contributors; they published alongside LeRoi Jones, Douglas Woolf, Robert Kelly, Larry Eigner, fielding Dawson, Charles Olson, Denise Levertov, Louis Zukofsky, robert Creeley, Diane Wakoski, Stan Brakhage, and Joanne Kyger. Kyger co-edited nos. 17-18 with Drew Wagnon and Gino Clays. dorn, Geoffrey Dunbar, and John Hoopes wer also editors of Wild Dog over the course of the magazine's twenty-one issues, from 1963-66."

Extent

8 boxes

Language of Materials

English

Additional Description

Arrangement

The Wild Dog Collection is arranged into 3 Series, with Series 1 and 2 each having 3 Sub-Series, and Series 3 having 2 Sub-Series.

Series 1: Wild Dog Correspondence:

Series 1, Subseries 1: Correspondence with Contributors.

Series 1, Subseries 2: Correspondence with Would-be Contributors.

Series 1, Subseries 3: Correspondence with other Little Magazines and Presses and Business Correspondence with Bookshops and Dealers.

Series 2: Manuscripts, Artwork, and Published Issues:

Series 2, Subseries 1: Manuscripts Original or copied manuscripts produced by Wild Dog authors.

Series 2, Subseries 2: Artwork Contains original artwork done by Wild Dog authors and their friends.

Series 2, Subseries 3: Published Issues Contains the final and published issues of Wild Dog.

Series 3: Manuscripts – Plays:

Series 3, Subseries 1: Recess Materials for the play "Recess" by Dolores Walker.

Series 3, Subseries 2: Stone Drum Materials about "Stone Drum" by Dr. Joseph Murphy.