Guide to the Michael Gizzi Papers , circa 1940-2010

John Hay Library , Special Collections
Box A
Brown University
Providence, RI 02912
Tel: 401-863-2146
email: hay@brown.edu

Published in 2013

Collection Overview

Title:	Michael Gizzi papers
Date range:	circa 1940-2010
Creator:	Ashbery, John, 1927-
Extent:	22.5 linear feet
Abstract:	The Michael Gizzi papers are comprised predominately of correspondence and writings by Gizzi and by others. There are also printed, graphic, and audio materials. Most of the material dates from 1985 - 1999 and the collection is representative of a broad community of poets and artists.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library , Special Collections
Collection number:	Ms.2011.025

Scope & content

The Michael Gizzi papers have four main series that shape the collection: writings, correspondence, printed materials, and graphic and audio materials. The collection as a whole represents his professional experiences and professional relationships which occasionally provide a glimpse into his personal life. Writings comprises manuscripts by Michael Gizzi include numerous drafts in manuscript and printed formats, as well as personal notebooks. Writings of others contain predominately printouts and page proofs with limited annotations by either the author or Michael Gizzi. In addition there are a number of collaborative works including editorial and publishing projects. The correspondence component is professional in nature and describes the network of writers in which Gizzi was involved. It should be noted that every series is populated with correspondence or mail to Michael Gizzi but the pieces separated into other series were left to support the material they accompanied. The Clark Coolidge manuscripts are an exceptional example of this occurence.The printed materials contain a range of printed ephemera including broadsides, invitations, clippings, pamphlets, and booklets. The graphic and audio materials include a range of art works including collages, paintings, and photographs as well as audio recordings of poetry-related events.

Series 1 Writings: The writing series contains four subseries: Manuscripts, Notebooks, Manuscripts of others, and Editorial and publishing projects. Manuscripts by Michael Gizzi includes identified manuscript and printed drafts arranged alphabetically, followed by unsorted manuscript drafts and fragments. Much of this material consists of printouts and photocopies with autograph annotations. There are multiple copies of his work No Both and In This Skin in box one. A unique piece and possibly his last contribution to another artists' work is lyrics he provided for a music score in August 2010, accompanied by a CD, also located in box one. Much of the material is undated, whenever possible, dates have been added.

The second subseries is Michael Gizzi's notebooks. Dated notebooks are arranged in chronological order (boxes 2-3). A significant component of the series is undated, and these are filed immediately following the dated notebooks (boxes 3-4). The notebooks cover a broad time period, 1974-2007, and include notes, drafts of poems, and sketches.

The third subseries is writings by others which is arranged in alphabetical order over five boxes. The works in this subseries are typically accompanied by letters either of friendly well wishes or professional requests for review and consideration for publication. They are generally printouts and photocopies with occassional annotations either by the creator or by Michael Gizzi. Works of note include materials by John Ashbery (box 5), Clark Coolidge (boxes 5-6), Peter Gizzi (box 7), Bernadette Mayer (box 8), and Keith Waldrop (box 9).

The fourth subseries consists of editorial and publishing projects in which Michael Gizzi was involved. This includes interviews with John Ashbery, Clark Coolidge, and Bernatte Mayer (box 10); Qua Books publishing projects with John Ashbery, Merrill Gilfillan, and George Stanley (box 10); as well as a project edited by Michael Gizzi, "Writing for Bernadette" (box 11), a collection of signed broadside editions of works by fifty-two writers.

Series 2 Correspondence: The correspondence series is arranged alphabetically over four boxes. There are folders of correspondence from his first wife, Ippy, second wife, Barbieo, and brothers, Thomas and Peter. The series includes extensive correspondence from the following: Paul Auxméry, Clark Coolidge, Sylvia Coolidge, Ray DiPalma, Merrill Gilfillan, Bernadette Mayer, Keith Waldrop, Rosemarie Waldrop, Craig Watson, and Geoffrey Young. Correspondence from John Ashbery is predominantly from his secretary on Ashbery's behalf and related to the Qua Books publication of Ashbery's As Umbrellas Follow the Rain (2002). The sorted correspondence is followed by a range of miscellaneous correspondence, arranged alphabetically by correspondent.

Series 3 Printed materials: The printed materials include broadsides, journals, poetry booklets, invitations, press releases, and other printed ephemera. Journals include Shuffle Boil, Poetry Project, and numerous others with published poems by Gizzi or colleagues. The booklets include monographic editions and anthologies, many mailed to Gizzi, including the Tolling Elves series (box 16). A significant component of the series consists of clippings and photocopied reviews and research (box 17). In addition, there is a 1966 yearbook from Bishop Hendricken High School (Warwick, Rhode Island) and Gizzi's Brown diploma (box 16).

Series 4 Graphic and Audio materials: The graphic and audio materials series provides an interesting insight into Michael Gizzi's personal life and includes photographs of Gizzi's public readings (box 18). These photos are supported by the audio materials which contain some recordings of poetry readings (box 21). The series also includes a number of collage works intended as gifts or cards from Barbieo Barros Gizzi (box 19-20). There are assorted event posters and an oversized oil painting. One posters, for a Keith Waldrop exhibition in France, is housed separately.

