Guide to the Conjunctions archive, 1970-2008

(bulk 1990-2007)

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:	Conjunctions archive
Date range:	1970-2008, (bulk 1990-2007)
Creator:	Morrow, Bradford, 1951-
Extent:	188.0 Linear feet
Abstract:	This collection contains author files, correspondence, edited setting copies, first author's corrected galleys, publisher's corrected galleys, various sets of corrected editorial galleys and proofs, second proofs, final mock-ups, many original typescripts and some xeroxes either with original holograph corrections by the author, editor, and/or printer, bluelines and camera-ready materials. The material dates from 1970 to 2008, with the bulk from 1990 to 2007.
Language of materials:	English
Repository:	John Hay Library , Special Collections
Collection number:	Ms.2005.14

Scope & content

The records of Conjunctions Magazine are a comprehensive collection of manuscripts, correspondence, proofs, artwork and editorial material related to the influential literary magazine edited by Bradford Morrow and published by Bard College beginning in 1981.

The collection is arranged in five series, each corresponding to an accession.

Series 1. April 1997 Accession (A97-15) (1970-1996) contains a large collection of author material, correspondence and manuscripts. Authors such as Robert Coover, Joyce Carol Oates, William T. Vollman and David Foster Wallace are represented. A small amount of editorial material is also included in this series, as are production materials (proofs, blue-lines, camera ready copy) for Conjunctions 15 to 27.

Series 2. September 1998 Accession (A98-40) (1983-1993) is primarily unsorted correspondence and manuscripts along with some production material. Included is a typescript of Jeffrey Miller's 1983 work: Paul Bowles, a bibliography, published by Black Sparrow Press (Box A98-40:1, Folders 1-3).

Series 3. November 2004 Accession (A2004-36) (1999) contains an extensive file of author materials (manuscripts and correspondence) that includes many of the writers who have been published in Conjunctions, among them Brian Evenson, Rick Moody, Paul West and William Gass. Included are scattered productions materials for issues 29 to 42.

Series 4. November 2006 Accession A2006-60) (1991-2005) includes author files, cover letters and unsorted correspondence from 1992 to 2004; several identified correspondents are Martine Bellen, Michael Bergstein and William Burroughs. Also included are manuscripts (some of them copyedited); among these are Michael Frayn's Headlong (Box A2006-60:15); Marguerite Young's Harp Song for a Radical : the Life and Times of Eugene Victor Debs (Box A2006-60:18); and Norman Manea's The Hooligan's Return (A2006-60:49). A large collection of production materials for issues 22 to 42 are also found in this series. Subscriber lists, bound copies of Conjunctions and a VHS recording of a Conjunctions 31 reading are included.

Series 5. August 2008 Accession (A2008-044) (1995-2008) contains a significant collection of author files and correspondence (much of it arranged chronologically). Copyedited manuscripts and first proofs for issues 41 to 50 are also included in this series, along with manuscripts by David Shields, Ned Rorem and Paul West (Box A2008-044:57-58). There is also a collection of revised drafts of Bradford Morrow's manuscripts The Diviner and The Fifth Turning. Production materials for Conjunctions 33 to 50 are contained in this series, as are several folders of correspondence and manuscripts relating to the 1997 online edition of Conjunctions (Box A2008-044:56).

Access Points

Subject Organizations

• Bard College.

Subject Topics

• American literature--20th century
• Authors and publishers--United States.
• Authors, American--20th century.
• Fiction--United States--20th century.
• Poets, American--20th century

Occupations

• Periodical editors
• Writers

Document Types

• Correspondence
• Fiction
• Letters (Correspondence)
• Manuscripts for publication
• Periodicals

Subject Topics

• Education

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in five series:

• Series 1. April 1997 Accession (A97-15)
• Series 2. September 1998 Accession (A98-40)
• Series 3. November 2004 Accession (A2004-36)
• Series 4. November 2006 Accession A2006-60)
• Series 5. August 2008 Accession (A2008-044)

Historical note

Founded in 1981 by its editor, Bradford Morrow, who himself published the first three issues; subsequently published by David Godine, Collier Macmillan, and, beginning with issue 15 (1990) Bard College, where Morrow is professor of literature. Beginning with issue 14 (1989) it has constituted a semi-annual series of anthologies on a single topic, many of them guest-edited. Writers published in Conjunctions include many associated with Brown University, especially with the Graduate Program in Literary Arts (known before Dec. 2003 as the Graduate Program in Creative Writing), e.g. John Hawkes, Robert Coover, John Edgar Wideman, Robert Creeley, Mei-mei Bersenbrugge, Keith Waldrop, Rosmarie Waldrop, Forrest Gander, C.D. Wright, James Laughlin, Mary Caponegro, Thalia Field, Paula Vogel, Edwidge Danticat, Carole Maso, and Ben Marcus.

The journal publishes innovative fiction, poetry, criticism, drama, art and interviews by both emerging and established writers. It provides a forum for nearly 1,000 writers and artists "whose work challenges accepted forms and modes of expression, experiments with language and thought, and is fully realized art", according to the "Letter From the Editor" on its Web site. It aims to maintain consistently high editorial and production quality with the intention of attracting a large and varied audience. The project is meant to present wide variety of individual voices. The publication is unusually thick, often containing about 400 pages per issue.

Conjunctions' editorial approach is often collaborative. Both the editor and the distinguished staff of active contributing editors — including Walter Abish, Chinua Achebe, John Ashbery, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Mary Caponegro, Elizabeth Frank, William H. Gass, Peter Gizzi, Jorie Graham, Robert Kelly, Ann Lauterbach, Norman Manea, W.S. Merwin, Rick Moody, Joanna Scott, Peter Straub, William Weaver and John Edgar Wideman — rely on the advice of fellow writers across the country. Final selection of the material is made by the editor.

From Wikipedia.

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:	Researchers are advised that express written permission to reproduce, quote, or otherwise publish any portion or extract from this collection must be obtained from the authors of the materials in this collection. This restriction includes the creation of photocopies, which is not allowed without the express permission from the authors.
Preferred citation:	Conjunctions archive, Ms.2005.14, Brown University Library.
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 Conjunctions Magazine records were purchased from Bradford Morrow.
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 to solidify the integrity of each series.
ABOUT THE FINDING AID
Author:	Finding aid prepared by Brown University Library staff.
Encoding:	This finding aid was produced using the Archivists' Toolkit 2013-01-24
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

Related material:

Bradford Morrow papers, Ms.2005.15, Brown University Library Records for issues 1-13 can be found in the "Conjunctions archive" in the Ohio State University Rare Books and Manuscripts Library.

Inventory

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