Access Points

Subject Organizations

• Qua Books.

Subject Topics

• American poetry--20th century
• Artists' books--United States
• Poets, American--20th century
• Poets, American--20th century--Archives

Document Types

• Audiocassettes
• Graphic arts
• Letters (Correspondence)
• Manuscripts for publication
• Photographs
• Slides (Photographs)

Subject Topics

• Language and Literature

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in four series:

• Writings
• Correspondence
• Printed Materials
• Graphic and Audio materials

Biographical note

Michael Gizzi was born in Schenectady, New York in 1949 to Carolyn and Anthony Gizzi. He had two brothers, Peter and Thomas Gizzi. He spent part of his childhood living in Ohio and lived in East Greenwich, Rhode Island for three years (10th, 11th, and 12th grade) of high school. His parents moved up to Pittsfield, Massachusetts and he returned to Rhode Island as an undergraduate student at Brown University where he recieved a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1976. He would return to Brown to earn his Master of Fine Arts degree in English in June 1977. He attended the Masters program with Keith Waldrop who, ultimately, connected him to the Burning Deck community of poets and artists. He was married to his first wife, fellow artist, Ippy (Patterson) and had his daughter Pilar at this time and they purchased a home in Rehobeth, Massachusetts. He worked for seven years as an arborist and tree surgeon in Southeastern New England to support his family.

After receiving his MFA, Michael Gizzi moved out to the Berkshires in Western Massachusetts where he worked collaboratively with Clark Coolidge on a Jack Keuroac inspired series. This work with Clark Coolidge fomented a long lasting friendship in work and in life. In the early 1990s, Gizzi began teaching English and creative writing at Lenox High School, which he did for several years. In the late 1990s, he would move back to Providence. At this time he was married to his second wife, Cape Verde native, RISD graduate and collage artist, Barbieo (Barros). He worked as adjunct faculty and visiting professor at Roger Williams University and Brown University. He officially started work as an adjunct creative writing professor at Roger Williams in 2005 and worked for three more years as a visiting professor there. Due to financial constraints, Roger Williams could not ask Gizzi back in the fall of 2009. He worked as a visiting professor in literary arts at Brown during this time, as well, and coordinated a number of poetry readings and projects such as the Down City Poetry Series on campus.

In the midst of his apparently normal life, Michael Gizzi established himself in literary circles as an author and editor through his connection to the Waldrops and other impressive poets. He authored over ten books of poetry, including: Bird As, Avis, Species of Intoxication, New Depths of Deadpan, and No Both. Both of his wives, Ippy and Barbieo, contributed artwork for covers of his books. For example, Ippy designed the cover artwork for his work "Cured in the Going Bebop". His works were published by Burning Deck, Hard Press, Roof, among others and he would work as an editor for a few of those companies. An indicative reflection of these relationships is highlighted in his work as editor of "Lingo" Magazine which functioned as a component of Hard Press from 1992 - 1998. During this time he edited works from writers such as Bernadette Mayer, Jim Brodey, Merrill GilFillan, and Trevor Winkfield. In 1996 (and 2007) Gizzi was award the Gertrude Stein Award for Innovative Writing. In early 2000 Gizzi collaborated with Craig Watson (who he met for the first time in 1976 at the Waldrop's home) to open their own publishing company called Qua Books. There first published work was John Ashbery's "As Umbrellas Follow Rain" in 2002. Their second published work was George Stanely's "A Tall, Serious Girl" in 2003. He worked on outside projects as well, such as lyrics for music scores.

Michael Gizzi died unexpectedly on Monday, September 27th, 2010 in his Providence home at the age of 61.

Access & Use

Access to the collection:	There are no restrictions on access, except that the collection can only be seen by prior appointment. Some materials may be stored off-site and cannot be produced on the same day on which they are requested.
Use of the materials:	Although Brown University has physical ownership of the collection and the materials contained therein, it does not claim literary rights. Researchers should note that compliance with copyright law is their responsibility. Researchers must determine the owners of the literary rights and obtain any necessary permissions from them.
Preferred citation:	Michael Gizzi Papers, Ms.2011.025, Brown University Archives.
Contact information:	John Hay Library , Special Collections Box A Brown University Providence, RI 02912 Tel: 401-863-2146 email: hay@brown.edu

Administrative Information

ABOUT THE COLLECTION
Acquisition:	The Michael Gizzi papers were received by Brown University in April 2011 after purchasing them from a broker.
Processing information:	This collection was processed under the guidelines of the two-year Basic Processing grant awarded to Brown by the NHPRC. Materials were refoldered as needed and housed in acid free boxes. The arrangement devised by dealer predominates.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Brown University Library staff.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013 January 25
Descriptive rules:	Finding aid based on Describing Archives: A Content Standard (DACS)
Sponsor:	Processing funded by a grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission.

Additional Information

Inventory

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